The Scarlet Letter
Summary
"The Scarlet Letter" by Nathaniel Hawthorne is a historical novel published in 1850. Set in Puritan Massachusetts during the 1640s, it follows Hester Prynne, who bears a child out of wedlock and must wear a scarlet "A" as punishment for adultery. While she refuses to name the father, her long-lost husband arrives in town seeking revenge. The story explores themes of sin, guilt, and redemption as secrets threaten to destroy lives in this unforgiving community. (This is an automatically generated summary.)
Rights & provenance
Public domain in the USA.
EU distribution not verified
Subjects (16)
- Category: Classics of Literature
- Category: Novels
- Psychological fiction
- Category: American Literature
- Banned Books from Anne Haight's list
- Historical fiction
- Revenge -- Fiction
- Married women -- Fiction
- Adultery -- Fiction
- PS
- Illegitimate children -- Fiction
- Triangles (Interpersonal relations) -- Fiction
- Clergy -- Fiction
- Women immigrants -- Fiction
- Puritans -- Fiction
- Boston (Mass.) -- History -- Colonial period, ca. 1600-1775 -- Fiction
