num_pages: 292
description: 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 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.
language: English
title: The Scarlet Letter
titlecomplete: The Scarlet Letter
characters: Governor Bellingham, Mistress Hibbins, Hester Prynne, Arthur Dimmesdale, Pearl Prynne, Roger Chillingworth
genres: Classics, Historical, Novels, High School, Read For School, School, Classic Literature, Historical Fiction, Literature, Fiction
ratings_count: 840857
places: Massachusetts, Boston, Massachusetts, The United States of America
publisher: Ohio State University Press