In colonial New England, beautiful, young Hester Pryne bears a child although her husband is presumed lost at sea. She refuses to name the father and is condemned to wear a scarlet “A” and live as an outcast. As she transforms the badge of shame into a symbol of freedom, Hawthorne’s dramatic masterpiece envisions an authentic relation between the sexes—and a different way of imagining love, sin, and redemption—that can form the basis for America’s radical project of a true democracy.
Table of Content
Contents
Introductory. The Custom-House. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
I. The Prison Door. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .42
II. The Market-Place . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .44
III. The Recognition. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .54
IV. The Interview. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .64
V. Hester at Her Needle. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .71
VI. Pearl. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .81
VII. The Governor’s Hall. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .91
VIII. The Elf-Child and the Minister. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .99
IX. The Leech . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .108
X. The Leech and His Patient. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .118
XI. The Interior of a Heart. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .128
XII. The Minister’s Vigil. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 135
XIII. Another View of Hester. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .147
XIV. Hester and the Physician . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .156
XV. Hester and Pearl . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .163
XVI. A Forest Walk . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .170
XVII. The Pastor and His Parishioner. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .177
XVIII. A Flood Of Sunshine. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .187
XIX. The Child at the Brookside . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .193
XX. The Minister in a Maze . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .200
XXI. The New England Holiday. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .211
XXII. The Procession. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .220
XXIII. The Revelation of the Scarlet Letter. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .231
XXIV. Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .240
Afterword. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .247
Biographical Timeline. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .262
About the author
Carol Gilligan is the author of the groundbreaking book, In a Different Voice. In 1997 she became the first gender studies professor at Harvard and she now teaches at New York University. She has been awarded Spencer, Grawemeyer, and Heinz Awards and named one of the twenty-five most influential Americans by Time magazine. Recent works include The Birth of Pleasure, Kyra: A Novel, The Deepening Darkness, The Scarlet Letter (a play), Why Does Patriarchy Persist? (with Naomi Snider), and Darkness Now Visible (with David J. Richards).
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