The Scarlet Letter.

The Scarlet Letter
By Nathaniel Hawthorne

1804-1864
"No man for any considerable period can wear one face to himself and another to the multitude, without finally getting bewildered as to which may be the true".

The Scarlet Letter, Chapter 20



Published in 1850, The Scarlet Letter is set in Boston of the mid-1600s and tells the story of Hester Prynne, who has committed adultery and must wear a scarlet "A" publicly as punishment. When her husband, whom she believed to be lost at sea, suddenly reappears, he resolves to discover the identity of the father of Hester's child, but Hester steadfastly refuses to identify her lover. Through the use of rich symbolism and supernatural events, Hawthorne shows the destructive effects of guilt and revenge. Though set in a Puritan community centuries ago, the moral dilemmas of personal responsibility and consuming emotions of guilt, anger, loyalty and revenge are timeless.