The Scarlet Letter: Manga Classics
The Scarlet Letter, a story within a story. Hawthorne tells the tale of Hester Prynne, after he discovers an old document wrapped in a piece of cloth embroidered with the letter “A”.
For a young woman who gives birth to an illegitimate child in Puritan Boston Massachusetts, life is hard. Having committed adultery her punishment is to wear a scarlet “A” on her dress so that everyone will know her sins. She stands strong in front of the crowd and will not reveal the child’s father despite their demands.
Her husband, long absent, appears in the crowd as Hester stands before her judgement. Hearing of her adultery he is determined to find out her partner in the crime, despite her vow of silence on the matter. Attending Hester in her prison cell he convinces her to stay quiet about his own identity… if she does not, he threatens the man who she is protecting.
Hester sets up in a cottage on the edge of town, there she makes a living from needlework, helps the poor, and raises her daughter, Pearl. But as Pearl grows she becomes more unruly and rumours start to spread. The church feels that Pearl should be taken away for her own good. She travels to the governor and appeals to minister Dimmesdale to help, and he manages to convince him to let Pearl stay with her mother.
When Dimmesdale’s health begins to fail, Hester’s husband (now known as Chillingworth) attends to him. The minister’s illness seems to be the result of unconfessed guilt and Chillingworth soon discovers that it is because he is, in fact, Pearl’s father.
Hester meets with Dimmesdale in the forest and tells him of her husband’s true identity, and that he plans to take revenge for what Dimmesdale has done. She convinces him to leave Boston with her and they will be able to start a new life together. With this plan in place the minister gains strength, and on the day they plan to leave he delivers one of his most inspiring sermons. As the procession leaves the church, he climbs on to the scaffold and confesses his sins, before dying in Hester’s arms.
With no way to get revenge, Chillingworth also dies a short time later and leaves Pearl an inheritance. Once Pearl is grown, Hester returns to her cottage to live out her days with her scarlet letter.
Phew, quite a story to try and summarise there. Yet another classic that I haven’t read (shame on me!), so it is difficult to know what has been adapted here. Handily though at the back of the book (front of the book? It’s always a little confusing with manga editions!) there is a letter from Crystal S. Chan about her journey adapting the novel.
It’s an interesting and appreciated addition. Chan ends the piece by saying “Hopefully you now have a greater understanding of just how complex the original book was.” Not just that though, it makes you realise just how much goes into creating an adaptation, especially considering how the manga elements have been woven in too.
With just the red “A” standing against the black illustrations all the way through it adds perfectly to this story. SunNeko Lee’s drawing was wonderful throughout and strikingly different to that in other book I have just finished, The Stories Of Edgar Allan Poe, which is also from this publisher. The characters are drawn in a style that seems much more traditional for the manga format, and it’s beautiful.
The words of this edition feel right. They get across the essence of the story without troublesome language, and without overly modernising. Having since looked at the original text I think it was a massive undertaking, and a successful one.
This is a wonderfully constructed book, and one that I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend to people. It’s a much needed first step into a classic that is particularly challenging to those who aren’t familiar with classic novels.
The Scarlet Letter: Manga Classics originally written by Nathaniel Hawthorne, adapted by Ctystal S. Chan and illustrated by SunNeko Lee, is available now in paperback.
