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64-547: The Scarlet Letter was one of the first mass-produced books in the United States. It was popular when first published and is considered a classic work of American literature. Commonly listed among the Great American Novels , it has inspired numerous film, television, and stage adaptations. Critics have described The Scarlet Letter as a masterwork, and novelist D. H. Lawrence called it a "perfect work of

128-639: A sable . This is related to the Middle High German zobel , which is of Slav origin and akin to the Russian sobol' , which likewise refers to the sable. Since at least the 14th century, sable has been used as a synonym for the colour black. Both sable and negro are used for black in Spanish heraldry. In Portugal, black is known as negro , and in Germany the colour is called schwarz . Sabel

192-487: A Great American Novel contender. There are several different interpretations of what makes a Great American Novel. Some say that it depicts a diverse group facing issues representative of "epoch-defining public events or crises." John Scalzi felt that for a novel to be the Great American Novel it had to be ubiquitous and notable, and analyze United States through a moral context. De Forest, similarly saw

256-423: A collection named Old Time Legends , and that his publisher, James T. Fields , convinced him to expand the work to a full-length novel. This is not true: Fields persuaded Hawthorne to publish The Scarlet Letter alone (along with the earlier-completed "Custom House" essay) but he had nothing to do with the length of the story. Hawthorne's wife Sophia later challenged Fields' claims a little inexactly: "he has made

320-477: 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 the 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 sparks controversy, and

384-444: A decrescent argent and a sun Or. Another early Hungarian example was granted in 1628 to the family Karomi Bornemisza: Per fess gules, an eagle displayed sable crowned Or, and azure, a buffalo's head cabossed sable maintaining in its mouth a fish (argent?) . Polish examples abound as early as the fifteenth century. Józef Szymański includes no fewer than seven examples of sable primary charges on either gules or azure fields out of

448-409: A female figure might serve the same purpose undermines the very concept of the Great American Novel". Although British analyst Faye Hammill noted that Gentlemen Prefer Blondes by Anita Loos , was one of the few that 'doesn't stink'. Emily Temple of Literary Hub suggested that if the protagonist of Sylvia Plath's The Bell Jar (1963) were male it would likely be considered more seriously as

512-572: A friend of Hawthorne's, said he preferred the author's Washington Irving -like tales. Another friend, critic Edwin Percy Whipple , objected to the novel's "morbid intensity" with dense psychological details, writing that the book "is therefore apt to become, like Hawthorne, too painfully anatomical in his exhibition of them". English writer Mary Anne Evans writing as "George Eliot", called The Scarlet Letter , along with Henry Wadsworth Longfellow 's 1855 book-length poem The Song of Hiawatha ,

576-564: A general resurgence of the concept, with The New York Times using the phrase the most in their history, a total of 71 times. The revival was perhaps the result of social change and related anxieties and the pursuit of a plateau between them. In the 21st century, retaining its contention and derision, the concept has moved towards a more populist attitude, functioning as " catnip for a listicle -obsessed internet". Adam Kirsch noted that books such as Roth's American Pastoral (1997) indicate that writers are still interested in creating

640-927: A more perfect work of the American imagination than The Scarlet Letter . Henry James once said of the novel, "It is beautiful, admirable, extraordinary; it has in the highest degree that merit which I have spoken of as the mark of Hawthorne's best things—an indefinable purity and lightness of conception...One can often return to it; it supports familiarity and has the inexhaustible charm and mystery of great works of art." The following are historical and Biblical references that appear in The Scarlet Letter . The following are symbols that are embedded in The Scarlet Letter : The Scarlet Letter has inspired numerous film, television, and stage adaptations, and plot elements have influenced several novels, musical works, and screen productions. The Scarlet Letter appeared as

704-556: A national equal in the form of Russian writer Leo Tolstoy 's War and Peace (1869); Buell felt that Australia was the only country to replicate America's search. Scholes said that the Great American Novel has always been thought of adjacent to European literature. David Vann was of the belief that they had to be " anti-American ". Rogers felt that it does not need to have American protagonists or be set in United States and should not espouse patriotism or nationalism . Buell identifies multiple types of Great American Novels. First

