The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I was surprised how mistaken I was about this book because of one bad reviewer! However, what surprised me even more was how different this book was from what I had expected, especially, considering a Puritan wrote it in 1850s! Hawthorne was never really someone I enjoyed reading in college or even back in school and when the topic was adultery, I was pretty sure I would have to go through a LOT of anti-women sentiment, and sermons about what virtuous women ought to do and how Hell strikes down a woman who has sinned but surprise, surprise! A feminist in disguise!
For me, the book became brilliant in the very first few chapters where Hawthorne starts to question that if a sexual offence happens against a woman or a sexual 'sin' is committed by one, why is it that the woman alone is blamed? Has the man who has brought upon her such dishonour not sinned equally or even more? Why is it that a woman 'loses her honour' even when she sins and eve when she is sinned against and a man doesn't? Yes, there is an awful LOT of such arguments in this book which talk about how women are deliberately moved to ignominy and infamy in a patriarchal society and that in such societies, even the so-called privileged women lead a life of misery.
Why I docked off a star? Well, WAYYYY TOO MUCH superstition but you can't really blame Hawthorne! It's Salem in the 1600s that he's talking about. There's bound to be some of that, though another main reason is the books juggles between the Shakespearean English and the Regency period English: commendable that Hawthorne could juggle with ease between both but it makes reading the book a little hard because the language isn't that fluid because of frequent transitions.
Do I recommend it? Well, if you're ever-ready for classics and can handle anything, yes. The story is brilliant, sans doubt, but it isn't really everyone's cup of tea!

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