The Scarlet Letter. (Annotated): By Nathaniel Hawthorne. The Complete Original 1850 Text. "Unabridged". (English Edition)
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The original 1850 text of the book.
Easy to read (special edition) carefully curated for the reader's enjoyment.
Summary & Character list.
Analysis (Based on the course of events in the novel).
Biography of the author.

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“She had not known the weight until she felt the freedom.” ― Nathaniel Hawthorne, The Scarlet Letter.

Nathaniel Hawthorne's 1850 novel "The Scarlet Letter": A work of historical fiction. Taking place between 1642 and 1649 in Puritan Massachusetts Bay Colony, the novel tells the story of Hester Prynne, who has a daughter through an affair and then struggles to create a new life of repentance and dignity. This book presents a number of religious and historic allusions that explore concepts such as legalism, sin, and guilt.
A very large portion of its burden comes from unacknowledged sin, as shown in the remorse and cowardice, and also in the suffering that the Rev. Arthur Dimmesdale experienced. As a contrast to the concealed agony of Hester, the letter conveys a constant confession to Hester which has a double effect, a beneficial one, which makes her helpful and benevolent, tolerant and thoughtful; but also one that is unhealthful, because of its emphasis on her transgression, and subsequent isolation from her friends, prepares her to escape the long repression by slipping back into sin again when she is about to leave. Roger Chillingworth is the embodiment of subtle and refined revenge.
The book, despite having a tone and content similar to some of the short stories, was of a more startling and dramatic nature, and its strangeness brought it to a greater audience than any of them. Even though it was misunderstood in some quarters, it was seen as having a special quality, and Hawthorne's reputation became national.
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