Charles R. Larson Critical Essay | Critical Essay by Publishers Weekly

Critical Essay by Publishers Weekly

["Arthur Dimmesdale," a] recasting of Hawthorne's "The Scarlet Letter," from the viewpoint of the pusillanimous young minister, gets high marks for vision. However, so overwhelming is the convoluted psychic landscape of Minister Dimmesdale that the reader wilts under his vacillations and can only marvel that Hester aroused passion in such a one. Larson's version of the sin that Puritan Boston deemed a crime is forthright, differing from the studied ambiguity of the original…. [Larson] gives some unique Gothic touches to a classic.

A review of "Arthur Dimmesdale," in Publishers Weekly, Vol. 222, No. 6, August 6, 1982, p. 58.