Resumo de The Scarlet Letter - AThe Scarlet Letter

Introduction
Nathaniel Hawthorne was born in Massachusetts in 1804.
His father was Captain Nathaniel Hathorne (without the ?w?) and he had
one sister named Elizabeth. Hawthorne graduated from Bowdin college
in Boston in 1925. He then moved back home to Maine where he lived
with his mother and published him first book Fanshaw: A Tale at his own
expense. Later he burned all the copies he could find of that book.
He got a job at a custom house to support his family. There, he got
lots of information for his novel The Scarlet Letter. In 1851, Hawthorne
became good friends with Herman Melville who was writing Moby Dick at the
time. Other books by Hawthorne are The House of the Seven Gables
and Tanglewood Tales. Hawthorne died in 1864.
This book deals much with sin and romance and the consequences
of sin and romance (namely Pearl). Another book that dealt with a
similar theme was The Grapes of Wrath.

Summary
The book begins with an essay titled ?The Custom House.?
It serves for nothing more than a preface.
The book begins by explaining that Hester Prynne has committed
adultery and has a child with a man that is not her husband. Hester
will not tell who the father of this child (Pearl) is. As a punishment
for her sin, she must stand on a scaffold and receive the insults of the
people for three hours and she must wear a scarlet ?A? on her bosom for
the rest of her life as a symbol for her sin.
Hester was sent before to husband to Massachusetts. Her
husband, however, never made it to Massachusetts and was assumed lost or
dead on the Pacific. Hester found out this was not true when she
saw her husband standing in the crowd watching her on the scaffold.
Later, Hester?s husband (Roger Chillingworth) visits her in jail.
Roger apologizes that he was late but explains that he was captured by
Indians and held captive. He convinces Hester not to reveal that
he is her long lost husband, but swear that he will find and seek revenge
on the father of this baby.
Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale and his friend John Wilson are introduced
at the scaffold begging Hester to reveal the father of the baby so that
he may suffer just as Hester does. Ironically, it turns out that
Arthur Dimmesdale was the father of the baby and he and Hester knew it.
Roger Chillingworth who was a physician as well as Hester?s husband, moves
in with Reverend Dimmesdale because Dimmesdale was growing ill
While living with Dimmesdale, he grows suspicious that Dimmesdale
is the father of Pearl and seeks revenge on him by hurting him more than
curing him of his illness. But this was only a suspicion until one
night, Chillingworth opened Dimmesdale?s shirt while he was sleeping and
discovers a scarlet A on Dimmesdale?s Chest. Chillingworth continue
to torture Dimmesdale.
Hester and Pearl was let out of prison when their term was up.
At this point, pearl was a young girl. She was, however, drawn to
the A on Hester?s chest, a constant reminder of her sin. Dimmesdale,
feeling guilty visits Hester and Pearl. Then one night the three
of them stand on the Scaffold together and Dimmesdale imagines people mocking
him as they should have seven years ago. He apologizes to Pearl and
Hester for not being with them on the Scaffold. While they are on
the scaffold, a meteor flies through the sky leaving a trail that looked
like the letter A, another reminder of the sin. Hester tells Dimmesdale
that her real husband is Chillingworth and that he wants revenge, badly.
They decide to run away together on a ship on election day.
On election day, Hester discovers that Chillingworth booked a
ticket for the same boat that she and Dimmesdale was going to take.
Dimmesdale delivers his election day sermon, one of his best sermons ever
spoken, and walks up to the scaffold with Hester and Pearl to reveal his
sin to all his congregation. He confesses everything and falls ill
and dies soon afterward. Hester leaves with Pearl. A few months
later, Chillingworth dies and leaves Pearl a great sum of money.
Hester and Pearl move to England where she is looked upon as a wise woman
and they go to her for advice. She continues to wear the scarlet
letter there.

Resumos Relacionados