Abstract: Hawthorne is one of the greatest American romantic novelists in the 19th century. His masterpiece The Scarlet Letter is hotly studied by numerous scholars. The Bible, which is a foundation and root of Puritanism, has a great effect on Hawthorne’s critical thinking and writing. This paper tries to compare The Scarlet Letter with The Bible to find the influence of The Bible on The Scarlet Letter. According to this paper, Hawthorne not only adopts the biblical U-type structure but also utilizes the archetypes in The Bible for his character portrayal and biblical allusions for themes of the novel and naming of characters and places.

Key words: The Scarlet Letter; The Bible; Biblical factors

CONTENTS

Abstract

摘要

1. Introduction.1

1.1 Introduction to Nathaniel Hawthorne

1.2 Introduction to The Scarlet Letter

2. Literature Review 2

3. Biblical U-type Structure. 3

3.1 U-type Structure in The Bible

3.2 U-type Structure in The Scarlet Letter

4. Appropriation of Biblical Characters5

4.1 Hester and Dimmesdale 

4.2 Chillingworth 

4.3 Pearl

5. Biblical Allusions in The Scarlet Letter6

5.1 The Mysterious Scarlet Letter “A” 

5.2 Names from The Bible

5.2.1 Salem

5.2.2 Pearl

5.2.3 Arthur Dimmesdale

5.3 Bad Angel

6. Conclusion8

Bibliography.10

Acknowledgments11