Critical Commentary Related to "The Custom-House" Chapter of The Scarlet Letter

Hawthorne's Office in the Salem Custom House (photography by Aaron Toleos)

Excerpts from " 'The Custom-House': Hawthorne, the Nineteenth Century, and The Scarlet Letter," Chapter 7 in Understanding the Scarlet Letter by Claudia Durst Johnson (courtesy of Greenwood Press) In these excerpts Johnson explains the relevance of the first chapter, "The Custom-House," to The Scarlet Letter.

Excerpts from The Salem World of Nathaniel Hawthorne by Margaret Moore (courtesy of the University of Missouri Press) In these excerpts Moore talks about real people and places Hawthorne includes in "The Custom-House" chapter of The Scarlet Letter: Jonathan Pue, Major William Hathorne, Simon Forrester, and Zachariah Burchmore, Jr. Excerpts from Student Companion to Nathaniel Hawthorne by Melissa McFarland Pennell (courtesy of Greenwood Press)