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768-407: A series of memorable rewritings.'   ... Recipe 2 is what Buell calls 'the romance of the divide.' Novels of this kind   ... imagine national (and geographic) rifts in the 'form of a family history and/or heterosexual love affair.'   ... Recipe 3, a 'narrative centering on the lifeline of a socially paradigmatic figure   ... whose odyssey tilts on the one side toward picaresque and on

832-426: A stage play as early as February 24, 1858, when an adaptation by George L. Aiken opened at Barnum's American Museum . George C. Howard and his wife starred as Dimmesdale and Hester. Twentieth century American composer Marjorie Rusche ’s opera The Scarlet Letter is based on Hawthorne’s work. The story has been adapted to film multiple times, typically using the same title as the novel. The first film adaptation

896-524: A year, leaving Pearl a substantial inheritance both in New England as well as in Europe; Hester and Pearl leave for Europe shortly thereafter. After several years, Hester returns to her cottage without Pearl and resumes wearing the scarlet letter. When she dies, she is buried near the grave of Dimmesdale, and they share a simple slate tombstone engraved with an epitaph described as: "On a field, sable ,

960-679: Is one who is subject to mysticism and stands the test of time. The second is "the romance of the divide", which imagines national rifts in the "form of a family history and/or heterosexual love affair"—race often plays a role. The third variety encapsulates the American Dream and see its protagonist rise from obscurity. Fourthly, novels which are composed of a diverse cast of characters "imagined as social microcosms or vanguards " and who are placed with events and crises that serve to "constitute an image of 'democratic' promise or dysfunction". Buell also said speculative science fiction may be

1024-492: Is that the minister's belief is his own cheating, convincing himself at every stage of his spiritual pilgrimage that he is saved. Throughout the work, the nature images contrast with the stark darkness of the Puritans and their systems. A rose bush's beauty forms a striking contrast to all that surrounds it. Later, the beautifully embroidered scarlet "A" is held out in part as an invitation to find "some sweet moral blossom" in

1088-485: Is the tincture equivalent to black . It is one of the five dark tinctures called colours . Sable is portrayed in heraldic hatching by criss-crossing perpendicular lines. Sable is indicated by the abbreviation s. or sa. when a coat of arms is tricked . Sable can be traced back to Middle English, Anglo-French, and ultimately to the Middle Low German sabel , which refers to a species of marten known as

1152-514: Is the spelling used in Dutch heraldry. The different tinctures are traditionally associated with particular heavenly bodies, precious stones, virtues, and flowers, although these associations have been mostly disregarded by serious heraldists. Sable is associated with: Sable is considered a colour in British and French heraldry, and contrasts with lighter metals , argent and Or . However, in

1216-540: The "cheating minister", his sin gives him "sympathies so intimate with the sinful brotherhood of mankind" "that his chest vibrate[s] in unison with theirs." His eloquent and powerful sermons derive from this sense of empathy. The Dimmesdale narrative is quite in keeping with the oldest and most fully authorized principles in Christian thought . His "fall" is a descent from apparent grace to his own damnation; he appears to begin in purity but he ends in corruption. The subtlety

1280-541: The "two most indigenous and masterly productions in American literature". Most literary critics praised the book but religious leaders took issue with the novel's subject matter. Orestes Brownson alleged that Hawthorne did not understand Christianity, confession, and remorse. A review in The Church Review and Ecclesiastical Register concluded the author "perpetrates bad morals." On the other hand, 20th-century writer D. H. Lawrence said that there could not be

1344-416: The American imagination". 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 paternity. Her sentence requires her to stand on the scaffold of a former gallows for three hours, exposed to public humiliation, and to wear a scarlet "A" (standing for Adultery ) for the rest of her life. As Hester approaches

