The Scarlet Letter

by Nathaniel Hawthorne

English language

Published July 15, 1981

ISBN:: 978-0-553-21009-5

(138 reviews)

The Scarlet Letter: A Romance is a work of historical fiction by American author Nathaniel Hawthorne, published in 1850. Set in Puritan Massachusetts Bay Colony during the years 1642 to 1649, the novel tells the story of Hester Prynne, who conceives a daughter through an affair and then struggles to create a new life of repentance and dignity. Containing a number of religious and historic allusions, the book explores themes of legalism, sin, and guilt. The Scarlet Letter was one of the first mass-produced books in America. It was popular when first published and is considered a classic work today. It inspired numerous film, television, and stage adaptations. Critics have described it as a masterwork and novelist D. H. Lawrence called it a "perfect work of the American imagination".

21 editions

Geoff reviewed The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne

Review of 'The Scarlet Letter' on 'Storygraph'

4 stars

Anyway, long story short I decided it was high time I actually read it for real. It was honestly so much better than I expected. I guess I was naively expecting a lot of puritanical moralizing at the expense of a woman. And in a sense I got that. But Hawthorne also gives us a strong woman, a spirited irrepressible little girl, and a sort of schizophrenic rebuke of the very moralizing he …

Over dinner, my kid told me they re-read this because their students are reading it in Literature class. Isabel said it was so much better than they remembered. I know we read this in High School, but I’m sure I “read” it in my usual way at the time, which is to say I skimmed the chapters, read the dialog, and hoped for the best. (I didn’t enjoy reading fiction until I was in my late twenties.)

Anyway, long story short I decided it was high time I actually read it for real. It was honestly so much better than I expected. I guess I was naively expecting a lot of puritanical moralizing at the expense of a woman. And in a sense I got that. But Hawthorne also gives us a strong woman, a spirited irrepressible little girl, and a sort of schizophrenic rebuke of the very moralizing he piles on us. It feels surprisingly modern, the way Hawthorne refuses to tell us right and wrong, and I think it contributes to the timelessness of the story. I think a reasonable person could argue all sides here with strong textual support. And so, in the end, almost paradoxically, we find a feminist hero in puritan garb, subjugating her outer life, but not her inner self, to the oppressive morality of her universe.

Somewhat by chance, I’ve been steeped in 70s/80s Gay stories recently. I watched both The Battle of the Sexes and Milk this week, and am about halfway through the audiobook edition of Alysia Abbott’s Fairyland. So bear with me when I stretch authorial intent way past the breaking point and say I almost see a coming out story in The Scarlet Letter. I was really taken by <spoiler>the contrast between Hester’s life—true to her self and triumphant—and Dimmesdale’s. His inability to live honestly with his own self undermines him. Both these characters participated in the same “sin”, within the same puritanical cultural context. And yet one is free and the other is utterly haunted until he finally comes clean. (Of course he then immediately dies. And I’m not sure what to make of Hester’s ending. But still.)</spoiler>
Anyway, bad interpretations aside, The Scarlet Letter is beautifully and thoughtfully written, thematically complex, and powerful. When I told my mother that I was pleasantly surprised by it, she said “These books are classics for a reason.” Indeed.

DaveNash3 reviewed The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne

Review of 'The Scarlet Letter' on 'Storygraph'

5 stars

"Yet had little Pearl never come to her from the spiritual world, it might have been far otherwise, then she might have come down to us in history, hand in hand with Anne Hutchison, foundress of a religious sect."

Like Ann Hutchinson, Hester Prynne lived the American dream. She's a complex mix of convention and radicalism, holiness and sin, chastity and sex. Both stand for American individualism for. believing what you want to believe, defying authority within the social conventions, and striking out your own. Hester was a successful small businesswoman, living within her means through her skill and hard work. Surely, Hutchinson sinned, she just escaped shame, and that makes Hester her more realistic half.

To say that her punishment is too harsh and the book is outdated is to forget recent events. The mayor of Nashville was just the latest politician to bear the Scarlet letter, President Clinton will carry his through out history, his letter may have cost his wife her presidency. It doesn't matter that most married people cheat and get divorced, as as society we still strongly enforce monogamy in committed relationships. We do this not by jail or fines, but through public shaming. The scarlet letter extends beyond the seventh commandment. Any time someone is labeled, ostracized, peer pressured, or bullied, the scarlet letter reappears. In our age cyber bullying and grandstanding politicians its as relevant as ever.

