The Scarlet Letter

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Overview

When it first appeared in 1850, The Scarlet Letter enjoyed scandalous success. New England critics condemned its passionate subject matter. One critic complained that Nathaniel Hawthorne invested adultery with all the fascination of genius, and all the charms of a highly polished style. My preliminary chapter, wryly noted the author, has caused the greatest uproar that has happened here since witch-times.

As she emerges from the prison of a Puritan New England town, Hester Prynne defies the dark gloom much as the rose blooms against the prison door. With her illegitimate baby, Pearl, clutched in her arms and the letter A—the mark of an ...
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More About This Book

Overview

When it first appeared in 1850, The Scarlet Letter enjoyed scandalous success. New England critics condemned its passionate subject matter. One critic complained that Nathaniel Hawthorne invested adultery with all the fascination of genius, and all the charms of a highly polished style. My preliminary chapter, wryly noted the author, has caused the greatest uproar that has happened here since witch-times.

As she emerges from the prison of a Puritan New England town, Hester Prynne defies the dark gloom much as the rose blooms against the prison door. With her illegitimate baby, Pearl, clutched in her arms and the letter A—the mark of an adulteress—embroidered in scarlet thread on her breast, Hester holds her head high as she faces the malice and scorn of the townsfolk. Her powerful, bittersweet story is an American classic that continues to touch the hearts of modern readers with its timeless themes of guilt, passion and repentance.

In early colonial Massachusetts, a young woman endures the consequences of her sin of adultery and spends the rest of her life in atonement.

What People Are Saying

Henry James
It is beautiful, admirable, extraordinary; it has in the highest degree that merit which I have spoken of as the mark of Hawthorne's best things--an indefinable purity and lightness of conception...One can often return to it; it supports familiarity and has the inexhaustible charm and mystery of great works of art.

Product Details

  • ISBN-13: 9780451526083
  • Publisher: Penguin Group (USA)
  • Publication date: 10/28/1999
  • Format: Mass Market Paperback
  • Edition description: Reissue
  • Pages: 272
  • Age range: 1 year
  • Series: Signet Classics Series
  • Product dimensions: 4.24 (w) x 6.70 (h) x 0.60 (d)

Meet the Author

Nathaniel Hawthorne
Nathaniel Hawthorne
"Words -- so innocent and powerless as they are, as standing in a dictionary, how potent for good and evil they become in the hands of one who knows how to combine them," Nathaniel Hawthorne once reflected. Hawthorne's own words indeed had an undeniable power. Author of The Scarlet Letter and originator of the American short story, Hawthorne left an indelible impression on literature that would influence his fellow writers into the next century.

Biography

Nathaniel Hathorne, Jr., was born into an established New England puritan family on Independence Day, 1804, in Salem, Massachusetts. After the sudden death of his father, he and his mother and sisters moved in with his mother's family in Salem. Nathaniel's early education was informal; he was home-schooled by tutors until he enrolled in Bowdoin College in Brunswick, Maine.

Uninterested in conventional professions such as law, medicine, or the ministry, Nathaniel chose instead to rely "for support upon my pen." After graduation, he returned to his hometown, wrote short stories and sketches, and chanced the spelling of his surname to "Hawthorne." Hawthorne's coterie consisted of transcendentalist thinkers, including Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau. Although he did not subscribe entirely to the group's philosophy, he lived for six months at Brook Farm, a cooperative living community the transcendentalists established in West Roxbury, Massachusetts.

On July 9, 1942, Hawthorne married a follower of Emerson, Sophia Peabody, with whom he had a daughter, Una, and a son, Julian. The couple purchased a mansion in Concord, Massachusetts, that previously had been occupied by author Louisa May Alcott. Frequently in financial difficulty, Hawthorne worked at the custom houses in Salem and Boston to support his family and his writing. His peaceful life was interrupted when his college friend, Franklin Pierce, now president of the United States, appointed him U.S. consul at Liverpool, England, where he served for four years.

