Recently, I began reading a multitude of books from the romantic and transcendentalist era for the English class at my school. While I initially came into the unit thinking that there would be nothing interesting about these 19th-century books written mostly by authors I’ve never heard of, save for Emerson and Poe, I was surprised by how interesting some of the other works were, including The Scarlet Letter, which the unit culminated in.

The Scarlet Letter gives the reader a vivid picture of early American society through the eyes of Hester Prynne, who is sentenced to wear a red “A” on her chest as a punishment for adultery after she had presumed her previous husband to be dead. The book begins with a visit from Hester’s husband, Roger Chillingworth, at the jail where Hester is being held. Chillingworth tells Hester about his quest for revenge, as well as his knowledge of the identity of the man whom Hester had an affair with. He then forces Hester to promise not to reveal who he is.

Fast-forward a couple of years. Hester’s child, Pearl, has grown, and Chillingworth’s quest for revenge continues. Although I am not going to reveal who the person ultimately is for the sake of not spoiling the story, Chillingworth begins to masquerade as a friend of the man whom Hester had an affair with and begins to psychologically torture him into confessing and exposing himself to the rest of the community.

Although I won’t spoil the rest of the story, I found this book very interesting because Hawthorne skillfully weaved references to romantic and transcendentalist ideas into the story, while still keeping it engaging. Also, for anybody interested in getting this book, I would recommend the Norton critical edition, as it includes the story itself as well as explanations for some archaic references or vocabulary that we would have a harder time getting. I would recommend this book to anybody interested in reading classic American novels, or novels from the romantic era in general.

The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne is available to check out from the Mission Viejo Library. It is also available to download for free from Libby.