Nathaniel Hawthorn started writing The Scarlet Letter in 1847 and it was published in 1850. The Scarlet Letter is recognize by many 'critics as being one of the greatest of American novels.'1 Hawthorn created his own individual style of 'romance,' a style of writing. His own individual style of writing is now called 'Hawthorn's Theory of Romance'. His 'theory of Romance' is emphasized in The Scarlet Letter in many different ways. The techniques Hawthorn used …showed first 75 words of 1073 total…

…showed last 75 words of 1073 total…then follows Hawthorn describing the characters being real and unreal. And finally his most important technique of his theory. That technique is his 'atmospherical medium' which is the ability to manipulate the light in the scenery to illuminate the shadows in the scenery. His theory is what makes him such an important figure in literature in the whole world. 'It is because of his mastery of that form of fiction known as the 'romance' ...'16