Nathaniel Hawthorne

IN THE SEVENTEENTH-CENTURY PURITAN COMMUNITY OF BOSTON, HESTER PRYNNE IS TRAPPED, FIRST INTO A LOVELESS MARRIAGE AND THEN INTO ADULTERY. WITH THE SCARLET LETTER 'A'-SIGNIFYING AN ADULTERESS-FIXED ON HER BOSOM, SHE IS BROUGHT OUT OF THE PRISON AND MADE TO STAND ON THE SCAFFOLD WITH HER INFANT. WHAT HAPPENS WHEN HESTER, IN SPITE OF BEING PUBLICLY SHAMED BY THE CROWD AND REPEATEDLY URGED BY A YOUNG PRIEST, REFUSES TO REVEAL THE IDENTITY OF HER DAUGHTER'S FATHER? A TALE OF SIN, PUNISHMENT AND ATONEMENT, NATHANIEL HAWTHORNE'S THE SCARLET LETTER EXPOSES THE MORAL RIGIDITY AND DOUBLE STANDARDS OF THE SOCIETY. ONE OF THE FIRST MASS-PRODUCED BOOKS IN AMERICA, IT BECAME AN INSTANT BESTSELLER ON ITS FIRST PUBLICATION IN 1850. IT CONTINUES TO REMAIN HAWTHORNE'S MASTERWORK.

"The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne is a real classic. You should grab it and read it to experience it yourself. Like all of Hawthorne's novels, "The Scarlet Letter" has but a slender plot and but few characters with an influence on the development of the story. Its great dramatic force depends entirely on the mental states of the actors and their relations to one another, -relations of conscience, - relations between wronged and wrongers. Its great burden is the weight of unacknowledged sin as seen in the remorse and cowardice and suffering of the Rev. Arthur Dimmesdale. Contrasted with his concealed agony is the constant confession, conveyed by the letter, which is forced upon Hester, and has a double effect, - a healthful one, working beneficently, and making her helpful and benevolent, tolerant and thoughtful; and an unhealthful one, which by the great emphasis placed on her transgression, the keeping her forever under its ban and isolating her from her fellows, prepares her to break away from the long repression and lapse again into sin when she plans her flight. Roger Chillingworth is an embodiment of subtle and refined revenge. The most striking situation is perhaps "The Minister's Vigil," in chapter xii. The book, though corresponding in its tone and burden to some of the shorter stories, had a more startling and dramatic character, and a strangeness, which at once took hold of a larger public than any of those had attracted. Though imperfectly comprehended, and even misunderstood in some quarters, it was seen to have a new and unique quality; and Hawthorne's reputation became national....... The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne

The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne is a real classic. You should grab it and read it to experience it yourself. Here's a simple plot to The Scarlet Letter: In Puritan Boston, Massachusetts, a crowd gathers to witness the punishment of Hester Prynne, a young woman who has given birth to a baby of unknown parentage. She is required to wear a scarlet "A" on her dress when she is in front of the townspeople to shame her. The letter "A" stands for adulteress, although this is never said explicitly in the novel. Her sentence required her to stand on the scaffold for three hours, exposed to public humiliation, and to wear the scarlet "A" for the rest of her life. As Hester approaches the scaffold, many of the women in the crowd are angered by her beauty and quiet dignity. When demanded and cajoled to name the father of her child, Hester refuses. As Hester looks out over the crowd, she notices a small, misshapen man and recognizes him as her long-lost husband, who has been presumed lost at sea. When the husband sees Hester's shame, he asks a man in the crowd about her and is told the story of his wife's adultery. He angrily exclaims that the child's father, the partner in the adulterous act, should also be punished and vows to find the man. He chooses a new name, Roger Chillingworth, to aid him in his plan. The Reverend John Wilson and the minister of Hester's church, Arthur Dimmesdale, question the woman, but she refuses to name her lover. After she returns to her prison cell, the jailer brings in Roger Chillingworth, a physician, to calm Hester and her child with his roots and herbs. He and Hester have an open conversation regarding their marriage and the fact that they were both in the wrong. Her lover, however, is another matter and he demands to know who it is; Hester refuses to divulge such information. He accepts this, stating that he will find out anyway, and forces her to hide that he is her husband. If she ever reveals him, he warns her, he will destroy the child's father. Hester agrees to Chillingworth's terms although she suspects she will regret it. Following her release from prison, Hester settles in a cottage at the edge of town and earns a meager living with her needlework, which is of extraordinary quality. She lives a quiet, somber life with her daughter, Pearl, and performs acts of charity for the poor. She is troubled by her daughter's unusual fascination with Hester's scarlet "A". The shunning of Hester also extends to Pearl, who has no playmates or friends except her mother. As she grows older, Pearl becomes capricious and unruly. Her conduct starts rumors, and, not surprisingly, the church members suggest Pearl be taken away from Hester. Hester, hearing rumors that she may lose Pearl, goes to speak to Governor Bellingham. With him are ministers Wilson and Dimmesdale. Hester appeals to Dimmesdale in desperation, and the minister persuades the governor to let Pearl remain in Hester's care. Because Dimmesdale's health has begun to fail, the townspeople are happy to have Chillingworth, a newly arrived physician, take up lodgings with their beloved minister. Being in such close contact with Dimmesdale, Chillingworth begins to suspect that the minister's illness is the result of some unconfessed guilt. He applies psychological pressure to the minister because he suspects Dimmesdale is Pearl's father. One evening, pulling the sleeping Dimmesdale's vestment aside, Chillingworth sees a symbol that represents his shame on the minister's pale chest. Tormented by his guilty conscience, Dimmesdale goes to the square where Hester was punished years earlier. Climbing the scaffold, he admits his guilt but cannot find the courage to do so publicly.......... The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne

