<p><b>What makes this version unique? </b></p><ul><li><b>The original 1850 text of the book.</b></li><li><b>Easy to read (special edition) carefully curated for the reader's enjoyment.</b></li><li><b>Summary & Character list.</b></li><li><b>Analysis (Based on the course of events in the novel).</b></li><li><b>Biography of the author.</b></li></ul><p><b>Use the "Look Inside" feature.<br>---------------<br><br>“She had not known the weight until she felt the freedom.” ― Nathaniel Hawthorne, The Scarlet Letter.</b></p>Nathaniel Hawthorne's 1850 novel "The Scarlet Letter": A work of <b>historical fiction</b>. Taking place between 1642 and 1649 in Puritan Massachusetts Bay Colony, the novel tells the <b>story of Hester Prynne</b>, who <b>has a daughter through an affair</b> and then <b>struggles to create a new life</b> of repentance and dignity. <b>This</b> <b>book presents</b> a number of <b>religious and historic allusions</b> that explore concepts such as legalism, sin, and guilt.<br><br>A very <b>large portion of its burden</b> comes from unacknowledged sin, as shown in the remorse and cowardice, and also in the suffering that the Rev. <b>Arthur Dimmesdale</b> 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, <b>prepares her to escape the long repression</b> by slipping back into sin again when she is about to leave. <b>Roger Chillingworth</b> is the embodiment of subtle and refined revenge.<br><br><b>The book</b>, despite having a tone and content similar to some of the short stories, was of a more startling and dramatic nature, and its <b>strangeness brought it to a greater audience</b> than any of them. Even though it was misunderstood in some quarters, it was seen as having a special quality, and <b>Hawthorne's reputation became national</b>.<br><br><b>1 of 100 Books You Should Read</b>