Lauren Gail Berlant, The Anatomy of National Fantasy. Hawthorne, Utopia, and Everyday Life, University of Chicago Press, 1991

A discussion of the connections between The Scarlet Letter and the politics and political character of the United States in the mid-nineteenth century, including the concept of utopia as it was applied to

American democracy.

Richard H. Brodhead, The School of Hawthorne, Oxford University Press, 1986.

Explores the critical reputation of Hawthorne and how the prevailing literary thought of the day helped create a "school" around his work that led to his inclusion in the literary canon A good history of

Hawthorne's critical reputation.

Critical Essays on Hawthorne's 'The Scarlet Letter', edited by David B. Kesterson, G K Hall, 1988.

A collection of previously published criticism on Hawthorne's novel .

Critical Response to Nathaniel Hawthorne's 'The Scarlet Letter,' edited by Gary Scharnhorst, Greenwood Press, 1992.

Another collection of Critical essays by...