The Scarlet Letter is a well-known novel written by Nathaniel Hawthorne. In this novel Hawthorne wrote extensively about the Puritans' reception of sin, particularly adultery. It also includes brilliant images of the repercussions that occur when the town of Salem learns of Hester's adultery. There are many relationships within the book, from a lover to a beautiful but illegitimate daughter. Symbolism is present everywhere, even a simple rose bush outside a prison has so much meaning. Hawthorne reveals themes throughout the novel, one in particular being sin. Even though sin does not occur often in the Puritan lifestyle, Hawthorne shows the importance and change 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 are introduced to a young woman named Hester Prynne. We are 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, instead of Hester (Weinauer). Chillingworth thought the marriage would not last forever. This is demonstrated when he says to Hester, A man already in decay, who gave my best years to feed the hungry dream of knowledge, - what had I to do with youth and beauty like thine! Deformed since birth, how could I delude myself that intellectual gifts could mask physical deformity in the imagination of a little girl! … No, from the moment we walked down the steps of the old church together, a married couple, I could have seen the lie-…… in the center of the paper……y Literary Criticism. Ed. Laurie Lanzen Harris. vol. 10. Detroit: Gale Research, 1985. Literary resources from Gale. Network. 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. Pietro Dzwonkoski. Detroit: Gale Research, 1986. Dictionary of Literary Biography Vol. 49. Literary Resources from Gale. Network. January 14, 2014.Oliphant, Margaret. "Modern Novelists: Great and Small." Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine 77 (May 1855): 554-568. Rpt. in nineteenth-century literary criticism. Ed. Laurie Lanzen Harris. vol. 10. Detroit: Gale Research, 1985. Literary resources from Gale. Network. January 14, 2014.Weinauer, Ellen. “The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne.” . Charles Scribner's Children, January 1, 2003. Network. .