num_pages: 272
description: An ardent young woman, her cowardly lover, and her aging, vengeful husband--these are the central characters in this stark drama of the conflict between passion and convention in the harsh, Puritan world of seventeenth-century Boston. Tremendously moving and rich in psychological insight, this tragic novel of shame and redemption reveals Hawthorne's concern with New England's past and its influence on American attitudes. From his dramatic illumination of the struggle between mind and heart, dogma and self-reliance, he fashioned one of the masterpieces of fiction."The one American literary work which comes as near to perfection as is granted a man to bring his achievements." -Arnold BennettThis edition features a new introduction by Hawthorne scholar and biographer Brenda Wineapple, and includes an early Hawthorne story that contains the germ of The Scarlet Letter.
language: English
title: The Scarlet Letter
titlecomplete: The Scarlet Letter
characters: Pearl Prynne, Governor Bellingham, Hester Prynne, Roger Chillingworth, Arthur Dimmesdale, Mistress Hibbins
genres: Fiction, Classics, Historical, Read For School, Classic Literature, Historical Fiction, High School, Literature, Novels, School
ratings_count: 840842
places: Boston, Massachusetts, Massachusetts, The United States of America
publisher: Signet Classics