A Review of The Scarlet Letter and Other Writings by Nathaniel Hawthorne
By: Zoya Ahmad
Recently, I have been reading Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter and Other Writings. I had mistakenly purchased the book thinking it was a needed school material, but I was later informed that this was not the case for those in Ms O’brien’s class.
I decided to put good use to the novel and see what the publicity surrounding it was about, by reading it. The Scarlet Letter and Other Writings consists of Hawthorne’s beloved novel The Scarlet Letter, four The Scarlet Letter related writings, and critical evaluations and reviews of Hawthorne’s novel. These reviews span from detailed analyses of Hawthorne’s mention of 17th century Puritanic Christianity, to persuasive essays as to why Hawthorne was a feminist with examples from his literary works. In this blog post I will solely be focusing on The Scarlet Letter, as it is the mitochondria of the cell that is The Scarlet Letter and Other Writings, although I do think the additional texts and reviews are quite entertaining.
The Scarlet Letter takes place in 17th century Boston with people of the Puritan faith. From the first chapter, the scene is set and instantly the reader feels a sense of gloom and weariness- fitting for the content of the first chapter. The main character, Hester Prynne, has been charged with committing adultery, and having a child out of wedlock. Hester has been sentenced to public shaming, and to wear a gown with an A embroidered in gold and scarlet threads. We can infer that the A on the breast of Hester’s gown, stands for “Adulterer”. Hester has been kept in prison, and on the day of her public shaming, she emerges onto the raised platform (called a “Scaffold”) in the gown with the scarlet letter, clutching her child onto her chest. The onlookers shame and insult Hester as she stands, yet her mind wanders off to her days of innocence and youth. Suddenly, she spots her husband among the crowd (In the following chapters, Hester’s husband refers to himself as Roger Chillingworth). Her husband had sent Hester to America with the promise that he would follow her there, yet he never fulfilled his promise. From this information we are able to hold a sense of sympathy for Hester, and through the years of waiting for her husband, it makes sense why she would give in to any temptations. Hester is given the opportunity to be free from her punishment, under the circumstance that she reveals the father of her child. Hester refuses, and is led back into the prison.
Roger Chillingworth, Hester’s husband, (who presses Hester to not reveal his identity so it is unknown by the rest of the community that Hester’s husband has returned), visits Hester’s prison cell to provide medical help. Roger rants about how he thought he could keep his wife happy, and how he wants Hester to live so he can have his revenge. Hester refers to Roger as “The Black Man”due to his demonic desire for revenge. Roger makes it clear he will find out who the father of Hester’s child is. This is important information as it helps to distinguish Roger’s behavior throughout the rest of the book.
Roger Chillingworth, being a smart man, begins his search as to who the father of Hester’s child is, and theorizes that the Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale is the father. Chillingworth decides to stalk Reverend Dimmesdale from sunrise to sunset. Chillingworth observes a strange red mark on Reverend Dimmesdales’ chest, and Reverend Dimmesdale grows wary of Chillingworth’s obsession with his life. Seven years of this ensue. Throughout the rest of the book we uncover clues as to who the father of Hester’s child may be, if Roger Chillingworth ever gets revenge on the father, and how Hester and Pearl manage to change their lives as scapegoats from the community.
The Scarlet Letter and Other Writings is a wonderful book that is ultimately a time capsule into the 17th century. The Scarlet Letter explores how one sin committed in 17th century Puritan Boston, contrasts to a lifetime of ignominy by the community and by the sinner’s self. With detailed imagery and explanations of emotions, you feel as if you are right there inside the book, watching everything happen. After finishing the initial Scarlet Letter story, there are additional writings with alternate endings, and authoritative reviews and theories to the story, just in case you can’t get enough. I would recommend The Scarlet Letter to those who enjoy reading literature published in the 1800’s and who enjoy reading non fiction books about old timed places and events. The Scarlet Letter is also extremely historically accurate in terms of the Puritanic government and early American days, if that is something that people may find interesting. Overall, reading The Scarlet Letter and Other Writings was a great experience for me and I highly recommend it to others.
By: Zoya Ahmad
Recently, I have been reading Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter and Other Writings. I had mistakenly purchased the book thinking it was a needed school material, but I was later informed that this was not the case for those in Ms O’brien’s class.
