Abstract:Nathaniel Hawthorne is one of the most famous writers in American literary world. His full-length novel The Scarlet Letter is set in Boston in the 17th century, reflecting the influence of Puritanism upon people’s life. As Hawthorne’s masterpiece, The Scarlet Letter mainly tells an unusual story of protagonist Hester Prynne. It is known to all that Hester in this novel is a controversial character and her unique traits of character are depicted vividly by Nathaniel Hawthorne. This paper will analyze the character of Hester Prynne plus the driving force of her struggles and compromises based on the theory of personality structure. This paper aims to make readers get an overall understanding of protagonist Hester Prynne. 

Keywords: The theory of personality structure; Hester Prynne; struggle; compromise

摘要: 纳撒尼尔.霍桑是美国文坛著名的作家。他的长篇小说《红字》以17世纪的波斯顿为背景，体现了清教主义给人们的生活造成的影响。霍桑在这篇杰出代表作《红字》中，主要描述了女主人公海丝特不同寻常的人生。众所周知，小说《红字》中海丝特这个人物形象是颇受争议的，她独特的人物性格特点在霍桑的笔下栩栩如生。本篇论文运用弗洛伊德的人格结构理论来分析海丝特的性格特征以及她在小说中所表现出来的抗争与妥协的驱动力，以期使读者对这位女主人公有一个全面的了解。

关键词：人格结构理论；海丝特·白兰；抗争；妥协