Nathaniel Hawthorne wrote The Scarlet Letter in 1850.The Scarlet Letter is a story of a triangle love affair， a story of adultery， revenge and redemption， setting against the harsh backdrop of the strict puritan colony in 17th century Boston. It is a pioneering work in the struggle against the puritan severity toward love and matrimony and its tendency to suppress men’s right to happiness. In the scarlet letter， Hawthorne discloses the cruelty of puritans， the torment to people’s spirits， and the hypocritical morality of Puritanism. The author portrays the development of psychology of the characters’ breaking away from the religious chains and getting a new life. Hawthorne’s background shed more light on the puritan elements in the book. So we find that on one hand， Hawthorne， affected by the social surroundings， inevitably has some puritanical traits； on the other hand， he disagrees with the puritan theocracy and condemns it severely.
　　After reading the novel， we are mostly impressed by the spirit of the Bible the story depicted. The book chiefly discusses sin and effect the Puritanism has on the mind， body， and soul. Hawthorne probed the secret motivations in human behavior and the guilt and anxiety that he believed resulted from all sins against humanity， especially those of pride， the sin was committed by three main characters.
　　The Scarlet Letter is a love tragedy in the puritan society in the colonial period. The letter “A” changes a lot in the novel， from “Adultery” to “Alone” “Alienation” and at last it stands for “Able” or “Admire”. She is a strong admirable woman who goes through more emotional torture that most people do in a lifetime. The realistic meaning of the letter “A” can also be used for reference by the woman in the same situation today. The description of the four leading characters in the novel shows that Hawthorne makes skillful use of symbolism and discloses the different kinds of humanity of the four leading characters. Hester is a symbol of sin in the puritan society but in fact we are deeply moved by her characters of kindness， independence. She is a representative of feminist. Pearl is a living scarlet letter of Hester， she is the human symbol of the sin of adultery. Dimmesdale is tortured by his sin all the time till the end， but his tragedy is inevitable in such a society. Roger Chilligworth evolves from a man capable of love， into a devil， who is only capable of revenge .Besides， the objects and settings are one of the major elements of symbolism. The purpose of which is to reveal the dark side and cruelty of the puritan society and encourage people to seek their own freedom.