" The Scarlet Letter is so terrible in its pictures of diseased human nature as to produce most questionable delight. The reader's interest never flags for a moment."- Anthony Trollope"Everyone thinks they know what the Puritans were like, and a big part of the reason why they think they know this can be found in this book, The Scarlet Letter ." -From Douglas Wilson's IntroductionHester Prynne is an adulteress, and the bright red 'A' sewed on to her dress forever separates her from the other sad-colored inhabitants of her New England hometown. But no one else knows who the father of Hester's pixie-like child is-and that sordid mystery eats at the townspeople. Months stretch into years for the uncomplaining and dignified Hester, providing some of her begrudging neighbors with ample opportunity for prying, hypocrisy, contempt, and a whole welter of the darkest of human sins, including an all-consuming desire for revenge. This Canon Classic is a novel of two intense natures, unflinchingly grim and melancholic yet capable of passionate and unrestrained emotion. The Canon Classics series presents the most definitive works of Western literature in a colorful, well-crafted, and affordable way. Unlike many other thrift editions, our classics are printed on thicker text stock and feature individualized designs that prioritize readability by means of proper margins, leading, characters per line, font, trim size, etc. Each book's materials and layout combine to make the classics a simple and striking addition to classrooms and homes, ideal for introducing the best of literary culture and human experience to the next generation. This Worldview Edition features an introduction divided into sections on The World Around, About the Author, What Other Notables Said, Setting, Characters, & Plot Summary, Worldview Analysis, and 21 Discussion Questions & Answers.

First published in 1852, "The Blithedale Romance" is the third of Nathaniel Hawthorne's romantic novels. Set in the utopian communal farm called Blithedale in the 1840's, the novel tells the story of four inhabitants of the commune: Hollingsworth, a misogynist philanthropist obsessed with turning Blithedale into a colony for the reformation of criminals; Zenobia, a passionate feminist; Priscilla, a mysterious lady with a hidden agenda who turns out to be Zenobia's half-sister; and Miles Coverdale, the protagonist and narrator of the story. The story concerns the relationships and friendships between the four at the commune, which starts out intensely during the spring and summer but as autumn approaches begins to disintegrate towards a tragic end. The characters are united at the beginning by their optimism and belief in a better, more equal and benevolent community. However, their lies, betrayals, jealousies and desires eventually break them apart and cast doubt on the success of the experimental Blithedale community. In the end, their human pettiness and flaws are their undoing. A classic of American literature, "The Blithedale Romance" is a compelling and nuanced narrative that Henry James called "the lightest, the brightest, the liveliest" of Hawthorne's dramatic novels. This edition is printed on premium acid-free paper.

