Perceptions of The Scarlet Letter

It is an understatement to say that Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter is a well known literary work. It’s been the topic of much conversation since it was published on March 16, 1850. Since we’re just a week away from the 162nd anniversary, I thought it’d be interesting to see how the novel has been perceived differently over the years.

• It was too short. After shopping the manuscript of The Scarlet Letter around to publishers, Hawthorne realized it was too short to be published on its own. In order to elongate it, he added the Custom House introduction, which was heavily based on his own experiences working at the Salem Custom House.
• It was written very deliberately. Many critics have questioned the way Hawthorne wrote the novel, choosing not to go very much into detail about the temptation that led to Hester Prynne’s adultery. In an article for The Atlantic written in April 1886, Julian Hawthorne, Nathaniel Hawthorne’s son, explains the way in which the novel is written, highlighting the strengths in the decisions he made in his writing.
• It is one of the first and finest examples of the allegorical romance. Hawthorne was criticized for his use of allegory by many people, including Edgar Allan Poe. Poe believed that Hawthorne’s use of allegory cut off emotional ties between the reader and the work. Poe also believed it caused conflict between the aesthetic quality of fiction. If it wasn’t categorized as fiction, it would have to have been history, which was not possible either as it is not entirely historically accurate.  Despite these criticisms, The Scarlet Letter went on to explore not only the historical, but the human through its use of allegory. There’s an essay that further explores this here.
• It’s been adapted for the screen (at least) 7 times. Some have tackled the task of taking Hawthorne’s words and bringing them to life, opening them to a new audience and different interpretation. Thus, The Scarlet Letter was seen as a silent black and white melodramatic film (1917); a classic silent black and white film (1926); a classic with a humorous edge with Colleen Moore, the star of the 1917 version (1934);  a Studio One production for CBS (1951); in German with subtitles (1972); a mini series for PBS (1979); and a free adaptation by Hollywood Pictures and Buena Vista film (1995). If 2010’s Easy A is any indication, we have yet to see the last of the novel’s influence.