Review: 'The Scarlet Letter' by Nathaniel Hawthorne
- Caroline Selby
- Apr 8, 2020
- 1 min read
⭐️⭐️⭐️/5
The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne is a classic novel set in an early New England colony that tells the story of a woman, Hester Prynne, who is forced to wear an embroidered scarlet “A” on her clothes everyday as a form of public punishment for adultery. She, along with her daughter Pearl, is ostracized from society for her sin. The adornment of the scarlet letter greatly impacts her life, along with the lives of her daughter, her husband Roger Chillingworth, and Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale. Through relating Hester’s story, the novel explores themes of sin, guilt, pride, and revenge.
Interestingly, I am somewhat undecided as to the extent to which I liked this book. At times, it felt rather slow and overall pretty dramatic, although, to be fair, I am not the biggest fan of books from the time period this was written in generally. I also did not particularly connect with or even just like many of the characters. I sometimes found it difficult to relate to or care about the characters and their stories. Despite the story being somewhat sluggish and uninteresting at times, I did like the story in whole. Plot wise, I thought the book was pretty interesting, although it still was not my favorite. Overall, it was a decent read, just not the best pick for me, and I would recommend this book to anyone who likes classics!
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