Top 10 Literary and Film Allusions in 'Pretty Little Liars'

3. The Scarlet Letter

If you thought the Pretty Little Liars writers first came up with the idea of using the letter “A” to torment the girls and expose their wrongdoings, then you’d be mistaken. First credit actually goes to Nathaniel Hawthorne, the author of The Scarlet Letter. In The Scarlet Letter, female character Hester Prynne is shamed into wearing a bright red “A” on her clothing as the result of committing adultery. PLL takes this one step further, allowing “A” to follow Aria, Hanna, Emily, Spencer, and Ali wherever they go. “A” sends messages in bowls of cereal, in gift baskets, even in bracelets made of human teeth. However, it isn’t until season 5, episode 4 that a direct reference to The Scarlet Letter is made. In the clip below, Aria experiences a mild freakout when she finds Shana’s copy of the novel and some interesting passages are underlined.