All annotation information comes from Wikipedia unless otherwise noted.
Romance Novels
Hawthorne, Nathaniel. The Scarlet Letter. Boston, MA: Ticknor, Reed and Fields, 1850
The Scarlet Letter is one of Hawthorne’s most famous titles, taught to unappreciative students in high schools across the country. It is the greatest example of his propensity for puritan literature. It tells the story of Hester Prynn and her life in puritan Boston, where her husband sent her to set up their home before he joined two years later. However, during her time alone, Hester had an affair with Reverend Dimmsdale, and had her child Pearl nine months later. Following this, Hester was forced to wear a red letter A indicating her adultery, hence the novel’s name. Though …show more content…
But Hester’s husband did arrive in puritan Boston right as Hester and Dimmsdale least expected it, setting in motion the conflict of the novel. The Scarlet Letter is often studied for its historical view of puritan values and its reflection thereupon, and is considered a successful and even widely influential piece, but there are many unappreciative readers, often students, who read the book and thought, “Meh.” The book is an interesting one for its historical background, but beyond that, it is not any literary marvel. The symbolism was heavy-handed throughout the novel, from the appearances of the red letter A to the allusions to Satan and death- one of the characters even explains the symbolism of a flower growing in the heart of a dead man to another character. The plot of the novel had its tense moments that kept the reader wondering, but these moments were often wrought with moments of sobriety that clashed with any wonder and fantasy the novel had to offer, Each event in the novel was made just as uninteresting as the last, and each chapter leaves the reader begging for more-- begging for anything at all. Chillingsworth was the only character who made the …show more content…
Grandfather’s Chair is a historical fiction piece, a story of a grandfather telling the history of puritan America to four young boys. Hawthorne’s goal in writing this book was to interest children in history, in a way that might be better understood: his “imaginative authority” as he named it. *?!
Gothic Novels
The House of Seven Gables
The House of Seven Gables is one of Hawthorne’s gothic books, named for the “gable” style of home which the novel takes place in and around. As with many of his novels, the book is heavy-laden with symbolism and suggestions of the supernatural. The novel covers both the present and past of the house the characters live in, with notable references to the Salem Witch Trials, and the history of the characters in relation to those events. *?!
Short Story Collections
Twice-told Tales
Mosses from an Old Manse
The Snow-Image
Other Twice-Told Tales
Our Old Home: A Series of English
Romance Novels
Hawthorne, Nathaniel. The Scarlet Letter. Boston, MA: Ticknor, Reed and Fields, 1850
The Scarlet Letter is one of Hawthorne’s most famous titles, taught to unappreciative students in high schools across the country. It is the greatest example of his propensity for puritan literature. It tells the story of Hester Prynn and her life in puritan Boston, where her husband sent her to set up their home before he joined two years later. However, during her time alone, Hester had an affair with Reverend Dimmsdale, and had her child Pearl nine months later. Following this, Hester was forced to wear a red letter A indicating her adultery, hence the novel’s name. Though …show more content…
But Hester’s husband did arrive in puritan Boston right as Hester and Dimmsdale least expected it, setting in motion the conflict of the novel. The Scarlet Letter is often studied for its historical view of puritan values and its reflection thereupon, and is considered a successful and even widely influential piece, but there are many unappreciative readers, often students, who read the book and thought, “Meh.” The book is an interesting one for its historical background, but beyond that, it is not any literary marvel. The symbolism was heavy-handed throughout the novel, from the appearances of the red letter A to the allusions to Satan and death- one of the characters even explains the symbolism of a flower growing in the heart of a dead man to another character. The plot of the novel had its tense moments that kept the reader wondering, but these moments were often wrought with moments of sobriety that clashed with any wonder and fantasy the novel had to offer, Each event in the novel was made just as uninteresting as the last, and each chapter leaves the reader begging for more-- begging for anything at all. Chillingsworth was the only character who made the …show more content…
Grandfather’s Chair is a historical fiction piece, a story of a grandfather telling the history of puritan America to four young boys. Hawthorne’s goal in writing this book was to interest children in history, in a way that might be better understood: his “imaginative authority” as he named it. *?!
Gothic Novels
The House of Seven Gables
The House of Seven Gables is one of Hawthorne’s gothic books, named for the “gable” style of home which the novel takes place in and around. As with many of his novels, the book is heavy-laden with symbolism and suggestions of the supernatural. The novel covers both the present and past of the house the characters live in, with notable references to the Salem Witch Trials, and the history of the characters in relation to those events. *?!
Short Story Collections
Twice-told Tales
Mosses from an Old Manse
The Snow-Image
Other Twice-Told Tales
Our Old Home: A Series of English