The Scarlet Letter, by Nathaniel Hawthorne, is the fictionalized retelling of Jonathan Pue's account of Hester Prynne. The narrator, presumably Hawthorne, stumbles upon the actual Scarlet Letter, and the story behind it, on the abandoned second floor of his workplace, the Custom House. Hawthorne finds that the story is one of romance, scandal, and deceit, and decides to retell the tale to the public. Hawthorne and Pue's combined efforts have made the scarlet letter a …showed first 75 words of 603 total…

…showed last 75 words of 603 total…Europe and a happy life with his daughter and true love. Hawthorne's characters are as believable as they are tragic. The sinners, Hester the heroin, Chillingworth the villain, and Dimmesdale the pitiful priest each paid for their sins, one with death, one with mortal suffering, and one with perpetual public mocking. Through Nathaniel Hawthorne's words, people today are still mesmerized by the resoluteness of Hester Prynne, the brutality of Roger Chillingworth, and angst-ridden Arthur Dimmesdale.