gh S K Q f t F i dC i l i T h S l L

(1)

I^. Coil L2b A 鴫 Toya , n a Univ rHu m 品 So c ScJ, 2 0 ほい 7 7‑^{1 9 3}^, 1 9 8 7

Fire a nd Cir cle in The Sc a rlet L _e_tte r^l

‑ T h e Q ^{u e s}^t ^f^{o r} ^t^hê ^{E t}ê^r^{n a}^{l H} ^{o m} ê ^‑

Sb o s uke K _otok u

I

Oⁿ M a r ch 6, 183 7, N atha niel H a wtho r n e p^ublished Twic e^‑ Told 7Tale s u nde r h is o w n n a m e

, afte r alo ng p^{e r}iod of a n o ny mi _{t y} a nd at the e nd of hislo ng^{s e c}lu sio nin‑the

L I

cha mbe r u nde r the e a v e s. , ,

On e of his cl_{a s s m a}te s at Bo w doin C olleg^e^, H o r atio Brid_ge s e c r etl_{y g}u a r a nte edthe

p^ublishe r ag^ain stlo s s‑

2 And H e n ry W ads w o rth Lo ngfello w , a n other Bo w doin Colleg^e alu m n u s_, w r ote fo r T he N o rth A m e n

.

c a n Re vie uJ ahigh^lyla udato ry ^{r e v}ie w of Twic e^‑

Told Tale sinJ^u^ly^, ^{s a}ying that thetale s w e r e w ritte n b_y a m a n of _ge niu s,in a

L Ebrigh ^t^,

p^{o e}tic^{, ,}st yle,

L Ls oft a nd m u sic al. , ,3

王n the s a m e y^{e a r}^, tbr o ugb this p^ublic atio n, H a wtho r n e be c a m e a cq^{u a}inted with E liz abeth Pe abod_y_,siste r of Sopb ia,to who m H a wtho r n e g^ot m a r ried fiv e y^{e a r s}late r.

Trul_y

, Twic e^‑Told Tale s w a s a m e m o r able bo ok to h im which,in the a utho r

,

s o w n w o rds,

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op^{e n e}d a n inte r c o u r s e with the w o rld. ,,

In 1842, thê_y beg^{a n} their ^{L L}blis sful^{, ,} n e wl_y‑ ^m ^{a r r}ⁱê^{d lif}ê â^{t t}^hê Ôld ^M ^{a n s e} ⁱⁿ Co n c o rd. A nd the n, th eir fir st ch ild, U n a, w a s b o r n a nd in a n othe r te n y^{e a r s} h is s e c o nd bo ok_, Mo s s e s j^T^{r o m} ^{a n} ^{O ld} ^M ^{a n s e}^, ^{w a s} ^pû^bli^s^hê^d^.

I do n ot de ny that T he Sc a rletL ette r, which H e n ryJ^{a m} ^{e s} ^t^h^{o u}gh ^t â ^tr u e m a ste r^‑ pie c e ^‑ ^く^一be a utiful,ad mir able,e xtr a o rdin a ry^{, ,}⁴, w a s the de n s e st a nd the m o stinte n s e of al 1 hisfour n o v els a nd m ay ha v e be e n w ritte n withtheh igh ^{e s}t m otiv e s^._I But,if w e c o n side r^.ed the pr o c e s s thr o ugh ^w^{h i}^c^h ^{T h}ê ^S^{c a}^r^lê^t ^Lê^tt^{e r} ^{w a s} ^b^{o r n}^, ^{w e s}^h^{o u}^ld ^{n o}^t ^bê

ableto n egle ct s o m e oftho s e sh o rt sto rie s, which w e r e c olle cted in TuJic e ^‑Told Tale s a nd M o s s e s f^r^{o m} ^{a n} ^{O ld} ^M ^{a n s e}^. ^F ^{o r} ^{T h}ê ^S^{c a r}^lê^t ^Lê^tt^{e r}^, ⁱⁿ ^my ôpinio n_, is the c o mbin atio n a nd the sy^l^lthe sis ofthe s e sho rt sto rie s b_{y t}he n^.

On e ofthep^{r o}tot y p^{e s o}fthehe r oin e He ste rP ry^{n n e}is s e e n in ^くLEndic ot a nd the Red Cr o s s^{, ,}u^{83 7}J^.

T he r e w a slike wis e a y^{o u n}g ^{w o m a n}, with n o m e a n sha r e of be a ut y, who s e do o m

it w a s to uJe ar thelette r A on the byTe a St Of ^h^{e r} g^{o w n}^,inthe ey^{e s} ^of all_the w o rld

a nd he r o w n ch ildre n . And e v e n he r o w n childr e n kn e w what that initial

si_gnified . S_po rting ^with he rinfa m y^,thelo st a nd de sp^{e r a}t^e c r e atu r e bad e mbr oト de r ed the fatal tok e n in s c a rlet cloth , with _golde n thr e ad, a nd nic e st a rt of

n e edle w o rk_i S O th at the c apital A mi_ght ha v e be e n thought to m e a n A dmirlable,

17 7

(2)

S ho s uke Kotoku

o r a ny thing ^{r a}the r iha n A dulte r e s s.

