Hawthorne is an excellent writer and wrote a variety of fiction. He used his stories to portraying the changing values in society during a time when people of the society were much less tolerant.
The story, A Scarlett Letter, has many twists and turns! Picture a time frame when people lived by what they felt were right and wrong. A time frame when values were stronger than they are today and certain acts, certain deeds would never have been accepted.
This review gives a general outline of what I consider to be the main points of The Scarlet Letter. The book however is filled with imagery, symbolism and a town and individuals coming to see themselves as fallible.
Enter a priest named Dimmesdale, who compromises his vows. He meets and makes love to Hester Prynne, a married woman who arrived in England before her husband. A baby is conceived of this union, little Pearl. The priest filled with inner torment at not being able to acknowledge his lover and child, torn between her and his vows.
A crime in the days when it was to have occurredHester is put on display and ordered to always wear upon her garments the Scarlet Letter ’’A’’ - the acknowledged symbol of adultery because she refuses to give the name of the father. Imprisoned, she ornately decorates the ’’A’’ upon her clothing - they could force her to wear it but what she did with it, was her own, she chose to own it.
Her husband, now going by the name Chillingsworth, arrives in time to be a part of the crowd when she is publicly ridiculed, he swears her to secrecy of his identity. In time, the husband Chillingsworth, a physician, moves in with the priest whose health is failing. In time, both Chillingsworth and Dimmesdale learn the identity of the other.
The priest anguished by guilt gives a sermon, rips open his robe and on his flesh is the symbol ’’A’’. He admits his identity, acknowledges Hester and Pearl, then dies.
This does not summarize the book in entirety. It provides only a small glimpse into the world as it once could have been. The book itself provides vivid imagery and details that enhance the book tremendously.
It is an excellent book and I highly recommend it to anyone who is intrigued by mystery, romance and reading for entertainment.