Scarlet Letter  (English, Paperback, Hawthorne Nathaniel)

A historical romance, The Scarlet Letter is a timeless American classic exploring themes of sin, guilt, shame, and Puritan legalism in seventeenth-century America.

Summary Of The Book

The Scarlet Letter is set in Boston, Massachusetts during the seventeenth-century amidst a strong Puritan community. Hester Prynne, a beautiful, young woman, is being punished publicly for adultery. As punishment, she has to wear a scarlet A across her chest, so that she is separated out as an adulterer. As Hester looks on at the crowd, her eyes stop at a man, who she realizes is her long-lost husband. The husband, on asking others the reason for such a public trial, finds the trial itself is unfair as she alone is being punished for the supposed crime of two people. He takes the name Roger Chillingworth in order to conduct an investigation that will bring Hester's cowardly lover out into the open.

After she is released from prison, Hester starts living in a small cottage with her daughter Pearl. She leads a quiet life, while struggling to make ends meet.  The novel explores sin and how it leads to suffering and expulsion from society. It also shows Puritanism and its extreme legalism. In The Scarlet Letter, Hester is shown as not conforming to the values and beliefs laid out by Puritanism. The speciality of the book at the time was the examination of morality from an American standpoint.

The Scarlet Letter received much praise from various literary critics. Religious leaders, however, took objection to the subject matter of the novel. The novel is still relevant today because of the psychological and philosophical depth it offers. The universal theme discussed in The Scarlet Letter makes it a cherished, timeless classic.

About Nathaniel Hawthorne

Nathaniel Hawthorne is an American writer. Young Goodman Brown and Other Short Stories, The House of the Seven Gables, Tanglewood Tales, The Birthmark, Hawthorne’s Short Stories, Twice-Told Tales, The Marble Faun, and The Minister’s Black Veil are among books authored by Nathaniel.

He was born in Salem, Massachusetts in the year 1804, and graduated from Bowdoin College in 1825. Nathaniel embraced dark romanticism in his books, suggesting that sin, guilt, and evil are inherent qualities of a human being. Most of his books as based on Puritanism observed in New England. He did not hold the Transcendentalism movement in positive light, his later writings clearly reflecting the fact. He passed away in 1864 at the age of 59.