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1408-464: The GAN". Viet Thanh Nguyen said that "[o]ne of the unspoken silences of the Great American Novel is the assumption that it can only be written by white men". Laura Miller wrote, in a Salon article, that "The presumption and the belligerence embodied in this ideal have put off many American women writers". She also noted that many characters in Great American Novel candidates are male: "the notion that

1472-445: The GAN". Aaron Latham , in a 1971 article, highlighted Roth and Mailer as Jews who wanted to the write the next GJN and GAN, respectively. The Great American Novel's relation to masculinity was seen as a problem by female writers. Gertrude Stein once lamented that, as a lesbian Jewish woman, she would be unable to compose the Great American Novel. Joyce Carol Oates similarly felt that "a woman could write it, but then it wouldn't be

1536-482: The Great American Novel as having to capture the "essence" of America, its quality irrelevant. Norris considered the musings upon what made a novel "great" and/or "American" to showcase patriotic insecurity. Mohsin Hamid echoed the idea that the GAN is indicative of insecurity, connecting it to a "colonial legacy". Commentators have said that the concept is exclusively American in nature. Journalist John Walsh offered

1600-473: The Great American Novel had most likely not been written yet. Practically, the term refers to a small number of books that have historically been the nexus of discussion, including Moby-Dick (1851), Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (1884), The Great Gatsby (1925), and Gone with the Wind (1936). Exactly what novel or novels warrant the title is without consensus and an assortment have been contended as

1664-475: The Great American Novel had yet to be written. The essay's publication coincided with the rising prestige of the novel. Previously, only five percent of American books were marked as novels, with most fictional works given the self-effacing title of a "tale". In 1880, writer Henry James simplified the term with the initialism "GAN". The term soon became popular, its ubiquity considered a cliché and disparaged by literary critics. Lawerence Buell stated that

1728-400: The Great American Novel or novels detailing marginalized peoples, some furthermore trying to "bridge the racial divide". Commenting upon the idea's racial aspects and presence in popular conscious, Hugh Kenner wrote in a 1953 issue of Perspective that: The lad who was going to produce 'The Great American Novel' as soon as he had gotten his mind around his adolescent experience is part of

1792-616: The Great American Novel, this time being the genesis of novels that would later be considered the Great American Novel. The term "Great American Novel" originated in an 1868 essay by American Civil War novelist John William De Forest . De Forest saw it serving as a "tableau" of American society, and said that the novel would "paint the American soul" and capture "the ordinary emotions and manners of American existence". Similarly, Daniel Pierce Thompson said it had to be distinctly American. Although De Forest espoused praise and critique for contemporaneous novels, he ultimately concluded that

1856-412: The Great American Novel. Commenting upon the Great American Novel's place in the 21st century, Stephens Shapiro said that "Maybe the GAN is a theme that rises in interest when the existing world system is amidst transformation, as America's greatness of all kinds swiftly fades away." When asked in a 2004 interview if the Great American Novel could be written, Norman Mailer —who had long been interested in

1920-537: The Puritans as safe. She still saw her sin, but she began to look on it differently than the villagers did. Prynne began to believe that a person's earthly sins do not necessarily condemn them. She even went so far as to tell Dimmesdale that their sin had been paid for by their daily penance and that their sin would not prevent them from reaching heaven. Prynne was alienated from Puritan society, both in her physical life and spiritual life. When Dimmesdale died, she knew she had to move on because she could no longer conform to

1984-504: The Puritans' strictness. Her thinking was free from Puritan religious bounds and she had established her own moral standards and beliefs. The Scarlet Letter was first published in the spring of 1850 by Ticknor and Fields , beginning Hawthorne's most lucrative period. When he delivered the final pages to Fields in February 1850, Hawthorne said that "some portions of the book are powerfully written" but doubted it would be popular. In fact,

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2048-546: The Scarlet Letter is a physical manifestation of her sin and reminder of her painful solitude. She contemplates casting it off to obtain her freedom from an oppressive society and a checkered past as well as the absence of God. Because the society excludes her, she considers the possibility that many of the traditions upheld by the Puritan culture are untrue and are not designed to bring her happiness. As for Dimmesdale,

