Volume 39, Number 16 · October 8, 1992
The Opera of 'The Scarlet Letter'
By Alfred Kazin
Why is there no opera of The Scarlet Letter? The novel opens on a scene, 'The Prison-Door,' that is so dramatic in its starkness that one half-expects to hear an audience burst into applause. 'A throng of bearded men, in sad-colored garments and gray, steeple-crowned hats, intermixed with women, some wearing hoods, and others bareheaded, was assembled in front of a wooden edifice, the door of which was heavily timbered with oak, and studded with iron spikes.'
Feature, 4171 words
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