Love is the eternal theme in human life. However, love changes much because of the influence of asceticism. Although love is a tragedy, the spirit of main characters longing for love and struggling with the doctrine of religions is worth learning. It can also be learned that the asceticism restrains the human nature and results in the destruction.
This thesis will deal with the influence of asceticism on love in The Scarlet Letter and The Thorn Birds. The influence reflects mainly in the leading characters Dimmesdale and Ralph. Both of them are priests and fall in love. The worse is that each of them has a child. However, they have to abandon their beloved because of the asceticism, and they bear too much torture. So tragedy cannot be avoided.
Contents
Abstract.........................................................................I
Key Words........................................................................I
摘要.……........................................................................Ⅱ
关键词...........................................................................Ⅱ
Introduction.....................................................................1
I. Love in Guilty and Self-accusation—Tragedy under Asceticism in The Scarlet Letter...........................................................................2
A .The Brief Contents of The Scarlet Letter......................................2
B. Dimmesdale’s Tragedy.........................................................3
C. Hester’s Tragedy.............................................................7
D. Chillingworth’s Tragedy......................................................9
II. The Conflict between Asceticism and Love—the Tragic End in The Thorn birds............................................................................10
A. The Choice between Ambition and Love Ralph Faced..............................10
B. The Hypocrite and The Love Forbidden by God...................................11
C. The Ultimate Victim—Meggie ..................................................12
Ⅲ. Analysis of Love Under Asceticism in the Scarlet Letter and The Thorn birds..13
Conclusion.......................................................................15
Acknowledgements.................................................................16
Bibliography.....................................................................17
