The Scarlet Letter

It is beautiful, admirable, extraordinary; it has in the highest degree that merit which I have spoken of as the mark of Hawthorne's best things--an indefinable purity and lightness of conception...One can often return to it; it supports familiarity and has the inexhaustible charm and mystery of great works of art. Henry James...... More than a century and a half have passed since the publication of The Scarlet Letter and yet it s deep psychological and moral themes ,inspired by Puritan New England, still have a powerful impact and relevance to the contemporary reader. It is a true American classic.