2112-453: The absurd boast that he was the sole cause of the Scarlet Letter being published!" She noted that her husband's friend Edwin Percy Whipple , a critic, approached Fields to consider its publication. A signed first edition, first printing of Scarlet Letter from March 1850 published by Ticknor, Reed and Fields sold for $ 22,500. Unsigned, the retail price was estimated in 2014 at $ 12,500. On its publication, critic Evert Augustus Duyckinck ,

2176-410: The approximately 200 shields from this period whose blazons are known. These include the arms of Corvin , "Azure, a raven sable with a circlet or in its beak"; Kownaty, "Gules, a trumpet sable with a cord or, a Passion cross of the same issuing from its opening"; and Słońce, "Gules, a sphere radiant sable, its centre argent". In addition to the seven major examples, he describes occasional variants for

2240-472: The arms of some rody which also use sable charges on azure or gules fields. Sable charges on gules fields also appear in the armory used in Lithuania . This is not surprising, since a significant fraction of Lithuania's personal coats of arms are of Polish origin, so there is a certain similarity of style. Among these coats are those of Great Žemaitija : "a black bear with an argent chain on its neck on

2304-610: The basis for Hawthorne's novel and which, as a brutal chapter in the history of  the criminalization of abortion in America, prefigured Roe v. Wade . Great American Novel The Great American Novel (sometimes abbreviated as GAN ) is the term for a canonical novel that generally embodies and examines the essence and character of the United States . The term was coined by John William De Forest in an 1868 essay and later shortened to GAN. De Forest noted that

2368-493: The basis for a possible fifth archetype. Kasia Boddy wrote that, "[s]ince its initial formulation", the concept "has always been more about inspiration than achievement; the very fact that it has been attempted but remains 'unwritten' providing a spur to future engagement with both nation and national literature". Speculating on De Forest's intentions when devising the notion of the Great American Novel and commenting upon its development, Cheryl Strayed wrote that: De Forest

2432-409: The book was an instant best-seller, though, over fourteen years, it brought its author only $ 1,500. Its initial publication brought wide protest from natives of Salem, who did not approve of how Hawthorne had depicted them in his introduction "The Custom-House". A 2,500-copy second edition included a preface by Hawthorne dated March 30, 1850, that stated he had decided to reprint his Introduction "without

2496-621: The change of a word... The only remarkable features of the sketch are its frank and genuine good-humor ... As to enmity, or ill-feeling of any kind, personal or political, he utterly disclaims such motives". Hawthorne wrote the manuscript at the Peter Edgerley House in Salem, Massachusetts , still standing as a private residence at 14 Mall Street. It was the last Salem home where the Hawthorne family lived. The Scarlet Letter

2560-570: The child's father should also be punished for his immoral act 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 her, but she refuses to name her lover. After she returns to her prison cell, the jailer brings in Chillingworth, now a physician, to calm Hester and her child with his roots and herbs. He and Hester have an open conversation regarding their marriage and

2624-596: The church members suggest Pearl be taken away from Hester. Hester, hearing that she may lose Pearl, goes to speak to Governor Bellingham and 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, the newly arrived physician, take up lodgings with their beloved minister. In close contact with Dimmesdale, Chillingworth begins to suspect that

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2688-402: The concept was seen as a part of a larger national, cultural and political consolidation. According to JSTOR Daily 's Grant Shreve, as the concept grew, concrete criteria for the Great American Novel developed: Additionally, Shreve states, referencing Buell, that "several 'templates' or 'recipes' for the Great American Novel emerged.   ... Recipe 1 is to write a novel that is 'subjected to

2752-535: The deterioration of Edgar Allan Poe , whom Hawthorne "much admired". Another theme is the extreme legalism of the Puritans and how Prynne chose not to conform to their rules and beliefs. Prynne was rejected by the villagers even though she spent her life doing what she could to help the sick and the poor. Because she was shunned, she spent her life mostly in solitude and did not attend church. Instead, she retreated into her own mind and her own thinking. Her thoughts began to stretch and go beyond what would be considered by

