摘　要

在美国文学中最著名的象征主义作品是纳撒尼尔•霍桑的代表作之一《红字》。由于其中展现了多个主题以及作家独特的写作技巧，自出版后就引起了读者的极大兴趣，特别是对象征主义的使用方面的研究。尽管在过去的几年中有很多关于象征多样性的争论,但霍桑在《红字》中象征主义的运用还是为美国文学的崛起作出了非常重要的贡献。贯穿于小说《红字》中最重要的象征无疑是红字“A”, 红字“A”以不同形式出现在小说中不同的时间、不同的地点以及不同的场景中，这使其意义随着情节的深入发展变得更加丰富和复杂。为了帮助读者深入了解这部著名的小说以及掌握故事清晰的主旨,本文将着重分析在整部小说中字母“A”的各种含义。

关键词：《红字》；红字“A”的象征意义；象征主义
 
Abstract

The most famous symbolic piece of work in American Literature is The Scarlet Letter of Nathaniel Hawthorne. The Scarlet Letter as one of his representative works, since the publication of it, it has aroused the readers’ great interest, for the multi themes displayed in it, the writer’s unique writing skill, and especially the use of symbolism. Although there have been a lot of arguments over the diversity of symbol over the past years, the use of symbolism in The Scarlet Letter is still one of the most significant contributions to the rise of American Literature. The most important symbol which is carried throughout the novel is undoubtedly the scarlet letter “A” that appears in various forms at different time, places and scenes, so the meaning of it becomes richer and more complicated as the plot further develops. In order to help readers deepen the understanding of this well-known novel and make the keynote of the story clearer, this thesis will focus on analyzing the various meanings of the letter A through the whole work.

Key words: The Scarlet Letter; symbolism of the letter “A”; symbolism
 
1 Introduction
Throughout the novel The Scarlet Letter, the letter “A” has many meanings and connotations which are significant. Through them, we can see the growth of the characters and the community that they live. This paper will focus on the important role the letter “A” plays and analyze its meanings throughout the story.
1.1 Introduction of the author
Hawthorne was born on the fourth of July, 1804 in Salem, Massachusetts. He is considered as the most renowned romance American writer of fiction. His romantic writing is a landmark of the romantic period in American literature. But the innovation of his works has surpassed the limits of romanticism, before his masterpiece The Scarlet Letter had been published; he created a lot of thought-provoking short stories and began to show his brilliant writing talents in American literature. He tried to explore the origin of the sin and the result, revealing the moral value and psychology’s effect to human’s innocence.