书名：The Scarlet Letter红字The English Libary

作者：Hawthorne, Nathaniel

出版社名称：Penguin Classics

出版时间：2012

语种：英语

ISBN：9780141199450 

商品尺寸：12.9 x 1.3 x 20.3 cm

包装：平装

青春美貌的赫斯特并不爱她的丈夫。在移居北美殖民地的途中，她的丈夫被俘失踪了，她只得孤身流落。后来，她与一年轻牧师互生爱慕之情，并怀孕生下了女儿。这件事触怒了清教徒社会，她被当局抓住，胸前被戴上了象征耻辱的红A字，怀抱婴孩站在刑台上示众，并接受审问。而审问她的人，竟是那个年轻牧师……台下，一个相貌奇特的神秘人目睹了这一切。年轻牧师突然得病，神秘人自称医术不凡，并很快成为了他的医师和密友，隐秘的真相逐渐浮现……

赫斯特是一个相信自己有爱的权利与力量的女性形象，她隐忍着、坚强着。作者的写作手法另辟蹊径，文字纷繁隐秘，女巫出没的森林、血红的A字、精灵跳脱的婴孩，使全书笼罩在奇异诡谲的气息之中。这部小说于1926年起被多次搬上银幕，享誉恒久。

The Penguin English Library Edition of The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne

'Shame, Despair, Solitude! These had been her teachers, - stern and wild ones, - and they had made her strong, but taught her much amiss'

Fiercely romantic and hugely influential, The Scarlet Letter is the tale of Hester Prynne, imprisoned, publicly shamed, and forced to wear a scarlet 'A' for committing adultery and bearing an illegitimate child, Pearl. In their small, Puritan village, Hester and her daughter struggle to survive, but in this searing study of the tension between private and public existence, Hester Prynne's inner strength and quiet dignity means she has frequently been seen as one of the first great heroines of American fiction.

The Penguin English Library - 100 editions of the best fiction in English, from the eighteenth century and the very first novels to the beginning of the First World War.

纳撒尼尔?霍桑（1804—1864）

美国十九世纪浪漫主义、象征主义小说家，美国心理分析小说的开创者。他出生在一个笃信基督教清教的破落贵族家庭，天性中烙下阴郁保守的印记，热衷于探索人的内心世界，因此练就深邃敏锐的观察力，擅长细腻的心理描写。作品常常利用对场景的描绘、情节的发展、自然景物的衬托，将人物复杂矛盾的内心与现实结合起来，层层深入，挖掘主人公灵魂深处的秘密。代表作《红字》是其最高成就，也是美国文坛上引人注目的作品之一。

Born on the fourth of July in 1804, Nathaniel Hawthorne wrote the stories that lie at the heart of the American Romantic movement. His portraits of colonial life reflect his Puritan heritage and offer fascinating profiles of individuals who strive for freedom from social conventions.

Photo by Mathew Brady [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons