On March 16, 1850, The Scarlet Letter was born. However, it did not come into the world as a normal child, or even a normal book of its time. Nathaniel Hawthorne originally planned The Scarlet Letter to be a novelette and part of a collection of stories, but his publisher, James Thomas Fields, recognized its worth and convinced him to publish the story separately. Hawthorne then decided to expand The Scarlet Letter, with all its secrecy and intrigue, into a full-length novel.
Hawthorne, along with the The Scarlet Letter, was a trendsetter. It was one of the first books to be mass produced in America. Critics of the time, and even Hawthorne himself, thought there was no way that 2,500 copies of a book would sell out within a year, especially not a book that received so much religious backlash at the time. But The Scarlet Letter sold out of the first printing within the first ten days that it was on the market! The young United States had never seen such widespread popularity in a contemporary piece, and this book in particular made for some interesting discussions.
The novel begins in June, 1642. Hester Prynne, whose husband was lost at sea and presumed dead, turns up pregnant. She is rightly accused of adultery, questioned before the town, and forced to wear a scarlet letter “A” to shame her adulterous status. During this ordeal, her long-lost husband is in the crowd to witness her punishment. He hides himself in plain sight and vows revenge. The intrigue, mystery, and guilt of the adultery follow the characters to the end, and readers are left to wonder and guess their way through the plot.
So on this 167th anniversary of The Scarlet Letter’s first printing, let’s celebrate by recognizing how far technology has come since early mass production and recognize that—just like with Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings, and Game of Thrones—bringing back a character that everyone thinks died can make for a great story.