The publication of The Scarlet Letter in 1850 changed the way society viewed Puritanism. Considered his masterpiece, the novel focuses on Hawthorne's recurrent themes of sin, guilt, and punishment. Some critics have attributed his sense of guilt to his ancestors' connection with the persecution of Quakers in seventeenth-century New England and their prominent role in the Salem witchcraft trials in the 1690s.

On May 19, 1864, Hawthorne died in Plymouth, New Hampshire, leaving behind several unfinished novels that were published posthumously. He is buried at Sleepy Hollow Cemetery in Concord, Massachusetts.

Author biography from the Barnes & Noble Classics edition of The Scarlet Letter.

Good To Know

Hawthorne's birth name was actually Nathaniel Hathorne. It's rumored that he added a "w" to avoid being associated with his Puritan grandfather, Judge Hathorne -- who presided over the Salem Witch Trials.

Among Hawthorne's peers at Maine's Bowdoin College: author Henry Wadsworth Longfellow and Franklin Pierce, who would later become the country's 14th president.

In its first week of publication, The Scarlet Letter sold 4,000 copies.

Hawthorne died on May 19, 1864, at the Pemigewasset House in Plymouth, New Hampshire. Ironically, former president Franklin Pierce had advised him to go there for his health.

    1. Date of Birth:
      July 4, 1804
    2. Place of Birth:
      Salem, Massachusetts
    1. Date of Death:
      May 19, 1864
    2. Place of Death:
      Plymouth, New Hampshire
    1. Education:
      Bowdoin College, Brunswick, Maine, 1824

Read an Excerpt

Scarlet Letter, The

1

The Prison Door

A THRONG OF BEARDED MEN, IN SAD-COLORED GARMENTS and gray, steeple-crowned hats, intermixed with women, some wearing hoods, and others bareheaded, was assembled in front of a wooden edifice, the door of which was heavily timbered with oak and studded with iron spikes.

The founders of a new colony, whatever Utopia of human virtue and happiness they might originally project, have invariably recognized it among their earliest practical necessities to allot a portion of the virgin soil as a cemetery, and another portion as the site of a prison. In accordance with this rule, it may safely be assumed that the forefathers of Boston had built the first prison house somewhere in the vicinity of Cornhill almost as seasonably as they marked out the first burial ground, on Isaac Johnson's lot and round about his grave, which subsequently became the nucleus of all the congregated sepulchres in the old churchyard of King's Chapel. Certain it is that,some fifteen or twenty years after the settlement of the town, the wooden jail was already marked with weather-stains and other indications of age which gave a yet darker aspect to its beetle-browed and gloomy front. The rust on the ponderous iron-work of its oaken door looked more antique than anything else in the New World. Like all that pertains to crime, it seemed never to have known a youthful era. Before this ugly edifice, and between it and the wheel-track of the street, was a grass plot, much overgrown with burdock, pigweed, apple peru, and such unsightly vegetation, which evidently found something congenial in the soil that had so early borne the black flower of civilized society, a prison. But on one side of the portal, and rooted almost at the threshold, was a wild rosebush, covered, in this month of June, with its delicate gems, which might be imagined to offer their fragrance and fragile beauty to the prisoner as he went in, and to the condemned criminal as he came forth to his doom, in token that the deep heart of Nature could pity and be kind to him.

This rosebush, by a strange chance, has been kept alive in history; but whether it had merely survived out of the stern old wilderness, so long after the fall of the gigantic pines and oaks that originally overshadowed it—or whether, as there is fair authority for believing, it had sprung up under the footsteps of the sainted Ann Hutchinson, as she entered the prison door—we shall not take upon us to determine. Finding it so directly on the threshold of our narrative, which is now about to issue from that inauspicious portal, we could hardly do otherwise than pluck one of its flowers, and present it to the reader. It may serve, let us hope, to symbolize some sweet moral blossom that may be found along the track, or relieve the darkening close of a tale of human frailty and sorrow.

