Abstract Different writers of different nationalities in different times wrote two different love novels. However, they have a completely interlinked meaning---They both have broken the yoke of the pine and released the human nature. The Scarlet Letter and The Thorn Birds described the pursuit of love overshadowed by the tragic influence of the religious asceticism at that time. Realizing the inhibitions on human nature by religions, these two western writers created religious personalities in contorted nature, and thereby showed their strong care for human nature recovery.47044

 Through the description of the wandering and struggle between religion and love, as well as women's struggle for human nature, the conflict between the pinity and the human nature has been demonstrated in different angles. In this paper, through comparing protagonists' behavior of the two novels, it have discussed the oppression on the human nature and the society imposed by religious asceticism.

This paper is pided into five parts. The first part is the introduction. The second part is about the theoretical basis of the paper --- Religious Sociology. The third part mainly analyzes the behavior of the representative figures in the conflict of pinity and human nature from the two novels. The fourth part explores two women’s behavior because they are the symbols of humanity. The fifth part is the conclusion. 

Key Words: the conflict between pinity and human nature, religious asceticism, human nature recovery

  摘要不同民族的作家在不同时期写下了不同的爱情小说。然而，他们有着隐形的关联---他们都突破了神性的枷锁，实现了人性的飞翔。<<红字>>和<<荆棘鸟>>中所包含的对于爱的追求是一直存在于当时宗教禁欲主义悲剧的阴影之下。意识到宗教对人性的压抑，两个西方作家创造出了不同的扭曲自然的宗教人格，却同时表现出强烈的对于人性的复苏的关怀。

 两本小说通过对神父在宗教和爱情之间的徘徊和挣扎的描写，以及女性对于人性的抗争等不同的角度写出了神性和人性的冲突。本论文通过分析比较两本小说中主人公的行为，从而论述宗教禁欲主义对于人性的压迫，对于社会的影响。

本篇论文共分为五部分。第一部分是介绍。第二部分是对于论文理论基础的阐述即宗教社会学。第三部分主要从两本小说中神性和人性冲突的代表人物行为进行分析。第四部分探究作为人性代表的女性行为。第五部分是结尾。

毕业论文关键词：神性和人性冲突，宗教禁欲主义，人性复苏

CONTENTS

Acknowledgments i

Abstract ii

摘要 iii

1 Introduction 1

2 Religious Sociology 3

3 Conflict between Divinity and Humanity 5

3.1 Ralph’s Choice between Power and Love 5

3.2 Dimmesdale's Struggle between Reveal and Concealment 7

4 Representatives of Humanity: Women Images in Two Novels 10

4.1 The Embodiment of Religious Conflict on Heroines 10

4.2 Differences between Two Women Images 13

5 Conclusion 16

Bibliography 18

1 Introduction

The Scarlet Letter and The Thorn Birds both show subversion and challenges to the religious value judgment at their time and provoke people to understand the fact that priests in that religious society were struggling throughout their whole life in the conflicts between society and love, religious doctrine and human desire, honesty and hypocrisy, which also provide us with a perspective to view true love under asceticism.