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The Scarlet Letter

The Scarlet Letter

Nathaniel Hawthorne

In The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne, adulteress Hester Prynne must wear a scarlet A to mark her shame. Her lover, Arthur Dimmesdale, remains unidentified and is wracked with guilt, while her husband, Roger Chillingworth, seeks revenge. The Scarlet Letter's symbolism helps create a powerful drama in Puritan Boston: a kiss, evil, sin, nature, the scarlet letter, and the punishing scaffold. Nathaniel Hawthorne's masterpiece is a classic example of the human conflict between emotion and intellect.

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Book Summary

Nathaniel Hawthorne Biography

Early Years

New Challenges and Writings

About The Scarlet Letter

Summary, Analysis, and Original Text by Chapter

The Custom-House: Introductory

Chapter 1: The Prison-Door

Chapter 2: The Market-Place

Chapter 3: The Recognition

Chapter 4: The Interview

Chapter 5: Hester at Her Needle

Chapter 6: Pearl

Chapter 7: The Governor's Hall

Chapter 8: The Elf-Child and the Minister

Chapter 9: The Leech

Chapter 10: The Leech and His Patient

Chapter 11: The Interior of a Heart

Chapter 12: The Minister's Vigil

Chapter 13: Another View of Hester

Chapter 14: Hester and the Physician

Chapter 15: Hester and Pearl

Chapter 16: A Forest Walk

Chapter 17: The Pastor and His Parishioner

Chapter 18: A Flood of Sunshine

Chapter 19: The Child at the Brook-Side

Chapter 20: The Minister in a Maze

Chapter 21: The New England Holiday

Chapter 22: The Procession

Chapter 23: The Revelation of the Scarlet Letter

Chapter 24: Conclusion

Character List

Character Map

Character Analysis

Hester Prynne

Arthur Dimmesdale

Roger Chillingworth

Pearl

Critical Essays

Symbolism in The Scarlet Letter

The Puritan Setting of The Scarlet Letter

The Scarlet Letter as a Gothic Romance

The Structure of The Scarlet Letter

Study and Homework Help

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Famous Quotes from The Scarlet Letter

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Quiz

Essay Questions

Practice Projects

Cite this Literature Note

Take the Quiz Hawthorne supposedly found the parchment sheets that contained the historical manuscript on which the novel is based in
  1. a shoebox under his bed.
  2. a file cabinet at the Essex Historical Society.
  3. the Salem Custom House, along with the faded scarlet A.
  4. a box filled with his father's papers.
Quiz
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