If the video doesn’t load please try refreshing the page. If the problem persists make sure you have the latest version of the Flash player or watch the videos on our RecAPP iPhone and iPod application.

You might say that Nathaniel Hawthorne wrote The Scarlet Letter for himself. Call it catharsis after years of fretting over his ancestor’s not-so-nice role as a judge in the Salem Witch Trials. So did Hawthorne succeed? Did The Scarlet Letter allow him to purge the guilt that came from being associated with a man as awful as Judge Hathorne? Watch this Recap and decide for yourself.

Video Transcription:

The question to end all questions, after this.

So, to Recap: The Scarlet Letter is about the psychological consequences of sin. In other words, guilt. But it’s not just about Hester and Dimmesdale’s guilt. It’s also about Hawthorne’s.

Here’s the short version. Back in 1692, one of Hawthorne’s ancestors was a judge during the Salem witch trials. Which basically means he helped to condemn a bunch of innocent women. Hawthorne spent most of his life trying to figure out how he should respond to that. Sometimes, he responded with loathing. Sometimes, he responded with fascination.

And eventually he responded with The Scarlet Letter.

Which leads me to—I promise—the last question you should be asking yourself about this book. Who is Hawthorne more like: Hester, who finds redemption through art? Or Dimmesdale, who, over and over, tries—and fails—to exorcise his guilt?

Or maybe he’s a mix of both. I’ll leave that one up to you.