Literature Network » Nathaniel Hawthorne

RED-LETTER DAYS AT THE BCA REVEAL SOCIETY'S SECRETS

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From: The Boston Globe
Date: 20041010
Author:Cate McQuaid, Globe Correspondent

Nathaniel Hawthorne laid open a powerful underground stream in "The Scarlet Letter" - one in which desire and shame converge. Writing in 1850 about the pride and passion of Hester Prynne, the Puritan woman condemned to wear a red "A" stitched to her dress after refusing to reveal the father of her unborn child, Hawthorne dissected the battle between the heart of the individual and the need of the community to keep individuality in check.

It was a defining work, not just of American literature but of American culture, a book with a central dilemma still relevant today as we choose to survive ...

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