Which American Romantic author wrote 'The Scarlet Letter'?

The American Romantic author who wrote The Scarlet Letter is Nathaniel Hawthorne. Published in 1850, the novel is set in the Puritan Massachusetts Bay Colony and examines sin, guilt, punishment, secrecy, and moral judgment.

Its central character, Hester Prynne, is forced to wear a scarlet “A” after having a child outside marriage. Rather than presenting her simply as a sinner, Hawthorne explores her dignity, independence, and changing relationship with the community. The hidden identity of her child’s father drives much of the novel’s tension.

Hawthorne drew heavily on New England history and religious culture. The book’s full title, The Scarlet Letter: A Romance, reflects its blend of historical setting, symbolism, and emotional drama. Readers sometimes confuse Hawthorne with Edgar Allan Poe or Herman Melville, other major nineteenth-century American writers, but Hawthorne alone wrote this novel.