In the 2010 romantic comedy Easy A, which classic novel inspires Olive Penderghast’s false reputation?

In Easy A, The Scarlet Letter inspires Olive Penderghast’s false reputation.

Olive, played by Emma Stone, tells her best friend a fabricated story about losing her virginity. When the rumor spreads through school, she embraces the comparison with Nathaniel Hawthorne’s 1850 novel by wearing a red “A” on her clothing. The letter becomes a visual symbol of the gossip surrounding her and of her attempt to control the story told about her.

The film uses Hawthorne’s novel as both a plot device and a modern reference point. Olive’s English class studies The Scarlet Letter, allowing the movie to connect its high-school rumor plot with themes of judgment, hypocrisy, and public reputation. Easy A was directed by Will Gluck and released in 2010. The story is not an adaptation of Hawthorne’s novel; it is a contemporary comedy that borrows its central symbol and several thematic ideas.