5 くitalic s ad dedI

In T he Sc a rlet Lette r als o the c apital A si_gnifie s m a ny ^other m e a ning^s tha n

A dulte r e s s a s H e ste r r eg^ain ed he r c r edits with the p^ublic b_y he r o w n c o ndu ct^. Faith^,s pink rib bo n s

, in

りYo u ng Go odm a n B_{r o w n}^{, ,} く^{1 83 5}1, o n the othe r ha nd_, dete rio r atethe m e a ning ^{a s} he r im ag^e dete rio r ate sin the c o n s cio u s n e s s of G o odm a n

Br o w n. F ir st, at the begin ning, whe n Go odm a n dep^{a r}tsfr o m Sale m V illag^e^, ^sheis a

‑ Lb l_{e s s e}d a ng^el o n e a rth^{, ,}_, a nd he r pin k rib bo n s a r e th o ugh ^t ^w^hi^t^e ^w^hi^c^{h d}^{e n o}^t^{e s} he r

in n o c e n c e,but afte r the c ritic al m o m e nt whe n h e c rie s,

LLM _y F ai_th is g^{o n e}王^{, ,},they ^{a r e} felt ak in to r ed which s ug g^{e s}ts he r sin f ul _p_{a s s}io n. T hisdual i_{t y} r e minds u s of He ste r

Pry^{n n e}

,

s du ali_{t y} a s A ⁿ_gel a nd A dulte r e s s.

T heb irthm a rk of Ge o rgi ^{a n a}^,^{L L}^t^hê^fâ^tâl n a w of hu m a ni_{t y}^{, ,}o r

.L

the visible m a rk of

e a rth l_y im p^{e r}fe ctio n

, ,

, is, afte r all, the sy^{n o n}y ^m ^of the s c a rletlet te r of H e ste r_, a sy^mbol of ^Lⁱh um an fr ail_{t y} a nd s o r r o w .

, , But the diffe r e n c e betw e e n th e m is that the

fo m e ris im p^rinted o n thefle血 wbile thelatte r is s e w ed o n th e clothe s.

A nd Be atric e,D a rk Lad_y,in ^{F E}R ap p^{a c c}ini^,s D a ugh ^t^{e r}^{, ,}く^{1 84 3}1ⁱ^{s a}^l^{s .} ^t^h^e^f. , m e , s elf

of He ste r Pry^{n n e}^.

Asfo r A 地u r D im m e sdale_, biョim ag^e is m ade up ^of Re ube n B o u m e

,a h_{y p}o c rite who c o n c e als his s e c r et, a nd R e v e r e nd H o op^{e r} ^of ^L^くT h e M iniste r

,

s Bla ckv eil^{, ,}く^{1 83}⁵1^.

LD o cto r^, C hilling^{w o r}th^,sSata niclin e a m e ntsh a v e a str o ng ^{r e s e m}b la n c etotho s e of A_ylm e r a nd Rap p^{a c c}ini. T hey ^{a r e} al 1 alike in c o m mi _tting the Unp^{a r}do n ab le Sin.

Pe a rl a nd Pu rita n ch ildr e n wh o pe r s e c ute he r a r e tr a c e ab le tollbr abim a nd his

lit tle ^Lpe r s e c uto r s^,in

EL

T he Ge ntle B oy

, ,く^{1 8}叩^.

Itis n o e x ag g^{e r a}tio n to s ay that T he Sc a rlet Lette risthe c o mb in atio n of fo u r sho rt sto rie s witb 也e s e fo u r diffe r e nth _{e r o e s} a nd he r oin e s. 王w o uld lik eto ad d a n epis ode tothisi^{a c c o r}d in _{g t}oJ^.^T ^.^Fi^e^ld^s ^H ^{a w}^t^h^{o r n e}h ad in mi nd,atfir st, athird c oll_{e c}_tio n,n e xt to T u JtC e J old Tales an d M o s s e s a n Old M a n s e in cluding fo u r tale s, r e c e ntl_y _pub ^‑ lished o r s o o n to be p^ub lishedニ^{L ‑}M ain Str e et^{, ,},

L LT he Gr e at Sto n e Fa c e^{, ,},

L LT he Sn o w

I m ag^e

, , ,

L LEtha n B r a nd^{, ,}, a ndthe n e w sto ry ^of the s c a rletlette r, with a n a utob iog^{r a}ph ト

c al intr odu ctio n. A nd the title w o uld ha v e be e n ^{L L}O ld ^‑tim e Leg^{e n}dニtOg^ethe r wi_th Sketche s_, eゆ^‑

.

m e nおI a nd ide al.

, , B ut,r e ad ing th e m a n u s c ri_{p t} H a w th o r n e had _{s e n}t_,

EL

F ield s ug g^{e s}ted th at they pûblish n ot a c olle ctio n_,but a singl ê ^{r o m} ^{a n c e}^{, ,} ^wⁱ^t^h ^{L L}^{T h}ê Cu sto m ^‑ H o u s e^{, ,}. And H a wtho rn e a c c ep têd it.

8

N o w _,afte r sp^{e n}ding thr e eid_ylicy^{e a r s a}tC o n c o rd,the H a wtbo r n e s w e r e fo r c edto m o v e in 1 845, whe n the o w n e r of the O ld M a n s e w a nted itfo r his o w n u s e.

H e gôt thejô^b ^{a s} ^S u r v ey^{o r} ôf theS ale m Cu sto m H o u s ein A _pril 184 6. LL

On e idle a nd _{r a}iny day,

,, th e a utho r s ay^s in ^{L L}T he Cu sto m ^‑H o u s e^{, ,}_, whe n ^{L L}pôk ing ^{a n}d bu r^‑ r o w i ng into the he apêd ^‑up ^rûb b ish in the c o rn e r_,^,^,he fo u nd, in the m u st y do c u m e nts

leftb_y his p^{r e}de c e s s o r M r. P u e

, L L

a s m al l _pa ckag^e

, ,

a nd ^{‑ F}a fin e r edcloth_, m u ch w o r n a nd faded^{, ,}in it.

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