The Scarlet Letter

Nathaniel Hawthorne was undoubtedly a feminist forerunner, and his sympathy for the fairer sex in general gets amply resonated in his masterpiece The Scarlet Letter, that has gone down in history as the most powerful feminist fiction created in 19th century America. It was a mass-produced book in the history of American literature and enjoyed popularity ever since it was published in 1850. This novel has been the source for innumerable movies, television films and stage adaptations. Critics have called The Scarlet Letter a masterpiece and the famed novelist D. H. Lawrence even reviewed this literary creation to be a “perfect work of the American imagination”. This powerful historical fiction with its setting in the background of Puritan Massachusetts Bay Colony during the years 1642 to 1649, narrates the social and moral saga of Hester Prynne. It takes us through a journey of the protagonist’s life as she begets a daughter with a man outside marriage and the struggle thereafter, she has to go through to construct a new life fraught with penitence. The novel projects her constant battle to get back her dignity. The religious and historical allusions help explore the themes of legalism, sin and remorse. Besides the role of the characters in unfolding the moral lessons and ways of life, the most obvious symbol used in the novel is the scarlet letter itself, which has various meanings depending on its context. It has been used as a sign of adultery, penance and penitence. It is the cause of Hester's agony and loneliness, but it also offers her rejuvenation.

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