3 Review(s)

An adulterous affair in a harsh Puritan community leads to disaster, brilliantly captured in Nathaniel Hawthorne’s classic, The Scarlet Letter. Summary of the Book Hester Prynne wanted nothing more than to be loved. However, in 17th century Boston, love came from culture, orthodoxy and a closed mind. There was no place in that society for an open-minded love, one that knew no borders. For her love, she indulged in an illicit affair, one that would haunt her forever. Hester became pregnant, and conceived a daughter. Throughout the course of this novel, she is plagued by guilt, sin and the weight of the legal treachery rampant at the time. Ahead of its time for its themes, this book is considered to be Hawthorne’s finest work. About Nathaniel Hawthorne Nathaniel Hawthorne was an American novelist and short story writer. He is also remembered for writing The House of the Seven Gables, The Marble Faun, The Blithedale Romance and Twice-Told Tales. Media Note Of all its film adaptations, The Scarlet Letter was best adapted in the 1926 drama film starring Lillian Gish, Lars Hanson and Henry B. Walthall. It was more recently adapted into a film in 1995, starring Demi Moore, Gary Oldman and Robert Duvall. Cultural Importance of the Work The Scarlet Letter has influenced a plethora of fiction, music and art since its publication, including: John Updike’s Roger’s Version, Hugues Merle’s The Scarlet Letter and the Metallica song, Thorn Within.