The Scarlet Letter
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Author | Nathaniel Hawthorne |
|---|---|
| Publisher | Dover Publications |
| Released | May 2, 1994 (reprint edition) |
The Scarlet Letter published in 1850, is a Gothic American romance novel written by Nathaniel Hawthorne; generally considered to be his masterpiece. Set in Puritan New England (specifically Boston) in the seventeenth century, it tells the story of Hester Prynne, who gives birth after committing adultery, refuses to name the father, and struggles to create a new life of repentance and dignity. Throughout, Hawthorne explores the issues of grace, legalism, and guilt.
Contents |
[edit] Preface
The story of The Scarlet Letter is framed by a preface (called "The Custom-House") in which the writer, a stand-in for Hawthorne, claims to have found documents and papers that substantiate the evidence concerning Prynne and her situation. The narrator says that when he touched the letter it gave off a "burning heat...as if the letter were not of red rose, but red hot iron." Historically, Hawthorne worked in the Salem Custom-House several times, losing his job as a result of administration changes. There is no factual basis for the discovery described in the book, however, and the preface is properly read as a literary device.
[edit] Plot summary
Hester Prynne, the story's protagonist, is a young married woman whose husband was presumed lost at sea on the journey to the New World two years before the main action. She begins a secret adulterous relationship with Arthur Dimmesdale, the highly regarded town minister, and becomes pregnant with a female love child, whom she names Pearl. She is then publicly vilified and forced to wear the letter "A" on the breast of her clothing to identify her as an adulteress, but her loyalty refuses to reveal the identity of her lover. She accepts the punishment with grace and refuses to be defeated by the shame inflicted upon her by her society. Hester's virtue becomes increasingly evident to the reader, while the self-described "virtuous" community (especially the power structure) vilifies her, and is shown in varying states self-regard and moral decay. Hester regains her community's favor because she does good deeds and her admirable character becomes appreciated by the end of her life.
Dimmesdale, knowing that the punishment will be shame or execution, does not admit his relationship with Prynne. In his role as minister he dutifully pillories and interrogates Hester in the town square about the identity of the father. He maintains his righteous image, but internally he is dogged by his guilt and the shame of his weakness and hypocrisy. He is admired while Hester receives social contempt. Prynne's husband, Roger Chillingworth, reappears without disclosing his identity to any but Hester. Suspecting the identity of Hester's partner, he becomes Dimmesdale's caretaker and exacts his revenge by exacerbating his guilt, while keeping him alive physically. It has been speculated by some [citation needed] that Hawthorne hinted that Dimmesdale had been poisoned, by Chillingworth - even stating that the townspeople suspected as much. Ultimately Dimmesdale, driven to full public disclosure by his ill health, collapses and dies, delivering himself from his earthly tormentor and personal anguish.
[edit] Literary, theatrical, and cinematic adaptations
- 1917: A black-and-white silent film directed by Carl Harbaugh with Colleen Moore as Hester Prynne
- 1926: A silent movie directed by Victor Sjostrom and starring Lillian Gish and Lars Hanson.
- 1934: directed by Robert G. Vignola and starring Colleen Moore
- Der Scharlachrote Buchstabe 1972 directed by Wim Wenders in German
- Meg Foster and John Heard star in a 1979 PBS version.
- The 1993 novel, The Holder of the World by Bharati Mukherjee re-wrote the story, placing it in present day Boston, Colonial America, and seventeenth century India during the spread of the British East India Company.
- The 1995 film, The Scarlet Letter is directed by Roland Joffé and stars Demi Moore as Hester. This version is "freely adapted" from Hawthorne according to the opening credits and takes liberties with the original story.
- The Red Letter Plays (In The Blood produced in 1999, and Fucking A, produced in 2000) by playwright Suzan-Lori Parks, re-wrote the story placing it in both contemporary New York and Houston.
- In 2001, a musical stage adaptation premiered at the Fringe Festival in Edinburgh, Scotland. The show was authored by Stacey Mancine, Daniel Koloski, and Simon Gray. It was directed by Michael Bahar, and produced by Eric Braverman and Blue Line Arts, Inc. The cast included Marisa Mickel, Mark Sanders, Graham Stevens, and Vivienne Cleary.
- In the Tool song The Grudge the line 'Unable to forgive your scarlet letterman' is a reference to the novel.
- The band Jars of Clay have a song entitled Scarlet on their album The Eleventh Hour, which refers to the novel.
- The band Casting Crowns alludes to the Scarlet Letter in Does Anybody Hear Her from the album Lifesong, "They can't see past her scarlet letter, and we've never even met her".
- The band As Blood Runs Black titled their song Hester Prynne including lyrics that hint towards sin.
- In the romantic novel Suzanne's Diary for Nicholas, author James Patterson refers to the scarlet letter at one part.
[edit] External links
- The Scarlet Letter (2001 musical dramatisation)
- The original text of The Scarlet Letter hosted by the University of Virginia
- Hawthorne in Salem Website Page on Hester and Pearl in The Scarlet Letter
- The Scarlet Letter, available freely at Project Gutenberg
- Read The Scarlet Letter and other classics at American Literature
- The Acrostic Scarlet Letter – humorous series of acrostics about the main characters.
- Free typeset PDF ebook of The Scarlet Letter, optimized for printingda:Det flammende bogstav
de:Der scharlachrote Buchstabe es:La letra escarlata fa:داغ ننگ fr:La Lettre écarlate ko:주홍글씨 it:La lettera scarlatta zh:紅字 (小說)
