Red letters (including audio)

Author: Eliot
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2003-11-01
Features: The novel is set against the harsh theocratic rule during the North American colonial period, depicting a tragic love story that unfolds in New England. The female protagonist, Hester Prynne, marries a hypocritical scholar much older than herself and buries her youth in an unreasonable marriage. Later, she falls in love with the young minister Arthur Dimmesdale and becomes pregnant in her lonely life. This act is viewed by Calvinism as committing adultery, a sin against the "Seventh Commandment," and Hester is punished by being publicly displayed with a scarlet letter "A" signifying "Adultery." Hester remains steadfast and refuses to reveal her accomplice. After her punishment, she lives in isolation, enduring humiliation and toil, raising her daughter. She ultimately earns the people's understanding and forgiveness, transforming the scarlet letter on her chest into a symbol of virtue. Minister Arthur Dimmesdale initially conceals his guilt and evades justice, but later suffers torment from his hidden sin, ultimately confessing publicly and dying, achieving moral redemption. Roger Chillingworth, Hester's former husband, was originally a victim, but his obsession with revenge turns him into a-like figure, making him a true sinner. The moral and ethical themes explored in the novel reflect Hawthorne's abstract understanding of sharp social contradictions. The novel opens with a prison and a rosebush, and ends with a graveyard, filled with rich symbolism.