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The Scarlet Letter is a novel (though considered a "romance", or a tale with allegorical and fantastical elements, within Hawthorne's life) written by Nathaniel Hawthorne. Released in 1850, it is Hawthorne's most famous work and one of the most well-known pieces of literary fiction of its time period (alongside Herman Melville's Moby-Dick and various works by Edgar Allan Poe). It tells of the life of Hester Prynne after she is marked an an adulterer.
Characters[]
- Hester Prynne
rest to be added
Publisher's summary[]
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.
Plot[]
Chapter 1: The Prison-Door[]
A short description of a prison in Boston.
Chapter 2: The Market-Place[]
During Puritan times, the prison held a woman named Hester Prynne and her infant. Hester is brought out of the prison - with a scarlet letter "A" emblazoned on her shirt's bosom - is dragged from the prison to a stocks in a market-place to be shown for her crimes. During this time, Hester's mind recounts various images from her youth.
Chapter 3: The Recognition[]
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Notes[]
- Some editions of this book include an essay written by Hawthorne as a preface to this work entitled "The Custom House". This essay details Hawthorne's career as a customs-officer (and his fellow customs-officers), his discovery of Hester Prynne's story, and his fall from his position due to political machinations.
See also[]
- The Crucible by Arthur Miller
- The Scarlet Letter trilogy by John Updike
- Moby-Dick by Herman Melville
Sources[]
- Wikipedia
- Goodreads