The Scarlet Letter is a well-known novel written by Nathaniel Hawthorne. In this novel, Hawthorne wrote in depth about how the Puritans accepted sin, especially adultery. It also includes brilliant images of the repercussions that occur when the town of Salem hears of Hester's adultery. There are many relationships in the book, from a lover to a beautiful illegitimate daughter. The symbolism is everywhere, even a simple rose bush outside a prison has so much meaning. Hawthorne reveals themes throughout the novel, that of sin in particular. Although sin does not occur often in the Puritan way of life, Hawthorne shows the importance and change that this deception brings to the town of Salem. The relationships depicted in Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter can be found in some of today's most intriguing soap operas. At the beginning of The Scarlet Letter, we meet a young woman named Hester Prynne. We're told that she had a very complex relationship with an older man named Rogers Chillingworth (Hawthorne). The basis of this relationship was said to be a marriage, but it is believed that Chillingworth paid more attention to his profession, medicine, than to Hester (Weinauer). Chillingworth believed the marriage would not last forever. This is proven when he says to Hester: “A man already in decline, having given my best years to nourish the hungry dream of knowledge, — what had I to do with youth and beauty like yours! Deformed since the time of my birth, how could I delude myself with the idea that intellectual gifts could veil physical deformity in a young girl's fantasy! ...No, from the moment we walked down the steps of the old church together, a married couple, I could have seen the ball-...... middle of paper ......y Literary criticism . Ed. Laurie Lanzen Harris. Flight. 10. Detroit: Gale Research, 1985. Gale Library Resources. Internet. January 14, 2014. Myerson, Joel. "Ticknor and Fields; Allen and Ticknor; William D. Ticknor; William D. Ticknor and Company; Ticknor, Reed and Fields." American literary publishing houses, 1638-1899. Ed. Peter Dzwonkoski. Detroit: Gale Research, 1986. Dictionary of Literary Biography Vol. 49. Gale Library Resources. Internet. January 14, 2014.Oliphant, Margaret. “Modern novelists, great and small.” Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine 77 (May 1855): 554-568. Rep. in 19th century literary criticism. Ed. Laurie Lanzen Harris. Flight. 10. Detroit: Gale Research, 1985. Gale Library Resources. Internet. January 14, 2014. Weinauer, Ellen. “The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne.” . The Sons of Charles Scribner, January 1, 2003. Internet. .