The Scarlet Letter

How are the Puritans of Boston first portrayed?

Bleak, dreary-looking crowd of people

What is significant about the rosebush outside the prison door?

Serves as a reminder that "the deep heart of Nature could pity and be kind" to those condemned; Symbolizes "some sweet moral blossom to relieve the darkening close of a tale of human fragility and sorrow"

Describe Hester's demeanor as she emerges from her prison cell.

With grace & dignity; strong force of character

Is there significance to Hester's viewing of the crowd from atop the scaffold?

Prevents her from hiding her shame; forced her into admitting that a transgression has been committed

Describe Roger Chillingworth in the scene in which he visits Hester in jail.

Deeply hurt by her infidelity; has become bitter and seeks retribution

Why does Chillingworth ask Hester to keep his identity a secret?

Does not want the dishonor of being known as a faithless woman's husband

Why does Hester remain in Boston?

Wanted the scene of her guilt to be the scene of her earthly punishment & her love remained there

How does Hester support herself and her daughter?

Through the talent and skill she possessed at the needle

How is Hester treated by the townspeople?

Feels banished and as if she no longer belongs in their society

Why does Hester name his daughter Pearl?

Because she was purchased at a great price and is her mother's only treasure

How is Pearl first described?

Beautiful and graceful; but also has a wild, desperate, defiant mood, the flightiness of her temper, and a gloominess brooding in her heart; loved by her mother but also a cause of concern to her

How is Pearl treated by the children of Boston?

Born an outcast; watched the other children but never attempted to interact with them

How does Pearl amuse herself?

Using her imagination; made unlikely materials into imaginary personages and talk with them

What does Pearl first notice as a baby?

Her mother's scarlet letter

Why does Hester visit Governor Bellingham's mansion?

To hand-deliver an embroidered pair of gloves he ordered to wear to some great occasion of state and to find out if there was any truth behind the rumor that Pearl may be taken from her care on the account she was of demon origin

What reason does Hester give for her need to keep Pearl?

She keeps her alive and going and is her only source of happiness; she is God's gift to her in the face of having lost everything

Who supports Hester in her pleas to keep Pearl and by what argument?

Dimmesdale; arguing that God had gifted Hester with Pearl to keep her soul alive in the midst of sorrow and to keep her from sinning more; she is meant to be both a blessing (in that she teaches Hester) and a curse (in that she is a constant reminder of her mother's sin)

How does Pearl behave toward Dimmesdale in the Governor's garden?

Lovingly and tenderly; she softened and was gentle; took his hand in hers and laid her cheek against them

How does Roger Chillingworth come to be Dimmesdale's personal physician?

Roger Chillingworth's mysterious arrival to Boston at the time of the young minister's failing health led many to believe his arrival was an absolute miracle. At the demands of his flock, elder ministers, and deacons to seek the medical attention he needed, Dimmesdale requests Chillingworth's professional help.

How has Roger Chillingworth changed since Hester first knew him?

Went from a pure and upright to a man obsessed with revenge and who has slipped into evil

What does Chillingworth suggest is the cause of Dimmesdale's suffering?

His inability to admit what he is hiding in his heart

How does Pearl's behavior in the cemetery express a link between Dimmesdale and Hester?

Placed burrs upon her mother's scarlet letter and then threw burrs at Dimmesdale; shows that both feel pain over the sin they committed together

How does Chillingworth finally discover the cause of Dimmesdale's suffering?

Revealing something on his chest after having drugged the young minister and sneaked into his room

What reason was given for Dimmesdale's ability to touch the soul of others?

Because he too was a sinner and belonged with them; The burden of his sin gave him sympathies so intimate with the men he preached to that their hearts vibrated in unison.

What effect does public veneration have upon the Reverend Dimmesdale?

Torturous; his guilt eats him alive and without relent; feels as if he's living a total lie

How does Dimmesdale seek penitence?

Whipping himself; fasting until he cannot stand; keeping vigils

Describe Dimmesdale's first vigil on the scaffold.

He seems to be going mad, agonizingly caught between the impulses of Remorse and Cowardice. Hester and Pearl joined him, after finding him laughing madly atop the scaffold. Their presence and touch were revitalizing to him. However, he cannot bring himself to actually confess his sin in the daylight.

