What is the importance of the letter "A" in the novel, Hamnet?

The letter "A" symbolizes uncertainty. Agnes recalls her father teaching her to recognize the letter "A" by drawing it in the dirt. As a woman in the Middle Ages, Agnes is illiterate, so this lesson is important for her to be able to recognize her name. Agnes's literacy remains tenuous throughout the novel, so though she is able to identify an "A," she may not be able to read what follows. The letter "A" appears again when Agnes and the father move into their new apartment, which Agnes thinks resembles an "A." She complains about not being able to sleep aloft in the apartment's upper floor, a symptom of her uncertainty about her new circumstances.