The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne

The Scarlet Letter

by Nathaniel Hawthorne

In early colonial Massachusetts, a young woman endures the consequences of her sin of adultery and spends the rest of her life in atonement.

Reviewed by celinenyx on

4 of 5 stars

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A tale of a woman marked by the sin of intercourse outside of marriage and the Puritan community that will never let her forget it. Hawthorne's prose is incredibly lofty and high-brow, but it has a certain beauty that reminds me of early Romanticism. Though I don't share the ideas towards religion and sin that the characters of The Scarlet Letter espouse, I enjoyed the novel for what it is. The story itself is actually quite simple, but it is couched in heart-felt purple prose.

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  • Started reading
  • 17 October, 2015: Finished reading
  • 17 October, 2015: Reviewed