All new material in this edition is copyright © 1989 by Tom Doherty Associates, LLC.

Table of Contents

Introduction Michael J. Colacurcio Colacurcio, Michael J.

History in The Scarlet Letter

Note on the Text

Chronology of Nathaniel Hawthorne's Life

The Scarlet Letter

Selected Bibliography

Reading Group Guide

Hailed by Henry James as "the finest piece  of imaginative writing yet put forth in the  country," Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet  Letter reaches to our nation's  historical and moral roots for the material of great  tragedy. Set in an early New England colony, the novel  shows the terrible impact a single, passionate act  has on the lives of three members of the  community: the defiant Hester Prynne; the fiery, tortured  Reverend Dimmesdale; and the obsessed, vengeful  Chillingworth.

With The Scarlet  Letter, Hawthorne became the first American  novelist to forge from our Puritan heritage a  universal classic, a masterful exploration of  humanity's unending struggle with sin, guilt and pride.


From the Paperback edition.
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  • Anonymous

    Posted June 15, 2009

    The Scarlet Letter--An American Classic

    The Scarlet Letter, by Nathaniel Hawthorne is an American classic. The novel is set in Salem, Massachusetts during the 1600's; puritan times. A young woman, Hester Prynne, commits the offense of adultery, and is thus forced to wear a scarlet "A" upon her garments so that everyone will know she has committed adultery. The plot and themes are intricate, showing all sides of the scandal surrounding Hester.
    However, this book is about much more than the scandal that unfolds around Hester, her daughter, Pearl, and Pearl's mysterious father. The Scarlet Letter focuses more on the struggles of Hester. Forced to wear the symbol of her shame and offense, Hester is the protagonist of the novel. Hester strives to overcome the shame of her sin, as well as to protect the identity of her fellow adulterer.
    The themes focus around Hester's strong independence, as well as the power of forgiveness and redemption. These themes are evident as Hester tries to overcome her reputation in the town. She also tries to overcome her sin in the eyes of The Lord by doing extensive community service, and giving back all she can to those around her. Even as those she helps look down upon her due to her scarlet letter. These universal themes describing the struggles of redemption and the power of forgiveness are what give the novel its timelessness.
    The plot of the novel is captivating. While it can be slow moving at times, due to Hawthorne's verbose writing, it is an intricate story of the scandal surrounding Hester, her daughter, Pearl, and Pearl's father. The novel explores how the scandal and shame of Pearl's birth affects Hester, Pearl, and those around her. Hawthorne shows how the scandal has changed Hester's love for her daughter. She's caught between loving Pearl, and torn by guilt with the shameful way in which Pearl was conceived. Hawthorne also explores how Hester's shame affects Pearl. Pearl is picked on by the other children, and therefore develops alone, without friends. Pearl becomes tough and strong, but mischievous and, as Hester feels, sometimes evil. The plot also reveals how Pearl's father feels. He is ridden by guilt, knowing that he should be sharing Hester's punishment, but too afraid to admit to the sin he has committed. Finally, the plot also reveals how Hester's husband is driven mad with anger and revenge. The character's feelings are described so well that you can completely relate to their emotions.
    The novel, however, does have one major drawback as previously noted. Nathaniel Hawthorne is exceedingly verbose. His style of writing tends to contain long passages of dry descriptions of people, surroundings, and events.
    However, once you make it past Hawthorne's style of writing, the novel is wonderful. The plot is an entertaining yet intriguing story, which will capture your attention, and keep you reading until the very end, and reflecting on the themes for years to come.

    24 out of 29 people found this review helpful.

