Today in Literature

16 March 1850: Nathaniel Hawthorne’s best known work, The Scarlet Letter, was published.  Hawthorne’s exploration of sin, legalism, and hypocrisy is set in 17th century Puritanical Boston but its themes are no less resonant in contemporary society.

The Scarlet Letter is frequently taught in high schools and in the university setting.  Hawthorne’s prose is beautifully written and his text is very open to various theoretical approaches.  Paul Auster, one of my favorite contemporary authors, deals with The Scarlet Letter in his novel The Brooklyn Follies.

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