The Scarlet Letter: A Romance (American Library) - Softcover

Hawthorne, Nathaniel

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0140390197 ISBN 13: 9780140390193

Publisher: Penguin Classics, 1983

Synopsis

Hailed by Henry James as "the finest piece of imaginative writing yet put forth in the country, " Nathaniel Hawthorne's "The Scarlet Letter" reaches to our nation's historical and moral roots for the material of great tragedy. Set in an early New England colony, the novel shows the terrible impact a single, passionate act has on the lives of three members of the community: the defiant Hester Prynne; the fiery, tortured Reverend Dimmesdale; and the obsessed, vengeful Chillingworth. With "The Scarlet Letter," Hawthorne became the first American novelist to forge from our Puritan heritage a universal classic, a masterful exploration of humanity's unending struggle with sin, guilt and pride.

About this title

Review:

"[Nathaniel Hawthorne] recaptured, for his New England, the essence of Greek tragedy." --Malcolm Cowley

From the Publisher:

Contains an 8-page plate section with long-unavailable pictures and drawings relating to Nathaniel Hawthorne and The Scarlet Letter.

Thoroughly edited and extensively annotated

Includes a 10,000-word section on Nathaniel Hawthorne's life and works, with a longer chapter on The Scarlet Letter, anecdotes, critical perspectives, adaptations and spin-offs

Lavishly produced on natural, high-quality paper, and affordably priced

About this edition

• Publisher: Penguin Classics
• Publication date: 1983
• ISBN 10: 0140390197
• ISBN 13: 9780140390193
• Binding: Mass Market Paperback
• Number of pages: 272
• Editor: Connolly Thomas