The Scarlet Letter
Hawthorne turned Puritan guilt into America's first great novel about hypocrisy and moral absolutism.
“She had not known the weight until she felt the freedom.”
Why It Matters
Hawthorne turned Puritan guilt into America's first great novel about hypocrisy and moral absolutism. Hester Prynne is one of the earliest heroines in American fiction who is more admirable than the society judging her. The book invented the template for American stories about public shame and private sin.
The 
Take
Personal reviewSome of my favorite prose I’ve ever read. So lofty and metaphorical and clever. Very Christian and allegorical plot, short and sweet. Without a doubt and all time great book
Notable Quotes
“No man, for any considerable period, can wear one face to himself and another to the multitude, without finally getting bewildered as to which may be the true.”
“It is a curious subject of observation, how often the first symptoms of disease are mistaken for recovery.”