2816-424: The ensuing, tragic tale and in part as an image that "the deep heart of nature" (perhaps God) may look more kindly on the errant Prynne and her child than her Puritan neighbors do. Chillingworth's misshapen body reflects (or symbolizes) the anger in his soul, just as Dimmesdale's illness reveals his inner turmoil. The outward man reflects the condition of the heart. This observation is thought to have been inspired by

2880-503: The fact that they were both in the wrong. Chillingworth demands to know who fathered Hester's child, but Hester refuses to divulge that information. He accepts Hester's refusal, stating that he will find out the man's identity anyway. Chillingworth threatens to destroy the father of Hester's child if Hester ever reveals the fact that Chillingworth is her husband. Hester agrees to Chillingworth's terms, although she suspects she will regret it. Following her release from prison, Hester settles in

2944-424: The folklore of the 'twenties, and the prevalence of this myth documents the awareness of the young American of thirty years ago that the consciousness of his race remained uncreated. Perrin, Andrew Hoberek and Barbara Probst Solomon all noted that the 70s saw Jews pursue the GAN. Perrin said it was a boom decade for, what Hoberek, called the "Jewish GAN". Solomon was by 1972 sick of "nice Jewish sons who are writing

3008-485: The heraldry of Germany , Poland and other parts of Central Europe , sable is not infrequently placed on colour fields . As a result, a sable cross may appear on a red shield, or a sable bird may appear on a blue or a red field, as in the arms of Albania . In Hungary , for example, one can find examples of sable on gules and azure fields as early as the sixteenth century in the arms of the family Kanizsai (granted in 1519): Azure, an eagle's wing sable taloned Or between

3072-485: The idea has evolved and continued into the modern age, with fluctuations in popular and critical regard. William Carlos Williams , Clyde Brion Davis and Philip Roth have written novels about the Great American Novel—titled as such—Roth's in the 1970s, a time of prosperity for the concept. Equivalents to and interpretations of the Great American Novel have arisen. Writers and academics have commented upon

3136-432: The idea —said it could not, for United States had become too developed of a nation. Tony Tulathimutte similarly dismissed it as "a comforting romantic myth, which wrongly assumes that commonality is more significant than individuality". Multiple commentators have noted the concept's relation to racial and national identity, be it influence from by large-scale immigration , which brought forth authors closely aligned with

3200-484: The letter A, gules " (“On a black background, the letter A in red"). Elmer Kennedy-Andrews remarks that Hawthorne in "The Custom-house" sets the context for his story and "tells us about 'romance', which is his preferred generic term to describe The Scarlet Letter , as his subtitle for the book – 'A Romance' – would indicate." In this introduction, Hawthorne describes a space between materialism and "dreaminess" that he calls "a neutral territory, somewhere between

3264-414: The minister seems to gain energy. On Election Day, Dimmesdale gives one of his most inspired sermons. As the procession leaves the church, however, Dimmesdale climbs upon the scaffold, confesses his sin, and dies in Hester's arms. Later, most witnesses swear that they saw a stigma in the form of a scarlet "A" upon his chest, although some deny this statement. Chillingworth loses his vengeance and dies within

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3328-423: The minister's illness is the result of 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

3392-545: The next Great American Novel; Upton Sinclair and Sinclair Lewis both sought to create the Great American Novel with The Jungle (1906) and Babbit (1924), respectively. William Carlos Williams and Clyde Brion Davis released satirical explorations both entitled The Great American Novel – Philip Roth would later release a novel of the same name . Bernard F. Jr. Rogers said that Kurt Vonnegut 's "entire career might be characterised as an attempt to produce something like "the GAN", but of its own time". The 1970s saw

3456-487: The novel also partially inspired Easy A (dir. by Will Gluck ) from a screenplay by Bert V. Royal and starring Emma Stone . John Updike rewrote The Scarlet Letter in his The Scarlet Letter trilogy S. , A Month of Sundays and Roger's Version . Patricia Suprenant's Behind the Scarlet Letter: Based on a True Story (2024) tells the story of the actual 19th-century legal case which formed

