The Scarlet Letter The Scarlet Letter is a story of sin, guilt, punishment and expiation, set in the 17th century England.
Nathaniel Hawthorne (1804-1864) novelist and short story writer, a central figure in the American Renaissance. Nathaniel Hawthorne's best-known works include The Scarlet Letter(1850) and The House of the Seven Gables(1851). Like Edgar Allan Poe, Hawthorne took a dark view of human nature.