To say say that this novel is about crime and punishment is to say that the book of Job is about why bad things happen to good people, an over simplification that ignores the bulk of the text. The crime is acknowledged and takes place before the novel begins. The punishment becomes Hester's refinement, she is strengthen by her letter. She becomes a sister of charity helping the sick and poor, providing guidance to younger women.

"Of penance, I have had enough! Of penitence, there has been none!"

Dimsdale contrasts Hester because he is not punished for the same act. He does not repent or publicly express sorrow for his sin - penitence. Penance is self imposed punishment, it does nothing for Dimsdale but destroy him.

We must approach the author on his terms. Indeed Hawthorne felt troubled by the scope of Puritan punishment. Hawthorne living in Salem in 1850 decended from these Boston Puritans of the 1640s, that's established through the otherwise forgettable Customs House chapter. Hester chose to immigrate to Boston and live under that society. Was her punishment unfair? Was it too much? The novel doesn't dwell on those questions. It shows how Prynne's letter transformed her for the good and how Dimsdale's silence destroyed him.

But why is penitence important to these Puritans? Luther's rejection of Catholicism stands for the the distinction between repentance and pennance. Yet the idea that through our actions we could atone for our sins, we can be sanctified remains.

Questions of whether we justified by faith or faith and good works, the role of petinence and penance, whether the bible is the sole and final authority or if God continues his revelation through the spirit, can be safely explored through the novel. There are no final answers. Prynne believes she will stand with Dimsdale and Pearl in Heaven one day, Dimsdale doesn't want to think about the next life - does that means he believes in the elect? Hester returns to Boston after she is free to go and willfully wears her letter. Hutchinson never returned and was label a heretic. The end maybe Hawthorne way of saying if he wrote anything antithetical or antinomian he doesn't mean and he's still a good Puritan.

Aidan Reads reviewed The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne

Review of 'The Scarlet Letter' on 'Goodreads'

3 stars

Nathaniel Hawthorne is an excellent writer. But his unreserved mud-slinging at Christianity is appalling. This work is very revealing of the mindset of his times. But his screwing of Puritan beliefs has set precedent of hate against orthodox Christianity.
I agree with Whittier that his works retain a "weird and subtle beauty", but the reader must enter the story with an acute sense of discernment, if he is to pick out the many lies and subtle half-truths sown into this fictional account of the Puritans.

RaquelPinkPanther reviewed The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne

Review of 'The Scarlet Letter' on 'Goodreads'

3 stars

I had to get an spanish translation... Hawthorne retoric it was too much for me in English.

Michael @ Knowledge Lost reviewed The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne

Review of 'The Scarlet Letter' on 'Goodreads'

3 stars

Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter is profound piece of literature, and the characters and imagery are beautifully written. Hawthorne takes the concept of morality and adultery and just descripts the struggles from the effected parties extremely well. The one thing that stood out most for me was just how well written all the characters were, you can’t help to feel their pain and understand what they are going through.

Hester Prynne, the bearer of the Scarlet “A” on her breast, her badge of shame. Branded for adultery for everyone to see, Hester still has a desire to redeem herself. She never reveals her lover’s identity and for that she has been publically shamed.

Her lover is a well respected member of the community (I won’t reveal who it is just in case people aren’t aware and don’t want a spoiler). He is faced with carrying the burden of his sin in secret, always putting his hand over his heart, an expression of the pain that is dwelling up inside him. He lives with his sin until it all begins to unravel and he breaks.

Roger Chillingworth is Hester’s husband; ashamed of the betrayal, he had changed his name so no one would know. He takes up the role of the local doctor, in an attempt to find and get close to his enemy. He has asked Hester to keep his true identity a secret, while he searches for her lover and the father of Pearl.

Pearl, Hester’s daughter, known as the demon child, is a devilish by nature. I have the feeling that she is very aware of what’s going on and knows who her father is, and she is just baiting them all to reveal the truth. I always thought of Pearl as the-demon-on-the-shoulder type character.

Each character is simply amazing and with the judging townsfolk, the struggle feels so real and you can’t help but feel for the characters. I found this book more enjoyable after I finished reading it and began reflecting on it. The Scarlet Letter did at times feel drawn out but overall it was well worth reading.