~It’s All Been Done Before: The difficulty in reviewing a book under the category of Classic is that it feels like everyone’s already said what needed to be said. Hawthorne’s family history caused much of his interest in this time period, but his spiritual leanings toward the popular Transcendental movement precipitated this classic novel where oppression, injustice and intolerance – and their consequences – are explored in turn. Nathaniel Hawthorne’s most famous novel was published in 1850 and takes place in Puritan New England, focusing on a community where a beautiful young woman, Hester Prynne, and her illegitimate child are subject to persecution and ostracism while the mother refuses to name her co-conspirator in adultery, and the father of her child burns up with secret guilt and shame. His work is considered part of the Romantic movement and includes novels, short stories, and a biography of his friend, the United States President Franklin Pierce. Much of Hawthorne’s writing centers around New England and many feature moral allegories with a Puritan inspiration. He is seen as a key figure in the development of American literature for his tales of the nation’s colonial history. Nathaniel Hawthorne was a 19th century American novelist and short story writer.

Text from the Centenary Edition of Hawthorne's works, the most authoritative critical edition, and approved by the Center for Editions of the Modern Languague Association of America.Publisher: Paperback: Penguin Classics and Audible: Cherry Hill Publishingįormat and Price: Paperback at $12.99 and Audible Book at $7.95.

Thorough notes provide essential information on the Puritan and antebellum contexts.

A comprehensive and up-to-date bibliography.It also examines how its themes intersect with women writers of the time. Cindy Weinstein's Introduction considers the novel's autobiographical, historical, and literary contexts, and the tension between the seventeenth-century and nineteenth-century sensibilities.A new edition of one of the great American novels, Hawthorne's masterpiece, with a new wide-ranging introduction and up-to-date bibliography.This edition uses the most authoritative text, with a wide-ranging critical introduction. Determined to find her lover, he embarks on a destructive path of revenge. After a two-year absence a husband returns to find his wife wearing the scarlet 'A' for Adulteress on her breast.

The scarlet letter paperback