The Scarlet LetterEnriched Classics offer readers accessible editions of great works of literature enhanced by helpful notes and commentary. Each book includes educational tools alongside the text, enabling students and readers alike to gain a deeper and more developed understanding of the writer and their work. Set two centuries before Hawthorne’s own time, The Scarlet Letter follows heroine Hester Prynne who is compelled by her Puritan society to wear a scarlet letter ‘A’ on her clothes as a symbol of her sin: adultery. Accompanied by colorful and flawed characters, including the Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale who broods over a long-hidden secret, and Hester’s husband Roger Chillingsworth who thirsts for vengeance, The Scarlet Letter, America’s first psychological novel, is a masterpiece that explores humanity’s unending struggles with pride, sin, and guilt. Enriched Classics enhance your engagement by introducing and explaining the historical and cultural significance of the work, the author’s personal history, and what impact this book had on subsequent scholarship. Each book includes discussion questions that help clarify and reinforce major themes and reading recommendations for further research. Read with confidence. |
Contents
Letter | 5 |
THE PRISONDOOR | 55 |
3 | 69 |
4 | 75 |
THE INTERVIEW | 81 |
5 | 91 |
6 | 103 |
The Governors Hall | 117 |
A Forest Walk | 219 |
The Pastor and His Parishioner | 227 |
A Flood of Sunshine | 239 |
The Child at the BrookSide | 247 |
The Minister in a Maze | 257 |
The New England Holiday | 271 |
The Procession | 283 |
The Revelation of the Scarlet Letter | 297 |
The ElfChild and the Minister | 127 |
The Leech | 139 |
The Leech and His Patient | 153 |
The Interior of a Heart | 165 |
The Ministers Vigil | 175 |
Another View of Hester | 189 |
Hester and the Physician | 201 |
PEARL | 209 |
Conclusion | 309 |
Nathaniel Hawthorne on The Scarlet Letter | 317 |
Notes | 327 |
Interpretive Notes | 343 |
Critical Excerpts | 353 |
Questions for Discussion | 369 |
Suggestions for the Interested Reader | 371 |
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Common terms and phrases
Anne Hutchinson Antinomian appeared Arthur Dimmesdale aspect beauty beheld beneath Blithedale Romance bosom Boston breast brook brought character child clergyman cried Custom House dark deep Dimmesdale’s divine Dost thou earth embroidered England evil eyes face father forest gaze gleam Governor Bellingham guilty hand hast hath Hawthorne Hawthorne's heart heaven Hester Prynne hither human ignominy imagination infant kind knew less light little Pearl look magistrates man’s market-place Massachusetts Massachusetts Bay Colony ment mind minister minister’s Mistress Hibbins moral mother Nathaniel Hawthorne nature never novel Old Manse old Roger Chillingworth once pale passion physician poor Prynne’s Puritan Reverend Salem Salem Witch Trials scaffold scarlet letter scene secret seemed seen shadow shame sinful smile soul speak spirit step stood strange sunshine symbol sympathy thee things thought tion token torture town Transcendentalist truth Twice-Told Tales voice whispered wild Wilson Wilt thou woman yonder young