"The Scarlet Letter", "The House of the Seven Gables", "Young Goodman Brown," and "Rappaccini's Daughter" are staples of high school English classes across the country. Nathaniel Hawthorne's works and characters have left a lasting impression on writers, scholars, and readers around the world. "Critical Companion to Nathaniel Hawthorne" offers critical entries on Hawthorne's novels, short stories, travel writing, criticism, and other works, as well as portraits of characters, including Hester Prynne and Roger Chillingworth.
The Scarlet Letter
by Nathaniel Hawthorne
In the early days of Puritan Boston Hester Prynne braves the stigma of adultery by wearing the
embroidered scarlet "A" on her clothing.
A somber and compelling tale of love, pride, and moral struggle, The Scarlet Letter is considered
Nathaniel Hawthorne's masterwork. A story of passion and atonement in Puritan New England,
Hawthorne's story grows out of a radical ambivalence to America's spiritual, intellectual, and
imaginative heritage.
