【正文】 y of her fate and fortunes had been to set her free.”[9] Is Hester’s crime made less sinful because it is an individualistic expression? Hester’ ultimate fate seems to suggest not. She does oft die of her guilt as her lover, the Reverend Dimmesdale, does。13V. Conclusion 即便在150年后的今天，它仍值得人們拜讀。廊坊師范學(xué)院本科生畢業(yè)論文題目：《紅字》中的模糊性姓名：李海肖指導(dǎo)教師：安曉紅系別：英語(yǔ)系專(zhuān)業(yè)：英語(yǔ)教育年級(jí)：接本完成時(shí)間5月20日Ambiguity in The Scarlet LetterByLi HaixiaoProf: An XiaohongSubmitted to the BA mittee in partial fulfillment of the requirements of the degree of Bachelor of Arts in the English department of Langfang Teachers College2004/5/20題目：《紅字》中的模糊性摘要：納撒尼爾這一手法的運(yùn)用，盡管使得這部作品顯得隱晦，意義含糊、摸棱兩可，從而導(dǎo)致了多種不同的、乃至相互矛盾的解釋?zhuān)呛翢o(wú)疑問(wèn)，在很大程度上，也正是這一藝術(shù)表現(xiàn)手法的成功運(yùn)用，才使得這部小說(shuō)成為霍桑的杰作，讀后令人回味無(wú)窮。 elusivenessContentsI. Introduction it is a symbol of “moral wildness” in which Hester has been wandering.Light and darkness are also another important natural phenomena description. Because it represents the most mon battle of all time, good versus evil. When Hester and her daughter are walking in the forest, Pearl exclaims: “Mother, the sunshine does not love you. It runs away and hides itself, because it is, playing a good way off. Stand you here, and let me run and catch it. I am but a child. It will not flee from me, for I wear nothing on my bosom yet.”[7] Hester tried to stretch her hand into the circle of light, but the sunshine vanishes. She then suggests that they go into the forest and have rest. This short scene actually represents Hester’s daily struggle in life. The light represents what Hester wants to be, which is pure. The movement of the light represents Hester’s constant denial of acceptance. Hester’s lack of surprise that she never expected to be admitted and is resigned to her station in life. Another way light and darkness is used is in the way Hester and Dimmesdale’s plan to escape is doomed. Hester and Dimmesdale meet in the shadows of the forest with a gloomy sky and a threatening storm overhead when they discuss their plans for the further. The gloomy weather and shadows exemplify the fact they can’t get away from the repressive force of their sins.III. Ambiguity in Morality Hawthorne’s ambiguity about man’s moral nature in The Scarlet Letter is the greatest challenge and pleasure for his readers. Is Hester guilty of anything beyond the transgression of the parochial beliefs of her immediate environment? Is her “sin” Christian and human love? Is she the noble heroine of a love story ordained in Heaven? Such ideas were confusing to many 19th century readers and are confusing to readers of today as well. Hawthorne leaves them as questions and readers must take the challenge to decide by themselves.In this novel Hawthorne examines the phenomena of guilt and shame in Puritan New England. It generates a mixture of confusion of pleasure and disquietude in the readers. The confusion is the result of a moral ambiguity in the story’s situations and characters. In this novel, this confusion brings the reader’s own beliefs into question, proving that its themes are still relevant in today’s culture.The moral ambiguity in The Scarlet Letter starts with the situation of the novel. The heroine, Hester, is an adulteress, a sinner found guilty and tired by the Puritan religious court. It seems that Hawthorne keeps on insinuating throughout the novel whether Hester deserves her punishment. Hester’s crime is reduced to a crime of passion, an expression of her individualistic rebellion against the harshness of her society, Hawthorne writes, “She has wandered without rule or guidance, in a moral wilderness。 forest is the bination between heaven and hell。 Chillingworth is the variation between good and evil. Thirdly, the scarlet letter “A” means different things to different people. This leaves readers to e up with their own conclusions about the illuminated “A”: to Hester, the letter “A” is a symbol of her adultery against Roger Chillingworth。 as it can be seem clearly that Hester’s untruthfulness has affected him deeply. Initially, Chillingworth is a wronged man, but he determines to take revenge against Dimmesdale. Is it his desire for revenge that makes him evil。 the reader must decide what is literally true. In the Oxford Concise Dictionary of Literary Terms, the definition given to the term “ambiguity” goes as “openness to different interpretations。6II. Ambiguity in Natural Settings 論文從以上所論及的幾個(gè)方面對(duì)霍桑在《紅字》中所運(yùn)用的模糊性手法進(jìn)行了探索、研究，并指出：盡管這一手法的使用，給讀者造成了一定的閱讀困難，導(dǎo)致了多種不同的乃至相互矛盾的解釋。與所有其他優(yōu)秀文學(xué)作品一樣，《紅字》自問(wèn)世以來(lái)，便激發(fā)起各種各樣的評(píng)論，而且從未間斷。事實(shí)上，眾多的文學(xué)批評(píng)家們，一直在嘗試著用各種方法研究這部小說(shuō)。因此，《紅字》的成功，也當(dāng)歸功與模糊性這一創(chuàng)作手法的運(yùn)用，大大增添了這部名著的神秘與魅力。 or an instance in which some use of language may be understood in diverse ways. Sometimes known as ‘plurisignation’ or ‘multiple meaning’, ambiguity became a central concept in the interpretation of poetry after William Empson, in Seven Types of Ambiguity(1930), defended it as a source of poetic richness rather than a fault of impression”.[3]Hawthorne’s ambiguity is employed in The Scarlet Letter. With this device, he casts doubt on his own story as he has told it, and he suggests that an incident may have happened in quite a different way, if at all. This thesis will be devoted to the ambiguities of natural settings, morality and the scarlet letter “A”.II. Ambiguity in Natural SettingsFor Hawthorne’s, natural settings often seem to be less important for what they are than for the idea they represent. This view results in his using of ambiguity throughout his works, which thus often take the reader a lot of effort in the search of meaning that is under the disguise of mon objects. Hawthorne’s continual use of this element gives the book a certain air of mystery。 or is it his method of seeking revenge that makes him evil? This is not made clear. Dimmesdale expresses a ratio