The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne Published by Ticknor and Fields on March 16, 1850
Genres: Classics, Fiction / Gothic, Fiction / Historical / General, Fiction / Romance / General
Pages: 212
Format: Audiobook
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In Nathaniel Hawthorne's dark novel, The Scarlet Letter, a single sinful act ruins the lives of three people. None more so than Hester Prynne, a young, beautiful, and dignified woman, who conceived a child out of wedlock and receives the public punishment of having to always wear a scarlet "A" on her clothing.
She refuses to reveal the father of her child, which could lighten her sentence. Her husband, the aptly-named Roger Chillingworth, who Hester thought had died in a shipwreck but was actually being held captive by Native Americans, arrives at the exact moment of her deepest public shaming and vows to get revenge. Her lover, Arthur Dimmesdale, remains safely unidentified, but is wracked with guilt.
Though originally published in 1850, the story is set in seventeenth-century Massachusetts among Hawthorne's Puritan ancestors. In The Scarlet Letter, he created a story that highlighted both their weaknesses and their strengths. His knowledge of their beliefs and his admiration for their way of life was balanced by his concerns about their rigid and oppressive rules.
I’m getting ready to listen to (I literally already had it checked out!) Hester by Laurie Lico Albanese (Book Girls Guide challenge), which was inspired by Hester Prynne in The Scarlet Letter, when I had a thought. That can sometimes be dangerous, but here we are. I remembered reading this book in either Freshman or Sophomore Honors English back in the super early 90s. I don’t remember much about the context of the why we read this book, the takeaways in class, the discussions; I just remember vague highlights of what the book was about. I think I remember liking the story, I think? So why not listen to it all these decades later to get myself geared up for Hester? Like I said, thoughts can be dangerous, and here I am committing myself to 10 hours of listening to The Scarlet Letter.
Things I have forgotten over the intervening years, having read classics both in high school and in college, is the absolute overwhelming amount of words. All. The. Words. I mean, why use five or six words to describe or explain something when you can find a hundred to do the same thing? While not filled with the difficult-to-sort-through Old English word choices, there were tons of word choices to muddle through. At least with the audiobook, I could space out for a moment here and there and still carry the story. Maybe back in those early teen years I was less jaded. Or perhaps I wiped the struggle from my memory. I mean, I think I remember liking the story, right? Though, to be fair, StoryGraph is saying that it’s a genuinely risky fit. Here we go!
First, for giggles, if you need a rabbit hole for today, go read negative reviews for this book. It’s like people don’t realize that, multiple generations ago, people spoke, wrote, and honestly thought differently (Puritan culture). I can complain about all. the. words. while still respecting the cultural significance of the time period it was written in AND the time period it was written about. I mean, the lingo today is very different from the lingo of my generation. It changes. Doesn’t mean I appreciate or like it, but I can respect it. Though I think my favorite was ‘This book certainly exists!’ or ‘could’ve been an email’. But if you set aside the reluctance to read all the words- thousands that would be unnecessary in today’s English- the themes still stand. Judgment, the belittling of women, guilt, shame, image above all. There’s a lot of nuggets that can be unpacked, sat with, and applied. If you can get past the words. All. The. Words. Honestly, yes, it’s a difficult book to read (legit skip the five hundred hours of intro chapter), but it’s worth the investment. It’s been almost 200 years since this book was written, and while our language has changed and our ideas of ‘wrong’ have changed, but we are still just as judgemental about those whose lives are different than ours. And that’s a theme that I feel like can withstand such reviews as ‘turning up at a yap contest and finding out nathaniel hawthorne is ur opponent’.
About Nathaniel Hawthorne
Nathaniel Hawthorne was a 19th century American novelist and short story writer. He is seen as a key figure in the development of American literature for his tales of the nation’s colonial history.
Shortly after graduating from Bowdoin College, Hathorne changed his name to Hawthorne. Hawthorne anonymously published his first work, a novel titled Fanshawe, in 1828. In 1837, he published Twice-Told Tales and became engaged to painter and illustrator Sophia Peabody the next year. He worked at a Custom House and joined a Transcendentalist Utopian community, before marrying Peabody in 1842. The couple moved to The Old Manse in Concord, Massachusetts, later moving to Salem, the Berkshires, then to The Wayside in Concord. The Scarlet Letter was published in 1850, followed by a succession of other novels. A political appointment took Hawthorne and family to Europe before returning to The Wayside in 1860. Hawthorne died on May 19, 1864, leaving behind his wife and their three children.
Much of Hawthorne’s writing centers around New England and many feature moral allegories with a Puritan inspiration. His work is considered part of the Romantic movement and includes novels, short stories, and a biography of his friend, the United States President Franklin Pierce.
I give this review a solid A. =) ♡
Ahh thank you! Miss your face~