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  • Posted September 15, 2010

    The Scarlet Letter

    For my summer reading, I read the classic novel The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne. I enjoyed it very much.
    The story of The Scarlet Letter takes places in the era of the 17th century in Boston, Massachusetts. The novel begins with a woman by the name of Hester Prynne exiting a jailhouse with a red A embroidered on her chest. The A stands for "adultery," as she has committed an act that is inexcusable to the public. The embroidered A serves as her punishment for this act. Now she must wear it as a symbol of what she has done so that everyone around her may realize her sin.
    Prynne ends up in Boston due to her husband sending her to America from her homeland England. Everyone believes that Prynne's husband, whose name remains unknown, has been lost at sea, for he had never arrived in Boston after Prynne did. She does not choose to reveal his identity.
    Finally when Prynne's husband arrives, he asks her not to tell anyone that he has come. He decides to take revenge on her lover. Prynne's husband is soon thrown into action as he creates a fake name for himself and a fake occupation as a physician and going by the name of Roger Chillingworth. Chillingworth soon finds out that the minister, Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale, could possibly be the true father of Prynne's baby.
    Soon, the guilt finally eats away at Dimmesdale, and he confesses to his sin. He was the reason for the punishment of Hester Prynne. He ends up dying as a result of his guilt and removes his shirt showing that he too has a carved, scarlet-shaded A into his chest.
    Chillingworth passes away a year after Dimmesdale's death; he leaves all of his money to the Dimmesdale and Prynne's scandal of a child Pearl. Hester soon decides to return to the New England community, the scene of her punishment, and resumes on with the scarlet letter.
    I believe that this novel was an amazing book and took many dramatic twists and turns within the chapters. I could never see what was coming next, and it was great for a classic. You'd think that in these modern times that classic novels such as The Scarlet Letter could not be appreciated, but it is truly a phenomenal read and definitely worth it.
    I loved this old novel because it seemed fresh and original, something that the modern times today could not pull off so easily. It is full of shocks and something different, something that books today do not seem to harbor; originality and quality. You could tell that writing had so much more effort put it into it than today, because of technology reasons such as it being so easy to edit a story on a computer with spell check and being able to research online. In the olden days people had to put a lot of thought into what they wrote. It had to be carefully constructed and worded with great detail and The Scarlet Letter was just that.
    I would definitely read this book again if I had the chance to, because it is an extraordinary novel with flavor and a sense of originality that books do not seem to have so much of today. The story seems so fresh and exciting, and I loved that about this classic novel, The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne.

    8 out of 9 people found this review helpful.

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  • Posted February 2, 2010

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    suspenseful!

    The Scarlet Letter is a wonderfully written romantic thriller. I found it full of suspense and mystery.

    This book really starts with a bang. Hester Prynne, along with her baby, Pearl, are put upon the scaffold as acknowledgment and punishment for her adulterous affair. She is forced to wear a large letter A on her chest so everybody can see her sin. She refuses to announce the man with whom she sinned. That's where the mystery and suspense starts. What do the Reverend Mr. Dimmsdale and the newcomer Doctor Roger Chillingworth have to do with everything? Lots.

    This book really held my interest. I'd read it before, a long time ago, and had forgotten how good it really is. I had a hard time putting it down. The writing is beautiful and really conveys the Puritanism of the story. The synopsis from Barnes & Noble says it perfectly. "The landscape of this classic novel is uniquely American, but the themes it explores are universal-the nature of sin, guilt, and penitence, the clash between our private and public selves, and the spiritual and psychological cost of living outside society. Constructed with the elegance of a Greek tragedy, The Scarlet Letter brilliantly illuminates the truth that lies deep within the human heart."

    6 out of 6 people found this review helpful.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted September 2, 2005

    very very plain

    the book was required reading for my 11th grade lit class, it is the dullest book Ive ever read, if you like the plain stlye writing then maybe you will like this book as for all the other people who like books to grab your attention leave this book on the shelf...2 stars for the story behind the boring book

    6 out of 17 people found this review helpful.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted March 12, 2011

    Read it again as an adult!

    If you can remember the discussions from high-school English class about this book--read it again and see how much you've grown up! If you've been married, betrayed, or have children- it's a totally different read from when your only worry is breaking curfew and going to the mall.

    5 out of 5 people found this review helpful.

