The Scarlet LetterWhen it was first published in 1850, The Scarlet Letter was immediately recognized as a masterpiece. It was, the novelist Henry James wrote in 1879, 'the finest piece ofimaginative writing yet put forth in the country ... and the best of it was that the thing was absolutely American; it belonged to the soil, to the air; it came out of the very heart of New England." What The Scarlet Letter came out of, first of all, was the New England past. |
Contents
One The PrisonDoor | 9 |
Three The Recognition | 20 |
Four The Interview | 29 |
Copyright | |
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Ann Hutchinson answered Hester Art thou Arthur Dimmesdale aspect beauty beheld beneath bosom breast brook brought CHAPTER character child clergyman cried crowd dark deep Dimmes Dimmesdale's Dost thou earth earthly embroidered England evil eyes face Father felt forest frown gaze gleam Governor Bellingham grave gray grew guilty hand hath heart heaven Hester Prynne hither human ignominy impulse infant kind King's Chapel knew laughed light little Pearl look magistrates market-place mercy mind minister minister's Mistress Hibbins moral nature never old Roger Chillingworth once pale passion physi physician pillory poor Prynne's Puritan replied revealed reverence Reverend Roger Chilling ruff scaffold scarlet letter scene secret seemed seen shadow shame sinful smile solemn sorrow soul speak spirit stern stood strange sunshine symbol sympathy tell thee thing thou hast thought thy mother token torture town tremulous truth voice whispered wild Wilson Wilt thou witchcraft woman yonder young