Continuance·Subversion·Reforgery

The Scarlet Letter was the magnum opus of Hawthorne, who was an important writer in the later period of American Romanticism in 19th century. S. is a novel written by John Updike, who keeps as an active Realist writer in 20th century's American literary world . Updike clearly shows the relationship between 5. and The Scarlet Letter, and many evidences also indicate that S. parodied The Scarlet Letter. Through comparative reading and analysis on the two works mentioned above, this thesis tries to have a further exploration on the links between originals and sequels.There are three chapters in this thesis. Chapter One combs and compares the different backgrounds of the two works, especially the religious background and women's rights movement which had influence on the two writers and their works. Based on the points in the first chapter, through close reading of the texts, chapter Two analyses the similarities, the differences and their significance of three themes implied in the two novels. The three themes include love, religion and woman. Chapter Three compares the art skills applied in the two novels and lays special emphasis on parody's significance for both the theme interpretation and reading effect.Generally speaking, through the accurate analysis on the differences between The Scarlet Letter and S., this thesis establishes the original value of S. and affirms latter's significance for the former, in the foundation of which, the author ponders the relation between the sequels and the originals.