An "A" for "adultery" marks Hester Prynne as an outcast from the society of colonial Boston. Although forced by the puritanical town fathers to wear a bright red badge of shame, Hester steadfastly resists their efforts to discover the identity of her baby's father. The return of her long-absent spouse brings new pressure on the young mother, as the aggrieved husband undertakes a long-term plot to reveal Hester's partner in adultery and force him to share her disgrace.

Masterful in its symboli...

This second edition also includes: revised and expanded explanatory footnotes, a new preface and a note on the text by Leland S. Person; key passages from Hawthorne’s notebooks and letters that suggest the close relationship between his private and public writings, and seven new critical essays by Brook Thomas, Michael Ryan, Thomas R. Mitchell, Jay Grossman, Jamie Barlowe, John Ronan and John F.

Birk. A Chronology and revised and expanded Selected Bibliography is also included.

Discover the timeless masterpiece that continues to captivate readers across generations—Nathaniel Hawthorne's "The Scarlet Letter." This riveting novel takes you on a journey to 17th-century Puritan New England, where secrets and scandal shroud the lives of its inhabitants.

At the heart of the story is Hester Prynne, a young woman who bears an illegitimate child in a society that ruthlessly enforces its moral code. Branded with the scarlet letter "A" as a symbol of her sin, Hester must nav...