3520-425: The other toward a saga of personal transformation, or failure of such.'" From the turn of the century to the mid-twentieth century, the idea eluded serious academic consideration, being dismissed as a "naively amateurish age-of-realism pipe dream" not aligned with the culture of that time. Writers such as William Dean Howells and Mark Twain were equally blasé. Frank Norris too saw the concept as not befitting

3584-575: The real world and fairy-land, where the Actual and the Imaginary may meet, and each imbues itself with nature of the other". This combination of "dreaminess" and realism gave the author space to explore major themes. The experience of Prynne and Dimmesdale recalls the story of Adam and Eve because, in both cases, sin results in expulsion and suffering. But it also results in knowledge – specifically, in knowledge of what it means to be immoral. For Prynne,

3648-672: The reason that the idea has persisted for so long. To think that one might be writing the Great American Novel, as opposed to laboring through a meandering 400-page manuscript...is awfully reassuring. I have a purpose! I am writing the Great American Novel! Denoting an apocryphal state, film critic A. O. Scott compared the GAN to the Yeti , the Loch Ness monster and the Sasquatch . Sable (heraldry) In British heraldry , sable ( / ˈ s eɪ b əl / )

3712-459: The scaffold in the dead of night, he admits his guilt but cannot find the courage to do so publicly in the light of day. Hester, shocked by Dimmesdale's deterioration, decides to obtain a release from her vow of silence to her husband. Hester meets Dimmesdale in the forest and tells him of her husband and his desire for revenge. She convinces Dimmesdale to leave Boston in secret on a ship to Europe where they can start life anew. Inspired by this plan,

3776-456: The scaffold, many of the women in the crowd are angered by her beauty and quiet dignity. When commanded to confess and 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 had been presumed lost at sea. When he sees Hester's shame, he asks a man in the crowd about her and is told the story of his wife's pregnancy. He angrily exclaims that

3840-539: The term's pragmatics , the different types of novels befitting of title and the idea's relation to race and gender. The development of American literature coincided with the nation's development, especially of its identity . Calls for an "autonomous national literature" first appeared during the American Revolution , and, by the mid-18th century, the possibility of American literature exceeding its European counterparts began to take shape, as did that of

3904-474: The time, stating that the fact of a great work being American should be incidental. Edith Wharton complained that the Great American Novel concept held a narrow view of the nation, simply being concerned with "Main Street". At this time, it also grew to become associated with masculine values. Despite this critical disregard, many writers, prepped with "templates" and "recipes" for the matter, sought to create

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3968-594: Was a 1908 short film . This lost silent film was directed by Sidney Olcott from a screenplay by Gene Gauntier , who also starred as Hester. The oldest surviving film adaptation is a The Scarlet Letter (1911 film) directed by Joseph W. Smiley and George Loane Tucker , with Lucille Young as Hester and King Baggot as Dimmesdale. The film has been subsequently adapted in 1926 (dir. Victor Sjöström ), 1934 (dir. Robert G. Vignola ), 1973 (dir. Wim Wenders ), as television miniseries in 1979, another film in 1995 (dir. by Roland Joffé starring Demi Moore ) and

4032-400: Was also one of the first mass-produced books in America. In the mid-nineteenth century, bookbinders of home-grown literature typically hand-made their books and sold them in small quantities. The first mechanized printing of The Scarlet Letter , 2,500 volumes, sold out within ten days. It was long held that Hawthorne originally planned The Scarlet Letter to be a shorter novelette , part of

4096-459: Was arguing in hopes of not one Great American Novel, but rather the development of a literary canon that accurately portrayed our complex national character, has been lost on many, as generation after generation of critics have since engaged in discussions of who might have written the Great American Novel of any given age, and writers have aspired to be the one chosen — a competitive mode that is, I suppose, as American as it gets. It's also most likely

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