The Scarlet Letter, published in 1850, is an American romance novel written by Nathaniel Hawthorne; it is generally considered to be his masterpiece. Set in Puritan New England in the 17th century, the novel tells the story of Hester Prynne, who gives birth after committing adultery, refuses to name the father, and struggles to create a new life of repentance and dignity. Throughout, Hawthorne explores the issues of grace, legalism, and guilt.

Hailed by Henry James as "the finest piece of imaginative writing yet put forth in the country ,"Nathaniel Hawthorne"s The Scarlet Letter reaches to our nation"s historical and moral roots for the material of great tragedy.Set in an early New England colony,the novel shows the terrible impact a single ,passionate act has on the lives of three members of the community:the defiant Hester Prynne;the fiery ,tortured Reverend Dimmesdale;and the obsessed ,vengeful Chillingworth.

Author's Preface to the Second Edition

The Custom House-Introductory

1.The Prison-Door

2.The Market-Place

3.The Recognition

4.The Interview

5.Hester at Her Needle

6.Pearl

7.The Governor's Hall

8.The Elf-Child and the Minister

9.The Leech

10.The Leech and His Patient

11.The Interior of a Heart

12.The Minister"s Vigil

13.Another View of Hester

14.Hester and the Physician

15.Hester and Pearl

16.A Forest Walk

17.The Pastor and His Parishioner

18.A Flood of Sunshine

19.The Child at the Brook-Side

20.The Minister in a Maze

21.The New England Holiday

22.The Procession

23.The Revelation

24.Conclusion

Bibliography