Nathaniel_Hawthorne

Nathaniel Hawthorne Nathaniel Hawthorne’s novel, The Scarlet Letter is based on the puritanical custom of affixing a giant red, letter “A” to anybody that committed adultery. The novel centers on the adulterous Puritan Hester Prynne. Throughout the novel, she loyally refuses to reveal the name of her partner. The novel is generally regarded as Hawthorne’s masterpiece and as one of the classics of American literature. However, it also reflects the typical, partriarchical attitude of both puritan society and of contemporary society. For instance, even the definition of the word, “Scarlet” carries with it sexist connotations. Scarlet as defined in Webster’s New World Dictionary is “sinful, specifically whorish” (Webster 532). In sum, the main plot of the novel is this: Hester Prynne is a women living in seventeenth-century New England. She is convicted of committing adultery. At the beginning of the novel, Hester is forced to wear a scarlet letter, A, on her dress as a sign of her guilt. She steadfastly refuses to reveal the identity of her adulterous partner. However, her husband eventually realizes who her lover is and takes revenge on him. Eventually, her dying lover publicly admits his part in the adultery. Primarily the novel hester, woman, novel, women, sin, own, prynne, however, been, adultery, society, letter, scarlet, lover, dimmesdale, according, world, ultimately, stereotypical, sinned, sex, romantic, love, hawthorne, everything, end, because, viewpoint, sins, seems, romantics, puritan, one