The Scarlet Letter (Bloom's Guides)

Nathaniel Hawthorne's transcendental novel concerning the triumph of the soul in the face of intolerance continues to be one of the most widely read works in the classroom today.

CONTENTS
Introduction
Biographical Sketch
The Story Behind the Story
List of Characters
Summary and Analysis
Critical Views
- HENRY JAMES on the Puritan moral presence in Hawthorne's masterpiece
- WILLIAM BYSSONHE STEIN on Chillingworth's Faustian qualities
- HARRY LEVIN on the darkness of Hawthorne's theme
- DARREL ABEL on Dimmesdale and God's wrath
- MARK VAN DOREN on Pearl
- AUSTIN WARREN on Dimmesdale's ambivalence
- TERENCE MARTIN on Hawthorne's scaffold scenes
- GORDON HUTNER on Hawthorne's rhetoric of secrecy
- CHARLES SWANN on the role of the custom house
Works by Nathaniel Hawthorne
Annotated Bibliography
Contributors
Acknowledgments
Index