The scarlet letter 1-6

What colony is the setting for the novel? Describe the people and the town

Boston The people are gloomy, and have sad colored garments. The town is very dreary and gray

Where in the colony does the opening chapter take place?

The prison door. Dreary, damp

For what 2 "practical necessities" did the new colony first set aside land?

A cemetery and a prison

What 2 possible symbols does the rose have for the reader?

Pain and beauty (sweet moral blossom)

What punishments would the Puritan women have given Hester Prynne if it were left to them?

Ironbranding on forehead; death

Describe the appearance of Hester Prynne. How does it compare to the other women of Boston?

Beautiful; tall; long black hair; and black eyes. She's more elegant than the others

What is Hester's sin? Punishment?

Adultery; public condemnation via wearing scarlet letter, humiliation on the scaffold, and temporary jail time

What is astonishing about the "A" on her bodice?

It was elaborately embroidered and stood out with its red cloth with gold thread

Why is Hester taken to the scaffold in the market-place?

To be publicly disgraced and interrogated about who is the father

What things does Hester think about while she is on the scaffold?

Past memories; e.g. her youth and school days, childish quarrels, traits of her maiden years, and her husband

How old is her baby?

3 months old

What detail is given to suggest the baby was born in jail?

It had "been acquainted only to the grey twilight of the prison"

Describe the man who is standing on the outskirts of the crowd

A small looking man with shoulders at two different heights who is dressed in native clothing

What prior reference was made in Chapter 2 that reminds the reader of this man?

"A man well stricken in years, a pale, thin, scholar-like visage, with eyes dim and bleared by the lamplight."

What gesture does he make to Hester that suggests he knows her?

He raises his index finger and brings it to his lips, indicating her to be quiet

What does the stranger learn from the townsman next to him?

Hester was the wife of a man who wanted to move to America but sent her first and never came. Also, she won't reveal the father

What is the usual punishment for adultery? Why is Hester's punishment less severe?

Death. Because she is beautiful and she would not say who the father was.

What are Hester's feelings toward the stranger?

She's afraid of him

Who is Bellingham? John Wilson?

Bellingham - governor

John Wilson - reverend, clergyman, and scholar of Boston

What do Bellingham and Wilson want Hester to do?

Confess who she had committed adultery with

Describe Dimmesdale.

A young, educated clergyman who was known to be expressive/eloquent, yet was nervous here

What is his relationship to Hester? What does he ask her to reveal?

He is to make Hester confess the truth about her adultery and tell the name of the child's father.

Why does the jailer call a doctor?

The baby is sick

What is the doctor's name?

Roger Chillingworth

Where did the "doctor" learn his skill?

His old studies in alchemy and Indians

What is the relationship between Chillingworth and Hester?

Husband and wife

Why should Hester's marriage be a failure?

She never loved Chillingworth; he was old; and the marriage was arranged

What does Chillingworth vow to do?

Find out who Hester had the baby with

What secret does Chillingworth ask Hester to keep?

Don't reveal that Chillingworth is her husband.

What symbol is introduced for Chillingworth in Hester's final lines in this chapter?

Black man = devil

Describe Hester's home.

Small, remote, shore-side cottage

What talent did Hester use to support herself and Pearl?

Needlework

What garments is Hester not allowed to sew?

Bridal wear

What type of dress did Hester wear? Pearl?

Hester- Coarse, somber, repenting

Pearl- Fanciful and elaborate

What does Hester do that shows she has a charitable nature?

Make garments for the poor

How did the poor, the ladies of Boston, the clergy, and the children treat Hester?

With scorn; ladies only like her garments

clergy- preach sin about her

children- laugh at her

What special knowledge does Hester feel the Scarlet Letter gives her?

A new moral sense of recognizing others' sins

Why did Hester name her child "Pearl"?

Because it represents that Hester paid a great price to have her

How do the people of Boston treat Pearl?

Other families scorn her. They think she is the living embodiment of her mother's sin

What does the Scarlet Letter mean to Pearl?

It fascinates her, it's the first thing she recognizes about her mother, and she constantly asks Hester what it means

Utopia

perfect society

sepulchre

a tomb, grave, or burial place

edifice

a large, elaborate structure; an imposing building

congenial

(adj.) getting on well with others; agreeable, pleasant

inauspicious

(adj.) unfavorable, unlucky, suggesting bad luck for the future

physiognomy

facial features

indubitably (adv)

without a doubt

Antinomian

believing that Christians are saved by God's grace, not their own good works

heterodox

not in agreement with accepted beliefs; holding unorthodox opinions

rotundity

roundness or plumpness

evanescent

tending to vanish like vapor

ignominy

public shame, disgrace, or dishonor

heterogeneous

different; dissimilar

abate

to lessen

peradventure

possibly, perhaps

mien

(n.) air, manner; appearance; expression

sagamores

American Indian chief or leader

peremptory

leaving no opportunity for denial or refusal

alchemy

medieval chemistry; attempt to change base metal into gold

paramour

an illicit lover

wottest

to know

vivify

to enliven

fain

gladly

progenitor

ancestor; forefather

plebeian

commoner

emolument

Salary or fees for work done; compensation

contumaciously

stubbornly disobedient; rebellious

epoch

period of time

caprice

A sudden impulse, whim, or unmotivated change of mind

smote

strike with a firm blow

dearth

scarcity

enmity

hatred

amenable

agreeable