Resumo de The Scarlet Letter - Nathaniel Hawthorne

17th century New England, Hester Prynne, a beautiful young woman stands convicted of adultary. The puritanical gaurdians of Boston, with the governor himself presiding the occassion make her stand on a scaffold at the marketplace. She is a stately woman, regal in both appearance & bearing. With a three month old infant clutched to her bosom, resplendent in a richly brocaded gown, her ignominy is evident to the whole community in the form of a single letter 'A' beautifully emboidered with golden threads on the breast of her dress. While a solemn crowd fix her with an accusing stare, a man who is a stranger to these parts is also watching her with unwavering curiosity. This thin & seemingly learned man has an egregious deformity, his left shoulder is slightly higher than the right.Roger Chillingworth, is the wronged husband. He knows from the start that Hester doesn't love him. She, with her beauty & youth are lost on his hideous malformity. After all, his is a life devoted to the pursuit of knowledge, he is not the ideal husband for such a fair lass. So he is more or less ready to forgive his erring wife. However, he is not that lenient regarding the father of the child. When Hester refuses to divulge his name , Chillingworth swears to discover it himself. The wisefolks appoint Reverend Mr. Dimmesdale,a young clergyman, with bright prospects - of a peculiarly nervous disposition, 'he was often observed .........to put his hand over his heart' - to impart the value of repentance to the young woman, pry out her secret & thus rescue her soul from the clutches of Satan. Hester Prynne remains mute & resigns herself to her fate. Once her prison sentence is over, she decides to remain in Boston in hopes of being reunited with her 'secret sharer' & banishes herself to an abandoned cottage, away from the bustling townfolks. Her world is her little daughter, Pearl. She employs her skill in embroidery to meet the daily requirements. Though all seems well, her conscience, pricked on by the abominable letter sewn on her breast never leave her with a moment of peace. Now it so happens that some of the leading members of the community decide to take Pearl away from her mother; they decide that it is better for the spiritual wellbeing of both. Hester approaches Governor Bellingham, but to no avail. Surrounded by malevolent forces bent on snatching away her only comfort, the desperate woman turns to the only person that matters. Arthur Dimmesdale resolves the issue satisfactorily to all parties concerned, but in the process, sets off the jealous old Chillingworth on his scent. The mad devil leeches on to the hapless minister. The end result predictably is quite tragic. While Hester finds atonement in community work & the much tortured lover also finds peace in the end, there is no respite for Chillingworth. With his relentless persecution of a weakling he has sealed his fate & has removed all hope of salvation.'The Scarlet Letter' (1850), is perhaps the most celebrated among the many works of Nathaniel Hawthorne(1804-1864). Preoccupation with sin & its effect on the characters involved, provide the central theme of this book. Hawthorne is mainly concerned with the 'pathology of remorse' rather than the original sin. His minute dissection of a guilty conscience is vividly rendered & the end result is quite moving.

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