The Scarlet Letter Lesson Plan

Hawthorne is perhaps most famous for writing The Scarlet Letter, but also wrote many other influential essays and stories throughout his career. The essential story in this book is of the fallen woman Hester Prynne, who has had a child, Pearl, out of wedlock. The father of the child, Dimmesdale, is the preacher in Hester's community; her husband, Chillingworth, also lives in the community. It is a detailed, small-scale story in Puritan New England that also throws light on larger issues of the human condition. The remarkable protagonist is shown to be an outcast from society but also an exceptional person.