Scarlet Letter Summary

Pearl inherits chillingworth s money and becomes wealthy.

Scarlet letter summary. She resumes putting on the scarlet letter. After that chillingworth also dies. The scarlet letter novel by nathaniel hawthorne published in 1850. Hester is being led to the scaffold where she is to be publicly shamed for having committed adultery.

Explore a character analysis of hester prynne plot summary and important quotes. The scarlet letter summary. The nameless narrator working in the custom office finds a bunch of documents a manuscript with the scarlet letter embroidered on the cloth among them. Some witnesses noticed the scarlet a on the reverend s chest.

The scarlet letter summary. Hester is forced to wear the letter a on her gown at all times. Set in puritan massachusetts bay colony during the years 1642 to 1649 the novel tells the story of hester prynne who conceives a daughter through an affair and then struggles to create a new life of repentance and dignity containing a number of religious and historic. Although introductions are usually short notes that help readers understand the background of the novel the introduction of the scarlet letter is rather long explaining thoroughly how the book came to be written.

After a brief authorial digression about how his stuffy coworkers at the custom house kept him from writing this book until he was fired hawthorne starts us off with a tour of the jail of the mid 17th century massachusetts bay colony. When she dies she is buried near the grave of dimmesdale and they share a simple slate tombstone with the inscription on a field sable the letter a gules. The scarlet letter summary. Several years later hester returns to boston resumes wearing the scarlet letter and becomes a person to whom other women turn for solace.

Nathaniel hawthorne s 1850 historical novel the scarlet letter explores guilt revenge and redemption in colonial america. Hawthorne blends supernatural elements with psychological insight in his story of one woman s public punishment for adultery. A romance is a work of historical fiction by american author nathaniel hawthorne published in 1850. The work centers on hester prynne a married woman who is shunned after bearing a child out of wedlock but displays great compassion and resiliency.

This time around she gives hope to the other women in the. The scarlet letter opens with a long preamble about how the book came to be written. She has stitched a large scarlet a onto her dress with gold thread giving the letter an air of elegance. The nameless narrator was the surveyor of the customhouse in salem massachusetts.

In the customhouse s attic he discovered a number of documents among them a manuscript that was bundled with a scarlet gold embroidered patch of cloth in the shape of an a. The novel is considered a masterpiece of american literature and a classic moral study.