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.

A tale of sin, punishment and atonement, The Scarlet Letter exposes the moral rigidity of a 17th-Century Puritan New England community when faced with the illegitimate child of a young mother. Regarded as the first real heroine of American fiction, it is Hester Prynne's strength of character that resonates with the reader when her harsh sentence is cast. It is in her refusal to reveal the identity of the father in the face of her accusers that Hawthorne champions his heroine and berates the weakness of Society for attacking the innocent.

The Custom-House: Introductory to

'The Scarlet Letter'

Chapter 1 The Prison-door

Chapter 2 The Market Place

Chapter 3 The Recognition

Chapter 4 The Interview

Chapter 5 Hester at her Needle

Chapter 6 Pearl

Chapter 7 The Governor's Hall

Chapter 8 The Elf-child and the Minister

Chapter 9 The Leech

Chapter 10 The Leech and his Patient

Chapter 11 The Interior of a Heart

Chapter 12 The Minister's Vigil

Chapter 13 Another View of Hester

Chapter 14 Hester and the Physician

Chapter 15 Hester and Pearl

Chapter 16 A Forest Walk

Chapter 17 The Pastor and his Parishioner

Chapter 18 A Flood of Sunshine

Chapter 19 The Child at the Brook-side

Chapter 20 The Ministerin a Maze

Chapter 21 The New England Holiday

Chapter 22 The Procession

Chapter 23 The Revelation of the Scarlet Letter

Chapter 24 Conclusion