【正文】 The Scarlet LetterAbstract: Nathaniel Hawthorne is an outstanding novelist of American Romanticism in the 19th century. Among his larger works, The Scarlet Letter has been generally rated as his characteristic best. Therefore, like all other great works, it continuously stimulates criticism. A good number of critical studies have been added considerably to Hawthorne’s reputation and stature. As the result of the steady studies, critics, writers and even ordinary readers have e up with many different readings and interpretations of the novel. This eventually leads to the study of Hawthorne’s perplexed ambiguity, which, though sometimes causes difficulty to the reader, helps a lot in making this novel Hawthorne’s masterpiece and a rewarding work to read even today. Hawthorne’s ambiguity is one of the features of his literary and artistic creation. This thesis attempts to argue his ambiguity in The Scarlet Letter through description of natural settings, embodiment of morality in four main characters and the different meanings of scarlet letter “A” in Hester, Pearl and Dimmesdale. Hawthorne’s application of the artistic technique of ambiguity does arouse some confusion and invites the reader’s introspection, which gives the book a certain air of mystery. Hopefully, this thesis will help, to some extent, some confused readers of The Scarlet Letter to develop a better understanding of Hawthorne’s novel.Key words: ambiguity。 elusivenessContentsI. Introduction 6II. Ambiguity in Natural Settings 8 III. Ambiguity in Morality 20Bibliography 21I. IntroductionHawthorne, a descendent of Puritan immigrants, takes both pride and hatred in his ancestors. Some of his ancestors were men of prominence in the Puritan theocracy of the seventeenth century New England. However, as magistrate and judge, Hawthorne’s great–great–grand father, William Hawthorne(1607–1681),was notorious for his role in the persecution of the Quakers. From Hawthorne’s works and writings, he does feel guilty and ashamed of the two ancestors of his, however, he also takes pride in his ancestors. Hawthorne both loathes and lives his prominent and notorious ancestors.Hawthorne lives in an age with the rapid industrial and economic growth appears an increasing number of proletarians, resulting in a bigger and bigger gap between the poor and the rich, and more and more conflicts as well. To him, all kinds of social problems, all kinds of conflicts arise from one single root, that is, the “ inherent evilness” in this world. In Hawthorne’s time, many people, including many conventional American Christians have actually, if unconsciously, given up the Puritan belief in original sin and began to think that man is perfectible. However Hawthorne still holds that “evil as well as good impulses were native to every human heart and must be bated afresh by every man and woman in every generation.”[1]Hawthorne has a deep–rooted interest in religion, towards which, however, his attitude is a contradictory one. On the one hand, he attacks and denounces the fanatical religious actions persecuting those who hold different views。 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。 therefore permitting the reader to draw his or her own conclusions. One is constantly weighing the natural versus the marvelous reason for an event.The first occurrence of ambiguity is concerning the rosebush, outside of the prison where Hester was kept. No one truly know the origin of the rosebush, Hawthorne leaves it up to the reader to decide the rosebush “had survived out of the stern wildness”[4] or “whether it had sprung up under the footsteps of the sainted Ann Hutchinson”[5]. There is also an additional instance of ambiguity with the rosebush. But, this time it also concerns Pearl. When passing the rosebush at the Governor’s home, Pearl asks her mother for a rose. Later, when she is being questioned where she came from, Pearl replied, “that she had been plucked by her mother off the bush of wild roses that grew by the prison door.”[6] The natural reason for this is that Pearl wanted a rose from the Governor’s home. The internal reason for this is Pearl wanted to enter the society. More plex ones, however, are those that Hawthorne sustains throughout the novel, allowing each of them to develop and take on various appearances and meanings as the book progresses. In most cases, recurring events show great significance and elucidate the truth beneath appearance. Take the scaffold in the novel for example, Hawthorne chooses the scenes to show powerful similarities. Each scaffold scene foreshadows the next and brings great understanding of the novel. By beginning with the first, continuing with the middle, and ending with the last platform scene, we can gain a better understanding of the masterpiece. These three important events in the novel have great significance. The first one signifies love。 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 wa