浅论霍桑小说《红字》主题的模糊性

On Ambiguous Themes of The Scarlet Letter

霍桑代表作《红字》的主题一直是学界长期争论的焦点。道德学派提出《红字》的主题是人类之罪,反映了作者清教徒式的罪恶观,但霍桑对待男女主人公模棱两可的态度却又使人对此产生怀疑。女权主义研究则强调《红字》女主角身上体现的女权主义,而小说蕴涵的女权色彩却又被霍桑字里行间的嘲讽所冲淡。政治学派认为《红字》包含革命主题,而小说中对复辟和恢复秩序的偏好倾向却又反映了作者对社会革命保守、怀疑的态度。新文化论者认为,这是一个关于从旧世界过渡到新世界的神话式文化寓言,然而,在小说中却找不到由一条主线贯穿的、统一的文化"神话"。这一切源于霍桑的模糊风格使小说具有多重的复杂意义。

The ambiguity of the theme of The Scarlet Letter by Hawthorne has remained focus of debate for many years. The theory of sin advanced by the school of morality suggests that the subject of the novel is sin and repentance, and it reflects the author＇s view of sin, but the ambivalent treatment of the protagonists by the author throws a doubtful light on such an understanding. Feministic view is focused on the feminist tract in the work, but the tractarian tone is tempered by the irony of the author. Another meaning is advanced by political critics, who read into the work a revolutionary theme, but the bias toward restoration and order indicates Hawthorne＇s conservative, skeptical attitude toward revolution. The New Culture school holds that the novel is a kind of mythic prophecy about the great cultural change involved in the shift from the old world to the new, yet there exists no central unifying cultural ＂myth＂ in the novel. All of this is attributed to Hawthorne＇s ambiguous style which endows the novel with multilayered meanings.