The Scarlet Letter

By Hawthorne, Nathaniel

Book Id: WPLBN0000700983
Format Type: PDF eBook
File Size: 948.36 KB.
Reproduction Date: 2005

Title:	The Scarlet Letter
Author:	Hawthorne, Nathaniel
Volume:
Language:	English
Subject:	Literature, Literature & thought, Literature & drama
Collections:	DjVu Editions Classic Literature
Historic Publication Date:
Publisher:	DjVu Editions Classic Literature


Citation APA MLA Chicago Hawthorne, N. (n.d.). The Scarlet Letter. Retrieved from http://gutenberg.cc/

Excerpt
Excerpt: PREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION; MUCH to the author?s surprise, and (if he may say so without additional offence) considerably to his amusement, he finds that his sketch of official life, introductory to THE SCARLET LETTER, has created an unprecedented excitement in the respectable community immediately around him. It could hardly have been more violent, indeed, had he burned down the Custom House, and quenched its last smoking ember in the blood of a certain venerable personage, against whom he is supposed to cherish a peculiar malevolence. As the public disapprobation would weigh very heavily on him, were he conscious of deserving it, the author begs leave to say, that he has carefully read over the introductory pages, with a purpose to alter or expunge whatever might be found amiss, and to make the best reparation in his power for the atrocities of which he has been adjudged guilty. But it appears to him, that the only remarkable features of the sketch are its frank and genuine good-humor, and the general accuracy with which he has conveyed his sincere impressions of the characters therein described. As to enmity, or ill feeling of any kind, personal or political, he utterly disclaims such motives. The sketch might, perhaps, have been wholly omitted, without loss to the public, or detriment to the book; but, having undertaken to write it, he conceives that it could not have been done in a better or a kindlier spirit, nor, so far as his abilities availed, with a livelier effect of truth. The author is constrained, therefore, to republish his introductory sketch without the change of a word.

Table of Contents
Table of Contents: PREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION, 1 -- THE CUSTOM HOUSE INTRODUCTORY, 2 -- 1 THE PRISON DOOR, 31 -- 2 THE MARKET-PLACE, 33 -- 3 THE RECOGNITION, 40 -- 4 THE INTERVIEW, 47 -- 5 HESTER AT HER NEEDLE, 52 -- 6 PEARL, 59 -- 7 THE GOVERNOR?S HALL, 66 -- 8 THE ELF-CHILD AND THE MINISTER, 72 -- 9 THE LEECH, 79 -- 10 THE LEECH AND HIS PATIENT, 87 -- 11 THE INTERIOR OF A HEART, 95 -- 12 THE MINISTER?S VIGIL, 100 -- 13 ANOTHER VIEW OF HESTER, 108 -- 14 HESTER AND THE PHYSICIAN, 114 -- 15 HESTER AND PEARL, 119 -- 16 A FOREST WALK, 124 -- 17 THE PASTOR AND HIS PARISHIONER, 129 -- 18 A FLOOD OF SUNSHINE, 136 -- 19 THE CHILD AT THE BROOKSIDE, 141 -- 20 THE MINISTER IN A MAZE, 147 -- 21 THE NEW ENGLAND HOLIDAY, 155 -- 22 THE PROCESSION, 162 -- 23 THE REVELATION OF THE SCARLET LETTER, 170 -- 24 CONCLUSION, 177