The Scarlet Letter

The Scarlet Letter
Title page, first edition, 1850
AuthorNathaniel Hawthorne
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
GenreRomantic, Historical
PublisherTicknor, Reed & Fields
Publication date
1850
813.3
TextThe Scarlet Letter at Wikisource

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.

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]

  1. ^ a b "The 100 best novels: No 16 – The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne (1850) | Books | The Guardian". TheGuardian.com. 6 January 2014.
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference McFarland136 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ Seabrook, Andrea (March 2, 2008). "Sinner, Victim, Object, Winner". National Public Radio (NPR). (A quotation in the article refers to The Scarlet Letter as Hawthorne's "masterwork"; in the audio version, the novel is referred to as his "magnum opus".)
  4. ^ Miller, Edwin Haviland. Salem is my Dwelling Place: A Life of Nathaniel Hawthorne. Iowa City: University of Iowa Press, 1991. ISBN 0-87745-332-2

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