[Pocket Edition] World Literature Classics Library - The Scarlet Letter

Author: (USA) Hawthorne
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2005-11-01
Features: This book is part of the "World Classics Library," a fully translated and illustrated edition. The novel is set in colonial America two hundred years ago, but it exposes the cruelty of the legal codes, the deception of religion, and the hypocrisy of morality in 19th-century capitalist America. The novel frequently employs symbolism, with characters, plots, and language all rich in subjective imagination. It often prioritizes psychological and intuitive descriptions. As a result, it is not only a masterpiece of American Romanticism but also considered the pioneer of American psychological fiction. The Scarlet Letter was included in the "Literary Works for Artistic Improvement" list by Nobel Prize-winning American author Ernest Hemingway in 1954. British novelist and playwright W. Somerset Maugham introduced The Scarlet Letter as one of the true literary masterpieces in his book Of Human Bondage.
Hawthorne was a prominent figure in 19th-century American Romanticism and the pioneer of Romantic fiction in American literary history. His works and artistic achievements deeply influenced a group of accomplished American writers, such as Hemingway, F. Scott Fitzgerald, and William Faulkner, earning him the title of "the writer's writer." Hawthorne was highly regarded by his contemporaries and later generations of writers. Herman Melville, the author of Moby-Dick, once stated that Hawthorne was on par with William Shakespeare of England. The renowned 19th-century novelist Henry James praised Hawthorne, saying, "His works will endure for generations, and his name will live forever."