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  • Posted June 22, 2010

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    I Also Recommend:

    Better the Second Time Around

    I read this book in high school and reread it last week. It is one of those novels that improves over time and experience of the reader. I highly recommend this for all adults who read this as teens. Go back and look at the story with the eyes of someone who has experienced love and loss. It will change the way you thought about this wonderful book.

    3 out of 4 people found this review helpful.

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  • Posted March 6, 2010

    more from this reviewer

    An Intimate Glimpse into Puritan Life

    This novel is considered to be one of the greats. Being an English Literature major, I felt I needed to read it. The synopsis is as follows: Hester Prynne, a woman living in Puritan New England, has had an affair with a man whose identity she refuses to reveal. From this union, Hester is impregnated, and the story opens on Hester holding the illegitimate child in her arms while standing on a scaffold in front of her entire town. As punishment for her adulterous act, Hester is sentenced to wear a large scarlet A on her breast for the rest of her life. As the rest of the story unfolds, the reader gains an understanding of Hester's true nature, as well as the nature of her child. This novel provides a clear view of life as a Puritan woman, yet I found it to be a bit "wordy" at times, often going off on tangents about nature or philosophy. By the end of the novel, I found myself not caring about any of the characters, even the child. Since this novel is taught in many high schools, perhaps I am missing something, and will read it again at a later time.

    3 out of 4 people found this review helpful.

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  • Posted January 18, 2010

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    The Scarlet Letter Book Review Dislike

    The Scarlett Letter Book Review
    The novel The Scarlet Letter is based in the Puritan past in Boston. It starts off with Hester Pyrenne is being led to the town prison for committing adultery with her month old daughter named Pearl cradled in her arms.
    The story behind this flashback starts when her husband sent her ahead to Boston (suspected to arrive later) then, never arrived as he promised Hester.  Meanwhile Hester was waiting for her husband to arrive to Boston, (out of helplessness without a husband) she had a baby with an unidentified man (to the reader) which she won't tell the jury while on her trial. After this account, Hester then falls in love with yet another man named Minister Dimmsdale that is trying to save her and her baby from being sentenced to death for commiting adultery. Hester and the Minister Dimmsdale are both united because, they mysteriously have a scarlet letter imprinted on their chests.  If you liked the beginning then, Im sure you would enjoy reading this story.
      The story is a bit hard to read because, the prolouge is so long. To me it seemed worthless to read the entire 40 page long prolouge. It only explains about how the book came to be and facts about the author. It feels like there is an autobiography first of the author then, the story. I didn't enjoy this part of the book
    The mystery unravels as you keep reading. If you like reading about the past and mysteries unraveling, you will enjoy this book. It does get a bit complicated with the names along the ways so I would suggest to take notes for your own benefit.  I did not enjoy this book as much as I could have because, the way it is written is very distracting and hard to follow. I also do not enjoy reading books based in the past. If you find yourself tastes similar to mine I would suggest not reading this book.
    The book also did seem intresting to me in some ways when I finally did some research on what I was actually reading (because, I was very confused in some parts by the way it was written) The intresting part about the book that I did enjoy was that the author explains secret societies and their sophistication even in past times( when we think now that they couldn't be modernized) to be discovered later in time.

    3 out of 5 people found this review helpful.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted January 3, 2012

    Boring

    It was over descriptive and drug on forever. A very long very boring story. The plot line was okay but it didn't reach expectations.

    2 out of 3 people found this review helpful.

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  • Posted April 2, 2010

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    Well I can cross this off my list!

    Well I finally finished The Scarlet Letter. I have to admit it was slow to begin, but then the mystery of who was the father was caught my interest. I did figure it out before the book confirmed it, but I have to admit it was the mystery I liked best. The writer did his job, I thought her husband was a jerk which I would guess was the writers intent. I guess the only reason why I read it was because it was on the classic list, and it did stand the test of time for it to remain in today's society, but who am I to judge?!?!?!?

