Scarlet Letter

A detailed Summary of Scarlet Letter

The Scarlet Letter, written by Nathaniel Hawthorne, is considered to be one of the greatest examples of true American literature. Its excellency of topic, characterization, and description has made it a permanent part of our history. Set in Salem, Massachusetts in the 1600s, it describes the life of Hester Prynne, a Puritan woman whose existence is marred by sin. The real genius of the book is found in its description. Hawthorne makes allusion, symbolism, and romanticism work toward one effect, making the reader feel as if she was there, watching it all happen, living through Hester's struggle.

The story opens as a woman, Hester Prynne, is leaving a jail and heading toward a large scaffold in the middle of Salem town, where she, along with her newborn child, Pearl, is put on display as an example to all the people, to discourage them from committing such a sin as adultery. The sentence is given by a number of priests who feel compassion for her because her husband had been thought dead for so many years. She is ordered to wear a scarlet letter, "A" for adultery, on her breast for the duration of her stay in Salem. She is perversely unwilling to leave the place of her shame and outcast when she could easily have sailed away to E

Feelings such that are unexpected for the modern day reader who expects to sympathize rather than empathize with the characters because of their differences of situation. A teenage Baptist reader in Danbury, Connecticut in 1996 expects to have little in common with a Puritan woman living in Salem, Massachusetts in the seventeenth century, however she finds marked similarities between their situations. These similarities can be explained by one simple thought, that people never change. We all carry a mark of wrongdoing, be it visible like Hester's "A" or a convict's tatoo, or be it internal, like Arthur's guilt or a schoolgirl's paranoia when she's snuck out of her house. These marks are less severe now, however, because of the impersonal attitude of many of the people around modern day readers. It may be hard for them to understand what it would be like to have an entire community breathing down your neck, watching you to save you from Hell. They also may take for granted the !

One of the best aspects of this book is its lack of superfluous events. Rather than tell the reader about every chance meeting between Hester and Arthur, he chooses only a few, well-spaced events to portray their entire relationship. The most vivid description in the book is one of these chance meetings. Hester and Pearl chance to meet Arthur at the scaffold late at night. He talks of how it is not possible for them to stand hand in hand in broad daylight, how he cannot claim them as his own until he is claimed by God and they stand trial together.

Arthur and Roger held their secret shame and bitterness in, forcing themselves to become completely different people. In the end, Hester was the only one who survived the ordeal, physically, socially, and emotionally. She kept her self-respect together, and that proved to be the most valuable asset of all. Hester was reminded of her sin every day, all of the time, by the blaze of crimson upon her chest, just as the reader is reminded of it every time she hears the title of the book. It is not something one can get away from, but it also isn't something which cannot be handled in some way.

The lesson to be learned from

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Approximate Word count = 1454
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: Novels