The Scarlet Letter: by Nathaniel Hawthorne

By Nathaniel Hawthorne

The Scarlet Letter was published in 1850; it was one of the first books to be mass-produced in America, which helped ensure its immediate popularity and ubiquitous presence on contemporary shelves. Its first printing of 2,500 books sold out in ten days.The novel is set in the Puritan Massachusetts Bay Colony between the years 1642 and 1649. Hester Prynne has had a child out of wedlock, and its father is a mystery. For her sin, she is made to wear an embroidered scarlet A on her clothes-for "Adulteress." She now faces a life of unending shame in the stern and religious Puritan colony, in a part of the world where there are no others to turn to.While the plot is simple, the novel is highly allegorical. It explores themes of sin, guilt, repentance, forgiveness, alienation, and legalism. Characters have symbolic names and appearances, and many aspects of the narrative can be viewed in a symbolist lens.Hawthorne initially thought the novel was too short for publication on its own; to pad the length, he included the "Customhouse" introduction. The introduction angered the residents of Salem, who thought the introduction was poking mean-spirited fun at them. This prompted Hawthorne to republish the book "without the change of a word," but with a reassurance that the introduction was meant in good spirits.The novel has been consistently popular since its publication, with it being required reading in many American high schools. D. H. Lawrence called it "a perfect work of American imagination."

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: B0GXXZWQXG
• ISBN13: 9791043145339
• Release Date: April 2026
• Publisher: Culturea
• Length: 298 Pages
• Weight: 0.79 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 5.8" x 8.3"

Customer Reviews

“Girls Just Want to Have Fun.” - Cyndi Lauper’s hit single.

The story may have had some merit; however, the writing style was so archaic and verbose that it took fifty words to complete a sentence. After trudging through about one hundred pages, he never came to any points or conclusions other than that some people can remember what they ate 20 years ago in detail. This guy (Nathaniel Hawthorne) could have competed with Mary Shelly for the most long-winded of the year. Some of it may not be his fault due to the writing style of the time, but we surely do not have to put up with this. This is one time that just about any movie exceeds the book. If you insist on reading, then it may be smart to find a child’s version. Someone could get rich translating the book into today’s English.