First published in 1851 by Nathaniel Hawthorne, "A Wonder-Book for Boys and Girls" is a captivating and classic retelling for children of some of the most famous stories from Greek mythology. Hawthorne followed this first collection of Greek tales with a sequel, "The Tanglewood Tales" in 1853. The book is set as a story-within-a-story with a fictional college student retelling these timeless myths to a group of school children. Hawthorne modified these legendary tales for a younger and more modern audience after first having the idea several years before to bring these important and influential stories to American children in a more accessible format. The birth of Hawthorne's daughter in 1851 inspired the completion of the project. In this collection you will find tales such as "The Gorgon's Head", which recounts the slaying of Medusa by Perseus, "The Golden Touch", which is the tale of King Midas, "The Three Golden Apples", featuring Hercules, "The Chimaera", which tells the story of Bellerophon and Pegasus, and three more classic myths. Hawthorne's "A Wonder-Book for Boys and Girls" is an excellent and entertaining collection of stories of adventure and fantasy which serves as a great introduction to Greek mythology for younger readers. This edition is printed on premium acid-free paper.

'To inherit a great fortune. To inherit a great misfortune.' These words, from Nathaniel Hawthorne's notebook, neatly encapsulate the theme of The House of the Seven Gables - that of a family whose fortunes are poisoned by its past misdeeds. The sins of the Pyncheon father are visited upon his children over a period of several generations, until such time as one of his descendants unites with a member of the family he has wronged. Love conquers hate, and new blood washes away the original crime. This intriguing and insightful novel truly deserves its significant place in the canon of American literature.

Passages from the French and Italian Note-Books of Nathaniel Hawthorne is an unchanged, high-quality reprint of the original edition of 1876. Hansebooks is editor of the literature on different topic areas such as research and science, travel and expeditions, cooking and nutrition, medicine, and other genres. As a publisher we focus on the preservation of historical literature. Many works of historical writers and scientists are available today as antiques only. Hansebooks newly publishes these books and contributes to the preservation of literature which has become rare and historical knowledge for the future.

Passages from the English note-books of Nathaniel Hawthorne - Vol. 1 is an unchanged, high-quality reprint of the original edition of 1870. Hansebooks is editor of the literature on different topic areas such as research and science, travel and expeditions, cooking and nutrition, medicine, and other genres. As a publisher we focus on the preservation of historical literature. Many works of historical writers and scientists are available today as antiques only. Hansebooks newly publishes these books and contributes to the preservation of literature which has become rare and historical knowledge for the future.

Passages from the English note-books of Nathaniel Hawthorne - Vol. 2 is an unchanged, high-quality reprint of the original edition of 1870. Hansebooks is editor of the literature on different topic areas such as research and science, travel and expeditions, cooking and nutrition, medicine, and other genres. As a publisher we focus on the preservation of historical literature. Many works of historical writers and scientists are available today as antiques only. Hansebooks newly publishes these books and contributes to the preservation of literature which has become rare and historical knowledge for the future.

Passages from the American note-books of Nathaniel Hawthorne is an unchanged, high-quality reprint of the original edition of 1896. Hansebooks is editor of the literature on different topic areas such as research and science, travel and expeditions, cooking and nutrition, medicine, and other genres. As a publisher we focus on the preservation of historical literature. Many works of historical writers and scientists are available today as antiques only. Hansebooks newly publishes these books and contributes to the preservation of literature which has become rare and historical knowledge for the future.

A mysterious tale of crime, witchcraft and the supernatural. The House of the Seven Gables is a gloomy New England mansion, reeking of past sins and malevolent threats. The Pyncheon family that lives there has inherited the curse of centuries-old accusations of witchcraft, and is haunted by the ghosts of the sinful dead who still live within the terrifying shadows of the imposing house. A truly ingenious blend of the supernatural and the romantic, Hawthorne weaves a gothic tale that threatens to impale the family and the local townsfolk with its destructive power. FLAME TREE 451: From mystery to crime, supernatural to horror and fantasy to science fiction, Flame Tree 451 offers a healthy diet of werewolves and mechanical men, blood-lusty vampires, dastardly villains, mad scientists, secret worlds, lost civilizations and escapist fantasies. Discover a storehouse of tales gathered specifically for the reader of the fantastic. Each book features a brand new biography and glossary of Literary, Gothic and Victorian terms.