What meanings are given to the apparition in the sky?

Dimmesdale beheld the appearance of the letter A blazoned in the sky, and believed it to be a symbol of his guilt. Others, however, interpreted it to stand for 'Angel,' as their governor had just passed away that night.

What effect does the midnight vigil have on Hester?

She was shocked at the condition she found the minister in, with his nerve destroyed and moral force abashed.

What has Hester's A come to mean to many of the townspeople?

Able

Describe the changes in Hester's appearance and temperament wrought by the scarlet token.

The "light and graceful foliage of her character had been withered by her brand, leaving her a bare and harsh outline of her former self." Her appearance also underwent a sad change. Her dress was austere and her once beautiful hair gone.

In what way has the A freed Hester?

Has given her freedom of thought; she has become able to see things more clearly and form her own thoughts and ideas

How does Hester come to view womanhood?

Bleakly; she questions whether her very existence is worth accepting; believes that a change must happen both in society and within women

Why does Chillingworth refuse to leave Dimmesdale alone?

His obsession with revenge; wants him to be punished for his sin, just as Hester is when she wears the scarlet letter

What does Hester discover after her interview with Chillingworth?

Her true hatred for him; believes that even when she thought she was once happy with him, it was only self-delusion

How does Hester respond when Pearl makes an A for herself of eel-grass?

Asks her daughter if she actually knows the meaning behind it

Asked what the A truly means, what does Hester say?

Tells Pearl she simply wears it for its gold-thread

How does Pearl explain the sun's refusal to shine on Hester?

Because it is afraid of the mark on her bosom, the A

What answer does Hester give Pearl when she asks if Hester has met the Black Man?

"Once in my life I met the Black Man! This scarlet letter is his mark!"

How does Dimmesdale react when Hester reveals Chillingworth's true identity?

He undergoes a "dark transfiguration" and blames her for his years of suffering. Eventually, however, he does forgive her.

What does Hester suggest they do?

Enthusiastically suggests the three of them leave the colony and return to their native land to start a new life together

What does Hester do to signal the beginning of a new life?

Rips the A off her breast and throws it into the forest

How does Pearl act when she sees her mother without the A?

Throws a fit and refuses to approach her; Does not come to her until she puts the A back on and can recognize her

How is Dimmesdale affected by his interview with Hester?

Practically is a new man, with an unaccustomed physical energy and a different outlook

How does Dimmesdale treat Chillingworth when the two met?

On the surface, Dimmesdale and Chillingworth speak to each other with respect. However, both are suspicious of the other and silently wondering how much the other knows.

What does Chillingworth do when he sees Dimmesdale's transformation?

Plans to leave Boston aboard the same ship Dimmesdale, Hester and Pearl planned to escape on

How does Dimmesdale finally escape Chillingworth?

By confessing his long-buried sin; he becomes free of Chillingworth's hold on him

What becomes of Chillingworth after Dimmesdale's death?

Left with no object for his malice, he wastes away and dies within a year of Dimmesdale's death.

How do the townspeople react to Dimmesdale's confession?

Surprised; However, the story is different spectator to spectator. Some believed Chillingworth was responsible while others believed he had not committed the crime at all. Others also believed he lived a life of penance and therefore has made up for the crime.

What becomes of Hester and Pearl?

The two, not long after Chillingworth's death, disappeared.
Hester eventually returns to live out the rest of her days in the place her sin was committed, giving counsel to those who came her way in need of it. Pearl had allegedly stayed in the mainland where she was happily married.

Genre

Historical fiction, Romance, Symbolic, Semi-Allegorical

Narrator

an unnamed customhouse surveyor who writes some two hundred years after the events he describes took place

Point of View

Omniscient (all-knowing) & Subjective (voices his own interpretations and opinions)

Tone

Contemplative and somewhat bitter in the introduction; thoughtful, fairly straightforward, yet occasionally tinged with irony in the body of the narrative

Setting (Time)

Middle of the seventeenth century

Setting (Place)

Boston, Massachusetts

Themes

Sin, experience, and the human condition; the nature of evil; identity and society

Motifs

Civilization versus the wilderness; night versus day; evocative names

Symbols

The scarlet letter; the town scaffold; the meteor; Pearl; the rosebush next to the prison door