Nathaniel Hawthorne
The Scarlet Letter: A Romance

Boston stolen from the natives, Boston dirty inside and out. The puritanical morality that the locals impose on themselves makes them feel safe and terrifies them at the same time. A comma out of place in their daily behavior, they fear, could send the world into the clutches of the Devil.

Hester Prynne is sacrificed for the cause: she must wear a scarlet A on her chest (A for adultery) as an emblem of the crime committed. Not only does Hester sin, but she publicly affirms the idiocy of the entire process, generating even more disdain among her fellow citizens.
The woman has given birth to a baby girl, Pearl, who is as much a symbol as that cloth letter of all that happens, of rebellion and punishment. The child, however, is born out of wedlock, as Hester's husband is missing. She, tenacious, refuses to reveal the name of the one who made her a mother.

This is one of the first writings through which such a strong and resilient female figure is pushed to an important role like Hester's: challenging the sick morality of society.
The work also touches on various facets of guilt. The particularly God-fearing Reverend Dimmesdale is, in this sense, the most curious character to read about, through his phases of anxiety and repentance.

How much has Massachusetts produced - and automatically influenced - in literature? Since the 17th century, we continue to be fascinated by stories related to that geographical area.
Those who were born and raised there can never completely detach from those dark atmospheres, from that piece of American history so controversial.

Nathaniel Hawthorne published The Scarlet Letter in 1850 after constructing the events around 1642, shortly before the famous witch trials.
Like Hester, the author attracts harsh criticism from the ecclesiastical world, which as usual does not appreciate the reference.

The film adaptations of the work are numerous:

• At least six silent films, the first of which is lost, released at the beginning of the millennium;

• The first with sound from 1934 directed by Robert G. Vignola;

• Der Scharlachrote Buchstabe from 1973 directed by Wim Wenders;

• The 1979 miniseries directed by Rick Hauser;

• The controversial 1995 feature film directed by Roland Joffé;

• Easy A, a modern comedy released in 2010 that takes inspiration from the novel, directed by Will Gluck.

In the next reviews, I will focus on the versions by Wenders and Joffé and on the curiosities related to the films.