In 17th century Boston, is young woman Hester Prynne, and her infant daughter Pearl, are ostracized and vilified for the crime of adultery. Hester is forced to live her life with a scarlet letter “A” embroidered on her clothes. Her husband, thought lost at sea, arrives on the day of her sentencing, and lives incognito in the same town, intent on taking revenge on his wife’s lover.
Through it all, Hester steadfastly refuses to divulge the identity of her lover, and endures the taunts and jeers of the townsfolk with equanimity. She supports herself by working as a seamstress, and manages to support herself and Pearl. Arthur Dimmensdale, the town minister, aids her as best he can, for he is Pearl’s father. His guilt at the secret eats away at him till he becomes quite ill. Hester’s husband, under the name of Chillingworth suspects Dimmensdale.
Hester realizes that Arthur’s guilt will cause his death, but if she convinces him to reveal himself as Pearl’s father, the Chillingworth would kill him. She convinces Arthur to leave to Europe with her. But, on the day of departure, Arthur delivers a fiery sermon, admits to being Pearl’s father and falls dead.
The focus of the story is Hester’s demeanour and her courage in the face of adversity. There is also a study into the nature of sin, legality and guilt; there are two parties who are involved in adultery, but she is the one who paid the price and bore the punishment.
That said, the writing is tedious in the extreme. Hawthorne has this tendency to use very little imagery and allegory, but that little is very blatant and called out to the reader’s attention. It’s not classy writing, it is as though he is lauding himself throughout the book at how clever he is. I am at a loss why this book is so celebrated, since there does not seem to be much of either literary value, or cerebral themes in this. This book can, and should, be avoided.