    2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

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  • Posted December 9, 2009

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    I Also Recommend:

    "The Letter A Gules"

    I moaned, groaned, and complained about reading The Scarlet Letter for a literature class, but as I turned the first page, my attention was seduced. The writing itself is very unique in its style. Mostly, the chapters critically analyze the characters therin, delving into the abyss of thought. As well as displaying a fantastic portrayal of Puritan society, the symbols, the emotions, and the dialogue are masterful. The Scarlet Letter is well-wriiten, thought-provoking, and definitly a book that should continue to be read.

    2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

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  • Posted July 18, 2009

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    A great classic

    I read at least one classic each summer - some are good and some are actually as bad as I remember from High School. But I really enjoyed the Scarlet Letter.

    2 out of 3 people found this review helpful.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted March 23, 2009

    Get the entire plot in the prolog

    The first 17 pages of this particular version of Scarlet Letter is basically a "Cliff-Note" version of the book. Try not to read through it, otherwise you'll have no reason to read the actual novel. I read through the rest of the book, skipping through pages because, well, I already knew what was going to happen.

    2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted March 13, 2009

    OMG, worst book ever!

    I couldn't believe how monumentally dull this book was. I have never almost puked from boredom, but it almost happened while reading this book. The plot isn't actually bad, but it's the romantic style of writing, common in that time, which just kills me.

    2 out of 12 people found this review helpful.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted January 9, 2012

    Not an easy read

    I had to read this for my English Lit. Class. Although the story is a decent one, the book is so slow moving and filled with a lot of unnecessary details and happenings that didnt help the story progress, they were just there, like a lot of filler. It was difficult for me to get through.

    1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted December 26, 2011

    Blech

    If you like classic novels you'll love this. However if you don't it is super boring I only read the first chapter then sparknotes the rest.

    1 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted October 31, 2011

    highly recommended. quality was good.

    this item was delivered in a timely manner and was in good condition. thanks

    1 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted July 28, 2009

    This is not a classical book.

    Why is this book considered one of the classical texts? It is written in old style english, which is very difficult to understand. Also, the story is much to be desired. The women commits adultry, and she is forced to wear letter "A" on her dress. A book is considered classical when it portrays culture of the society properly. This book shows negative values of the society. Since in western culture such action is done often, it clearly shows that western culture has no culure.

    I DO NOT recommend this book at all.

    1 out of 21 people found this review helpful.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted November 7, 2008

    I Also Recommend:

    Years later, I can appreciate!

    As a required read in high school, which was quite some time ago, I had to read this story and if I needed a quick nap all I needed to do was pull out Scarlet Letter. Many years later I read it again. I knew there was a reason that Hawthorne had this grip on me. His writing is so dark, yet wonderfully illuminating. No one utilizes symbols better than Hawthorne. The idea that Hester lives on the edge between the city and the woods is a great example of how that represents her situation. It's absolutley brilliant. Also, there has to be a connection to Hawthorne's anguish through the character of Pastor Dimmesdale. The idea of living with so much guilt in a community that was intolerant of 'mortal' sins reveals the soul of Hawthorne and the quiet cry of a man tortured with his past.
    I would highly recommend other stories of his, novels or short stories, in order to better understand his anguish and desire for perfection. Once I read other stories it made this novel so much easier to understand. This is on level with Romeo and Juliet without the feud.

    1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted April 26, 2000

    The Scarlett Letter

    The Scarlett Letter is about a woman named Hester Pyrnne who is forced to live with the fact that she had a child out of wedlock. Although she is faced with many trials along her journey throughout life she still overcomes all of them to become a good mother to her child. This novel portrays many things; one of the more important things, which it portrays, is the love Hester shows toward Pearl (her daughter) throughout the entire novel. She may be sorry for her actions forever, but one thing is for sure, she will never be sorry for the consequences of those actions. The main theme of this novel is a tale of judgement, shame and redemption.

    1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

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