The Scarlet Letter
The Scarlet Letter is a novel by Nathaniel Hawthorne, first published in 1850 and one of his best-known works.
Set in Puritan New England in the 17th century, the novel follows Hester Prynne after she gives birth to her daughter, Pearl, while her husband is absent. Punished for adultery, she must stand on a public scaffold and wear a scarlet cloth letter “A” embroidered on her dress for the rest of her life.
Questioned before magistrates and clergy, Hester refuses to reveal Pearl’s father and tries to live with dignity in an unjust and hypocritical society.
Hawthorne explores legalism, sin, guilt, secrecy, and the tension between public judgment and private conscience.
The Scarlet Letter became a bestseller and has remained a widely read work of American literature. It has been adapted for film, television, and the stage.
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Public domain (US)·No sign-up·DRM-free·Real text, not scans
Copyright note. The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne is believed to be in the public domain in the United States only. It may still be copyrighted in other countries. If you are not in the United States, please check your local laws to ensure this eBook is in the public domain in your country before downloading The Scarlet Letter in PDF or EPUB.
- Pages
- 226
- Reading time
- 6 hours 59 minutes
- Pace
- Slow
- First published
- 1850
- Language
- English
- Downloads
- 8,945
176 years later, still timely
Why Read The Scarlet Letter in 2026?
Public shame, private strength. Hawthorne maps how a community polices bodies and belief—and how a woman claims meaning anyway. A fierce, elegant study of judgment, hypocrisy, and mercy.
Today's connection
Read it to think about reputation, punishment, and repair. Hawthorne shows how symbols can wound and empower—and how integrity reshapes the story others try to write for you.
Justice versus stigma
Law, faith, and cruelty are not the same.
The crowd’s voice
Gossip as a courtroom with no appeal.
Quiet defiance
Dignity grows in disciplined acts of care.
These collections include The Scarlet Letter
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About the author
Nathaniel Hawthorne
Moral allegory and New England shadow that test secrecy, shame, and mercy.
If this one stays with you…
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The Age of InnocenceEdith Wharton
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The House of MirthEdith Wharton
From The Scarlet Letter
This feeble and most sensitive of spirits could do neither, yet continually did one thing or another, which intertwined, in the same inextricable knot, the agony of heaven-defying guilt and vain repentance.
We dream in our waking moments, and walk in our sleep.
The days of the far-off future would toil onward, still with the same burden for her to take up and bear along with her.
It is remarkable that persons who speculate the most boldly often conform with the most perfect quietude to the external regulations of society.
Love, whether newly born or aroused from a deathlike slumber, must always create sunshine, filling the heart so full of radiance, that it overflows upon the outward world.