The Scarlet Letter has inspired numerous film, television, and stage adaptations, and plot elements have influenced several novels, musical works, and screen productions.
Stage
The Scarlet Letter appeared as a stage play as early as February 24, 1858, when an adaptation by George L. Aiken opened at Barnum's American Museum. George C. Howard and his wife starred as Dimmesdale and Hester.[28]
Twentieth century American composer Marjorie Rusche’s opera The Scarlet Letter is based on Hawthorne’s work.[29]
Film
The story has been adapted to film multiple times, typically using the same title as the novel. The first film adaptation was a 1908 short film. This lost silent film was directed by Sidney Olcott from a screenplay by Gene Gauntier, who also starred as Hester. The oldest surviving film adaptation is a The Scarlet Letter (1911 film) directed by Joseph W. Smiley and George Loane Tucker, with Lucille Young as Hester and King Baggot as Dimmesdale. The film has been subsequently adapted in 1926 (dir. Victor Sjöström), 1934 (dir. Robert G. Vignola), 1973 (dir. Wim Wenders), as television miniseries in 1979, another film in 1995 (dir. by Roland Joffé) and the novel also partially inspired Easy A (dir. by Will Gluck) from a screenplay by Bert V. Royal and starring Emma Stone.[30]
Literary sequels
John Updike rewrote The Scarlet Letter in his The Scarlet Letter trilogy -- S., A Month of Sundays and Roger's Version.[31]
