The Scarlet Letter

Just look at a portrait of him as a young man, note the noble brow, the handsome features, the sensitivity, how romantic......... Curl up with this book and let Nathaniel tell you his tale in his beautiful poetic language . This is a book to be read quietly, alone, not in an airport lounge or on the subway, but preferably in a beautiful garden or sunroom with the windows open. Let the beauty of his language flow over you and transport you back in time. It is over 200 years since Nathaniel Hawthorne was born in Salem Massachusetts, his great great grandfather officiated at the Salem Witch Trials. He was both disturbed and intrigued by his ancestry. One day when working at The Custom House in Salem to make ends meet as a struggling young author, he discovered in one of the upstairs rooms some dusty old boxes, on opening them he found them to contain relics from the past, long since forgotten. Yellowing documents and an intriguing piece of embroidery, a scrap of faded and torn material with the letter A embroidered on it. He picked it up, and while wondering what it was, he held it up to his chest, and at that moment he claims to have felt a burning sensation which caused him to drop the piece of cloth. It gave him inspiration for this story along with documents he found about a woman called Hester Prynne. The scene he sets so vividly is somewhere around 350 years ago 150 years before he was born. In a time when behavior to which we can hardly be bothered to raise an eyebrow was in that day considered a punishable sin. A disgrace for life. Branded by having to wear a scarlet letter on the chest for all to see. It is a feminist novel, (Nathaniel Hawthorne supported women's rights). Briefly, the protagonist Hester Prynne has a child from an adulterous relationship and refuses to name the father. Her husband a physician much older than she has never been a "proper" husband to her so she had looked elsewhere for love. The husband vows to find the father of the child, and in exchange for her freedom makes Hester swear she will never disclose who her husband is. Her husband being a physician quickly deduces who the father is from the way he is wasting away under his burden of guilt. He sets about a long period of torment of the young man of which Hester is aware but can say nothing because of her promise. Finally she has had enough and decides to come clean, shaming the devil, (her husband) and redeeming the young man. I do not want to spoil anything by divulging the name of the father of the child in case you do not know. This is such a simple and brief account it would make Nathaniel wince to read it. There is so much more to the story. It states in the blurb that it is a psychological novel before there was a science called psychology. The way the characters in the story interact with each other, the symbolism, the different values of the day from Nathaniel's day, and then again to this day. The religious aspect in Puritan times, the emotional ups and downs as you empathize with first one and then another of the characters. It is a wonderful story and well deserving of its position as one of America's great classics.

Published in 1850, The Scarlet Letter is set in the Massachusetts Bay Colony in Boston between 1642-1649. This Puritan tale of intolerance has Hester Prynne publicly shamed as an adulterer and compelled to wear red letter A on her clothing to signify conceiving a child out of wedlock. Her partner in shame is not identified nor punished. Holding her infant love child, Hester bravely endures the public shame and social obligation alone - first on a pillar scaffold and later throughout her daily life in the colony. She displays dignity in her isolation while attempting to raise her impetuous daughter, Pearl. The secret identity of her lover is predictable by today’s standards but may have been scandalous and unbelievable in the mid-19th century. Her estranged husband makes his presence known under an assumed. He torments both Hester and her suspected Minister Arthur Dimmesdale. The book hold up well and Hawthorne’s descriptive writing is enjoyable.

Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter is profound piece of literature, and the characters and imagery are beautifully written. Hawthorne takes the concept of morality and adultery and just descripts the struggles from the effected parties extremely well. The one thing that stood out most for me was just how well written all the characters were, you can't help to feel their pain and understand what they are going through. Hester Prynne, the bearer of the Scarlet "A" on her breast, her badge of shame. Branded for adultery for everyone to see, Hester still has a desire to redeem herself. She never reveals her lover's identity and for that she has been publically shamed. Her lover is a well respected member of the community (I won't reveal who it is just in case people aren't aware and don't want a spoiler). He is faced with carrying the burden of his sin in secret, always putting his hand over his heart, an expression of the pain that is dwelling up inside him. He lives with his sin until it all begins to unravel and he breaks. Roger Chillingworth is Hester's husband; ashamed of the betrayal, he had changed his name so no one would know. He takes up the role of the local doctor, in an attempt to find and get close to his enemy. He has asked Hester to keep his true identity a secret, while he searches for her lover and the father of Pearl. Pearl, Hester's daughter, known as the demon child, is a devilish by nature. I have the feeling that she is very aware of what's going on and knows who her father is, and she is just baiting them all to reveal the truth. I always thought of Pearl as the-demon-on-the-shoulder type character. Each character is simply amazing and with the judging townsfolk, the struggle feels so real and you can't help but feel for the characters. I found this book more enjoyable after I finished reading it and began reflecting on it. The Scarlet Letter did at times feel drawn out but overall it was well worth reading.

One of the best editions, everything explained. The reading becomes much more complete with the explanatory summary.

Ottimo prodotto

このオックスフォードのシリーズは注釈、解説が充実していますので、研究者的なくどさを感じる面もありますが、読み進める上では参考になります。 ただ、誤植が何カ所か（例えばnotがhotになったり、それなりに別の単語に化けています）あり、ただでさえ19世紀の英語で苦労しているところへ持ってきて、突然意味不明の文に遭遇して焦る羽目に陥ります。それを勘案すると、残念ながらあまりお勧めできません。

Awesome overall quality. Go for it.

Muy buena edición y libro, la portada es de cartón fino por lo que se puede doblar con facilidad. El tamaño es algo mas pequeño que un folio A5 pero está bien ya que no pesa y lo puedes llevar contigo. El texto está algo pegado para mi gusto, pero se puede leer fácilmente. En general recomiendo este artículo. Really good book and edition, the cover comes in paper format so you can easily bend it. The size is slightly smaller than a blank page but it's alright as it is not heavy and you can carry it with you. Overall, the text is a little bit small for my liking, but it's very easy to read. I highly recommend this product.