Nathaniel Hawthorne, Margaret Brantley, Brenda (AFT) Wineapple, John Stephen Martin, Rita K. Gollin - Scarlet Letter: Signature Classics

Pros: I can interpret great works of literature to serve my own whimsical purposes.
Cons: Those Puritans sometimes exhibited excessive leniency to the wayward. Scourge the wicked! Scourge ‘em hard!

I. Introduction (A Scadly Preamble) Those Puritans really knew how to get things done! Hangings, witch hunts, whippings, public shaming; man, those were the good old days! Who needs football or the World Wrestling Federation when there is such an ...

Pros: Characterization. Themes. Symbols. Motifs.
Cons: Stasis.

Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter is one of the earliest and most important American novels, apposite even today. Published in 1859, around 200 years after its subject, Hawthorne narrates a story about a forsaken woman in Puritan Salem, ...

Pros: intriguing moral questions
Cons: stifling writing style

The Scarlet Letter, a novel by Nathaniel Hawthorne, forces readers to consider the consequences of the moral misconduct of Hester Prynne and the resulting reactions of Puritan society. The court penalizes Ms. Prynne for committing...

Pros: Simply Intriguing
Cons: None...This Is A True Classic

Sin and Penance: that could be another title for this story, a story about the sin of love, and its penance. It is a compelling tale of the passion, pride, and moral struggle of two people, Hester Prynne and Arthur Dimmesdale, who in the midst of their...

Pros: Great story line, vivid detail
Cons: A little long - could have used a little less filler

A priest filled with inner torment at not being able to acknowledge his lover and child, torn between her and his vows. Picture a time frame when people lived by what they felt were right and wrong. A time frame when values were stronger than they are...

Pros: Historical, classic work
Cons: Depressing story, very difficult to read and understand, one could make a career (and many have) from trying to understand this book

Hester Prynne has committed no crime save to fall in love and give into the temptations offered forth from the man she has fallen in love with. Yet, in the Puritan society an unwed woman having sex was a serious crime, with a punishment as serious as...

Pros: Good Liturature
Cons: Too discriptive

Almost 150 years after his death, author Nathaniel Hawthorne’s legacy still lives on. Although some high school students cringe when they hear the books title, “ The Scarlet Letter,” has proven the test of time.
Set in Puritan New England in...

Pros: short in length
Cons: deals with a clergyman committing adultery

Hyatt Waggoner, a noted Hawthorne scholar, says, "The Scarlet Letter is Hawthorne's most widely read and admired novel and is also the one that has inspired the most inconclusive debate . . ." (Waggoner 118). Much of the trouble in interpreting...

Pros: Great Detail, Complex and Interesting Plot
Cons: Can be long to read

Nathaniel Hawthorne's style becomes apparent in the first symbolic novel written in America, "The Scarlet Letter." This tale is based during the Puritan times, a strict era in American history. The main character, Hester Prynn, must wear the...

Pros: intricate and enticing plot
Cons: drawn out at points

In The Scarlet Letter, the three scaffold scenes exemplify the basic structure of the novel. Each scene progresses the action of the story. The first scene introduces the major characters. The second scene reveals their secrets. The third scene...

Pros: Provides insight into Puritan customs and society
Cons: Dull, boring, and hard to understand

This book has long been praised as being a true American classic and a fine example of literature. Hearing so many people rave about how good it was, I decided to give it a try and was quite surprised at what I found.

Firstly, Hawthorne...

Pros: The crisp writing of Hawthorne, the creation of Hester Prynne
Cons: none

The Scarlet Letter is a classic novel written by Nathaniel Hawthorne. It is the first great novel to deal with the topic of the double standard in adultery. Hawthorne surprises with the creation of the first adulterous heroine in American literature....

Pros: nothing to me
Cons: everything to me

When I first began reading the Scarlet Letter, I had a feeling that this famous novel may actually mean something to me, illustrate something important to me: the consequences of sin. Instead, I read the most boring book I have ever read in my entire ...

Pros: Very well written
Cons: to descriptive

The Many Faces of the Scarlet Letter
The Scarlet Letter was a book by Nathaniel Hathworne written in the 17th century. This novel was about a brave and serene woman who stood up for her self in the oppressing puritan era. Hester Pryne committed...

Pros: Good plot
Cons: Slow moving

I was required to read this book last summer for both my history and English classes, which MAY play a small part in my disdain for it. However, I truly think that I did not like this book because the style and pace did not suit me. It is a slow-moving...