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The Scarlet Letter

by Nathaniel Hawthorne

Puritans crowd the prison door as Hester emerges with her baby.

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Original language: EnglishLevel: Advanced2,833 characters · ≈ 4 minSource: Project Gutenberg

Opening lines

A throng of bearded men, in sad-coloured garments and grey steeple-crowned hats, intermixed with women, some wearing hoods, and others bareheaded, was assembled in front of a wooden edifice, the door of which was heavily timbered with oak, and studded with iron spikes.

The founders of a new colony, whatever Utopia of human virtue and happiness they might originally project, have invariably recognised it among their earliest practical necessities to allot a portion of the virgin soil as a cemetery, and another portion as the site of a prison. In accordance with this rule it may safely be assumed that the forefathers of Boston had built the first prison-house somewhere in the vicinity of…

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About the book

The Scarlet Letter is a historical novel by Nathaniel Hawthorne, published in 1850 and set in the Puritan Massachusetts Bay Colony between 1642 and 1649. It follows Hester Prynne, who conceives a daughter with a man she is not married to and must wear a scarlet letter 'A' for adultery while struggling to build a life of repentance and dignity. Exploring themes of legalism, sin, and guilt, it is considered a classic of American literature.

About the author

Nathaniel Hawthorne (né Hathorne; July 4, 1804 – May 19, 1864) was an American novelist and short story writer, born in Salem, Massachusetts, whose works often focus on history, morality, and religion. The Scarlet Letter, published in 1850, is among his best-known novels.

Summary prepared with AI from Wikipedia: The Scarlet Letter (CC BY-SA)

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