Set in the harsh Puritan community of seventeenth-century Boston, this tale of an adulterous entanglement that results in an illegitimate birth ...Show synopsisSet in the harsh Puritan community of seventeenth-century Boston, this tale of an adulterous entanglement that results in an illegitimate birth reveals Nathaniel Hawthorne's concerns with the tension between the public and the private selves. Publicly disgraced and ostracized, Hester Prynne draws on her inner strength and certainty of spirit to emerge as the first true heroine of American fiction. Arthur Dimmesdale stands as a classic study of a seld divided; trapped by the rules of society, he suppresses his passion and disavows his lover, Hester, and their daughter, Pearl. As Nina Baym writes in her Introduction, "The Scarlet Letter" was not written as realistic, historical fiction, but as a "romance", a creation of the imagination that discloses the truth of the human heart.Hide synopsis
I am not done with the book - I am about half-way through. But I am enjoying this book even though the book is a realistic view of women's rights set during the 1600's America. It is not easy reading but the book has given me topics to review and contemplate.
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I found ?The Scarlet Letter? to be first rate. Well written and descriptive of the period. I?m sorry that it took me so many years to get around to reading it. Most people read it in high school.
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I really loved this book in college. Hester really is a hero readers can admire. She shows more courage and dignity than any of the male characters in the book. Certainly she has flaws, but her strength over shadows them. This story of love and redemption is a classic tale that should be read by ...
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