The Scarlet Letter: [Illustrated Edition]

The Scarlet Letter: [Illustrated Edition]

Printed: 14.99 $eBook: 3.99 $
Author:
Genres: Classics, Fantasy Books
Publisher: e-Kitap Projesi & Cheapest Books
Publication Year: 2015
Format: (eBook + Printed)
Length: English, 5" x 8" (13 x 21 cm), 450 pages
Narrator: L. S. Ipsen
Illustrator: Mary Hallock Foote
ASIN: 1515366472
ISBN: 9786059285285
Rating:

The Scarlet Letter is an 1850 romantic work of fiction in a historical setting, written by Nathaniel Hawthorne, and is considered to be his magnum opus. Set in 17th-century Puritan Boston, Massachusetts, during the years 1642 to 1649, it tells the story of Hester Prynne, who conceives a daughter through an affair and struggles to create a new life of repentance and dignity. Throughout the book, Hawthorne explores themes of legalism, sin, and guilt.

Buy from Amazon
Buy from Barnes and Noble
Buy from Apple Books
Buy from Barnes and Noble Nook
Buy from Kobo
Buy from Scribd
About the Book

The experience of Hester and Dimmesdale recalls the story of Adam and Eve because, in both cases, sin results in expulsion and suffering. But it also results in knowledge – specifically, in knowledge of what it means to be immoral. For Hester, the Scarlet Letter is a physical manifestation of her sin and reminder of her painful solitude. She contemplates casting it off to obtain her freedom from an oppressive society and a checkered past as well as the absence of God.

Because the society excludes her, she considers the possibility that many of the traditions held up by the Puritan culture are untrue and are not designed to bring her happiness. 

As for Dimmesdale, the "cheating minister", his sin gives him "sympathies so intimate with the sinful brotherhood of mankind, so that his chest vibrate[s] in unison with theirs."  

His eloquent and powerful sermons derive from this sense of empathy. The narrative of the Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale is quite in keeping with the oldest and most fully authorized principles in Christian thought. His "Fall" is a descent from apparent grace to his own damnation; he appears to begin in purity but he ends in corruption. The subtlety is that the minister's belief is his own cheating, convincing himself at every stage of his spiritual pilgrimage that he is saved. 

The rose bush's beauty forms a striking contrast to all that surrounds it – as later the beautifully embroidered scarlet "A" will be held out in part as an invitation to find "some sweet moral blossom" in the ensuing, tragic tale and in part as an image that "the deep heart of nature" (perhaps God) may look more kind on the errant Hester and her child than her Puritan neighbors do.  

Throughout the work, the nature images contrast with the stark darkness of the Puritans and their systems. 

Chillingworth's misshapen body reflects (or symbolizes) the anger in his soul, which builds as the novel progresses, similar to the way Dimmesdale's illness reveals his inner turmoil. The outward man reflects the condition of the heart; an observation thought to be inspired by the deterioration of Edgar Allan Poe, whom Hawthorne "much admired".

About the Author
Nathaniel Hawthorne

He was born in 1804 in Salem, Massachusetts to Nathaniel Hathorne and the former Elizabeth Clarke Manning. His ancestors include John Hathorne, the only judge involved in the Salem witch trials who never repented of his actions.
Much of Hawthorne's writing centers on New England, many works featuring moral allegories with a Puritan inspiration. His fiction works are considered part of the Romantic movement and, more specifically, Dark romanticism. His themes often center on the inherent evil and sin of humanity, and his works often have moral messages and deep psychological complexity. His published works include novels, short stories, and a biography of his friend Franklin Pierce.

"All e-Books & Printed works are copyrighted and reserved Under the Our Trade Mark: "Cheapest Books & e-Kitap Projesi". No way can not be reproduced by means of copies or can not illegal way. Posted in All Electronic & Printed books, materials and works, downloads, and commercial sales rights of the e-Book Project." e-KİTAP YAYINCILIK & e-KİTAP PROJESİ: It is a Subsidiary Marks of "*CHEAPEST BOOKs".