The Scarlet Letter
Read The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne in Italian and English, a parallel text graded reader with audio. Available in CEFR levels A2, B1, B2, and C2.
About this book
On a summer morning in Puritan Boston, a crowd gathers before the weather-stained prison, where a wild rosebush blooms at the threshold. Hester Prynne steps from the prison door of her own will, refusing the guiding hand, her infant in her arms and a scarlet letter "A" gleaming in gold thread against her gown. She is marched to the scaffold to stand in public shame. The townswomen debate her punishment. The clergy press her to name the father of her child. She will not.
Available editions
Read a sample
Un grande gruppo di uomini con la barba era riunito insieme.
A large group of men with beards stood together.
Indossavano vestiti scuri e semplici, e cappelli grigi alti a forma di torre di chiesa.
They wore dark, plain clothes and tall gray hats shaped like church steeples.
Tra loro c’erano anche delle donne.
Women stood among them too.
Alcune donne indossavano cappucci, e altre non avevano niente sulla testa.
Some women wore hoods, and others had no head covering at all.
Erano tutti davanti a un edificio di legno.
They all stood in front of a wooden building.
La porta dell’edificio era di legno pesante e duro.
The building’s door was made of heavy oak.
Sulla porta c’erano delle punte di ferro.
The door had iron spikes on it.
History
- Written by Nathaniel Hawthorne in English
- Adapted by Line by Line Publishing in 2026