I decided to put good use to the novel and see what the publicity surrounding it was about, by reading it. The Scarlet Letter and Other Writings consists of Hawthorne’s beloved novel The Scarlet Letter, four The Scarlet Letter related writings, and critical evaluations and reviews of Hawthorne’s novel. These reviews span from detailed analyses of Hawthorne’s mention of 17th century Puritanic Christianity, to persuasive essays as to why Hawthorne was a feminist with examples from his literary works. In this blog post I will solely be focusing on The Scarlet Letter, as it is the mitochondria of the cell that is The Scarlet Letter and Other Writings, although I do think the additional texts and reviews are quite entertaining.
The Scarlet Letter takes place in 17th century Boston with people of the Puritan faith. From the first chapter, the scene is set and instantly the reader feels a sense of gloom and weariness- fitting for the content of the first chapter. The main character, Hester Prynne, has been charged with committing adultery, and having a child out of wedlock. Hester has been sentenced to public shaming, and to wear a gown with an A embroidered in gold and scarlet threads. We can infer that the A on the breast of Hester’s gown, stands for “Adulterer”. Hester has been kept in prison, and on the day of her public shaming, she emerges onto the raised platform (called a “Scaffold”) in the gown with the scarlet letter, clutching her child onto her chest. The onlookers shame and insult Hester as she stands, yet her mind wanders off to her days of innocence and youth. Suddenly, she spots her husband among the crowd (In the following chapters, Hester’s husband refers to himself as Roger Chillingworth). Her husband had sent Hester to America with the promise that he would follow her there, yet he never fulfilled his promise. From this information we are able to hold a sense of sympathy for Hester, and through the years of waiting for her husband, it makes sense why she would give in to any temptations. Hester is given the opportunity to be free from her punishment, under the circumstance that she reveals the father of her child. Hester refuses, and is led back into the prison.
Roger Chillingworth, Hester’s husband, (who presses Hester to not reveal his identity so it is unknown by the rest of the community that Hester’s husband has returned), visits Hester’s prison cell to provide medical help. Roger rants about how he thought he could keep his wife happy, and how he wants Hester to live so he can have his revenge. Hester refers to Roger as “The Black Man”due to his demonic desire for revenge. Roger makes it clear he will find out who the father of Hester’s child is. This is important information as it helps to distinguish Roger’s behavior throughout the rest of the book.
Roger Chillingworth, being a smart man, begins his search as to who the father of Hester’s child is, and theorizes that the Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale is the father. Chillingworth decides to stalk Reverend Dimmesdale from sunrise to sunset. Chillingworth observes a strange red mark on Reverend Dimmesdales’ chest, and Reverend Dimmesdale grows wary of Chillingworth’s obsession with his life. Seven years of this ensue. Throughout the rest of the book we uncover clues as to who the father of Hester’s child may be, if Roger Chillingworth ever gets revenge on the father, and how Hester and Pearl manage to change their lives as scapegoats from the community.
The Scarlet Letter and Other Writings is a wonderful book that is ultimately a time capsule into the 17th century. The Scarlet Letter explores how one sin committed in 17th century Puritan Boston, contrasts to a lifetime of ignominy by the community and by the sinner’s self. With detailed imagery and explanations of emotions, you feel as if you are right there inside the book, watching everything happen. After finishing the initial Scarlet Letter story, there are additional writings with alternate endings, and authoritative reviews and theories to the story, just in case you can’t get enough. I would recommend The Scarlet Letter to those who enjoy reading literature published in the 1800’s and who enjoy reading non fiction books about old timed places and events. The Scarlet Letter is also extremely historically accurate in terms of the Puritanic government and early American days, if that is something that people may find interesting. Overall, reading The Scarlet Letter and Other Writings was a great experience for me and I highly recommend it to others.
I really enjoyed reading your blog post and after reading it, I think I too will read the Scarlet Letter. I bought the Scarlet Letter this year too, before I was informed that I didn't need it for class. I think that the plot is very interesting as the book was set and written in a different time period when social norms were a lot different than that of today. Your blog post was very good to read and had excellent word choice. I also liked how you told the plot in detail but didn't spoil it for the reader. Good job!
ReplyDeleteThis book seems like such an intriguing book. I appreciate how much detail you go into during your summary. It really illustrates the plot well. I also enjoy how you included a little bit about some of the reviews that the book had. It helped me to understand the summary and what the tone of the book is. Great review!
ReplyDeleteGood review. I liked the way you kept your opinion about the book minimal while you were summarizing so I could form my own opinion about the main conflict, and decide what I thought about the characters. Not going to lie though, you do use some strange sayings in your review. "Mitochondria of the cell?" But nonetheless this review captures the essence of the conflict that shapes the Scarlet Letter. Your level of detail was also rather good, giving me important and small details, but not belittling the review with nonsensical information. Overall, good job. Ghost, out.
ReplyDelete