The ambiguity of the letter ‘A’ in Nathaniel Hawthorne’s Scarlet Letter

Seminar paper from the year 2005 in the subject American Studies - Literature, grade: 1,3, University of Siegen, course: More Than a Renaissance: Romantic Writers in America, 10 entries in the bibliography, language: English, abstract: The Scarlet Letter is Nathaniel Hawthorne’s first novel and was published in 1850. Its subtitle A Romance consciously places the novel apart from everyday life. Set in 17th century Boston it tells a story about sin, guilt and love. As the moral values back then still were in force among Hawthorne’s contemporaries, he uses the imaginative and symbolic form of the romance to alleviate the impression of the unusual themes in his novel. This essay discusses the ambiguity of the letter A that the protagonist Hester Prynne has to wear as a punishment for adultery. The letter assumes a different and ever-changing meaning for the characters of the novel, from accusation and sin to a new beginning and freedom.