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The Scarlet Letter

The Scarlet Letter: A Romance is a work of historical fiction by American author Nathaniel Hawthorne, published in 1850.[1] Set in the Puritan Massachusetts Bay Colony during the years 1642 to 1649, the novel tells the story of Hester Prynne, who conceives a daughter with a man to whom she is not married and then struggles to create a new life of repentance and dignity. As punishment, she must wear a scarlet letter 'A' (for "adultery"). Containing a number of religious and historic allusions, the book explores themes of legalism, sin and guilt.

For the 1953 Ellery Queen novel, see The Scarlet Letters. For other uses, see Scarlet Letter (disambiguation).

Author

Nathaniel Hawthorne

United States

English

Romantic, Historical

Ticknor, Reed & Fields

1850

813.3

The Scarlet Letter at Wikisource

The Scarlet Letter was one of the first mass-produced books in the United States. It was popular when first published[2] and is considered a classic work of American literature.[1] The novel has inspired numerous film, television, and stage adaptations. Critics have described The Scarlet Letter as a masterwork,[3] and novelist D. H. Lawrence called it a "perfect work of the American imagination".[4]

Critical response[edit]

On its publication, critic Evert Augustus Duyckinck, a friend of Hawthorne's, said he preferred the author's Washington Irving-like tales. Another friend, critic Edwin Percy Whipple, objected to the novel's "morbid intensity" with dense psychological details, writing that the book "is therefore apt to become, like Hawthorne, too painfully anatomical in his exhibition of them".[16] English writer Mary Anne Evans writing as "George Eliot", called The Scarlet Letter, along with Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's 1855 book-length poem The Song of Hiawatha, the "two most indigenous and masterly productions in American literature".[17] Most literary critics praised the book but religious leaders took issue with the novel's subject matter.[18] Orestes Brownson alleged that Hawthorne did not understand Christianity, confession, and remorse.[19] A review in The Church Review and Ecclesiastical Register concluded the author "perpetrates bad morals."[20]


On the other hand, 20th-century writer D. H. Lawrence said that there could not be a more perfect work of the American imagination than The Scarlet Letter.[21] Henry James once said of the novel, "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."[21][22]

mentioned in Chapter 1, "The Prison Door", was a religious dissenter (1591–1643). In the 1630s she was excommunicated by the Puritans and exiled from Boston, and moved to Rhode Island.[8]

Anne Hutchinson

who historically was executed for witchcraft in Boston in 1656, is depicted in The Scarlet Letter as a witch who tries to tempt Prynne to the practice of witchcraft.[23][24]

Ann Hibbins

(c. 1592–1672), who historically was the governor of Massachusetts and deputy governor at the time of Hibbins's execution, was depicted in The Scarlet Letter as the brother of Ann Hibbins.

Richard Bellingham

(1483–1545) was a leader of the Protestant Reformation in Germany.

Martin Luther

(1639–1723), a powerful leader of the early Massachusetts Bay Colony. He was a Puritan minister involved with the government of the colony, and also the Salem Witch Trials.

Increase Mather

Sir and Dr. Forman were the subjects of an adultery scandal in 1615 in England. Dr. Forman was charged with trying to poison his adulterous wife and her lover. Overbury was a friend of the lover and was perhaps poisoned.

Thomas Overbury

(1588–1649), second governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony.

John Winthrop

mentioned in the final paragraph, exists; the Elizabeth Pain gravestone is traditionally considered an inspiration for the protagonists' grave.

King's Chapel Burying Ground

The story of King and Bathsheba is depicted in the tapestry in Mr. Dimmesdale's room (chapter 9). (See II Samuel 11–12 for the Biblical story.)

David

(c. 1604–1690) was a Puritan missionary to the American Indians whom some called "the apostle to the Indians". He is referred to as "the Apostle Eliot" whom Dimmesdale has gone to visit at the beginning of Chapter 16, "A Forest Walk".

John Eliot

The following are historical and Biblical references that appear in The Scarlet Letter.

The Scarlet Letter "A": In the beginning of the novel, Hester's letter "A" is a representation of her sin and adultery. However, as time progresses, the meaning of the letter changed. To some, it now meant "able". The novel states, "The letter was the symbol of her calling. Such helpfulness was found in her—so much power to do, and power to sympathize—that many people refused to interpret the scarlet A by its original signification. They said that it meant Able, so strong was Hester Prynne, with a woman's strength".

[25]

Meteor: The meteor shaped as an A serves as another symbol in the book. To Reverend Dimmesdale, the meteor is a sign from God. God is revealing Dimmesdale's sin to everyone, and Dimmesdale is ridden with guilt. However, others perceived the letter to be the symbol of an angel.

[26]

Dimmesdale's name: Dimmesdale's name itself also holds symbolism. His name contains the root word "dim", which evokes faintness, weakness, and gloom and represents Dimmesdale's constant state since the commission of his sin.

[26]

Pearl: Pearl is the embodiment of her parents' sin and passion. She is a constant reminder of the sin from which her mother cannot escape. It is mentioned she "was the scarlet letter in another form; the scarlet letter endowed in life".

[27]

Rosebush: The rosebush is mentioned twice within the course of the story. It is first viewed as nature's way of offering beauty to those who leave and enter the prison, as well as providing a glimmer of hope to those who inhabit it. The rosebush is perceived as a symbol of brightness in a story filled with human sorrow.

[26]

The Scaffold: The scaffold is mentioned three times throughout the novel. It can be viewed as separating the book into its beginning, middle, and end. It symbolizes shame, revelation of sin, and guilt, for it is the location where Hester received her scarlet letter as punishment and where Dimmesdale experienced his revelation through the meteor.

[26]

The following are symbols that are embedded in The Scarlet Letter:

Badge of shame

Boston in fiction

Colonial history of the United States

Illegitimacy in fiction

Whore of Babylon

, a 2005 novel about the same characters

Angel and Apostle

at Standard Ebooks

The Scarlet Letter

at Project Gutenberg

The Scarlet Letter

public domain audiobook at LibriVox

The Scarlet Letter

Archived 2020-11-09 at the Wayback Machine—Hawthorne in Salem Website

"Critical Commentary Related to Female Characters in The Scarlet Letter"

by Fredric Kroll at YouTube

Excerpts from the opera The Scarlet Letter

Seabrook, Andrea (2 March 2008). . NPR. Retrieved 12 March 2019.

"Hester Prynne: Sinner, Victim, Object, Winner"