Lima
English Honors 11
Name: _______________________________
Date/Block:________________
The Scarlet Letter- Study Guide Ch. 13-16
Chapter Thirteen, “Another View of Hester”
1. “Little accustomed, in her long seclusion from society, to measure her ideas of right and wrong by
any standard external to herself, Hester saw—or seemed to see—that there lay a responsibility
upon her in reference to the clergyman which she owed to no other, nor to the whole world
besides.” Identify the source of Hester’s “responsibility” to Dimmesdale. What action will this
responsibility cause her to take?
2. “It is to the credit of human nature, that except where its selfishness is brought into play, it loves
more readily than it hates.” Do you agree or disagree with this conception of human nature? Be
ready to offer justifications for your viewpoint.
3. Trace the transformation of Hester’s reputation during the past seven years in Boston. Why has
this transformation taken place? How Hester has “earned” her new status in the community.?
4. What has Hester’s scarlet letter come to represent to the citizens of Boston, seven years after the
letter was imposed as a mark of shame?
5. What has been the letter’s effect upon Hester over the years?
6. Locate foreshadowing that the harmful effects of the scarlet letter may, in fact, be undone.
Lima
English Honors 11
Name: _______________________________
Date/Block:________________
7. From the Puritan’s point of view, what is the crime “deadlier than adultery” of which Hester is
guilty?
8. To what “resolution” does Hester commit herself at the close of this chapter? (163)
Chapter Fourteen, “Hester and the Physician”
1. Chillingworth, informs Hester that, according to a local magistrate, the council has been
discoursing her affairs. What has the council been debating regarding Hester? What is Hester’s
response to this controversy? What inferences can we draw regarding her character at this point in
the novel?
2. Locate gothic elements in the description of Chillingworth, now radically transformed from the
benign scholar he was seven years earlier.
3. Chillingworth admits he has become a “fiend.” Who has made him so?
4. How does Chillingworth respond when Hester asks him to forgive, to purge the even from
himself—not only for Dimmesdale’s sake, but also for his own?
5. Examine Chillingworth’s response to Hester’s decision to expose his identity to Dimmesdale.
Can you infer Chillingworth’s thoughts, motives, and intentions at this point? Predict the outcome of
Hester’s decision. Consider its effects on all parties involved.
Lima
English Honors 11
Name: _______________________________
Date/Block:________________
Chapter Fifteen, “Hester and Pearl”
1. Locate and quote details in the narrator’s description of Chillingworth which imply his
character traits. In particular, note details which imply Chillingworth is at odds with the forces of
“nature.”
2. Examine Hester’s comment regarding Chillingworth: “Be it sin or no…I hate the man!”
Subsequently, she comments: “He betrayed me! He has done me worse wrong than I did him!” In
your own opinion, has Chillingworth “sinned” at all? Is he deserving of hatred? Has he betrayed
Hester and done her more wrong than she has done him? (three separate questions)
3. According to Hester, what has been “her crime most to be repented of”?
4. Examine carefully the details of how Pearl amuses herself while Hester speaks with
Chillingworth. List Pearl’s “play” activities, and discuss their significance.
5. How does Pearl answer Hester’s query, “Dost thou know, child, wherefore thy mother wears
this letter?”
6. What are Pearl’s “sterling attributes,” as noted by Hester, that will cause Pearl to grow up a
“noble woman,” despite the “evil which she inherited from her mother”?
7. Near the close of this chapter, Hester seriously considers confiding in Pearl, finally sharing the
secrets of her heart. . . . But she decides that she cannot pay this “price” for the child’s “sympathy.”
Explain the thinking behind Pearl’s decisions.
Lima
English Honors 11
Name: _______________________________
Date/Block:________________
8. Finally, examine how Hester does respond to Pearl’s persistent questions regarding the
meaning of the scarlet letter.
Chapter Sixteen, “A Forest Walk”
1. Explain the several reasons Hester avoids visiting Dimmesdale in his study but plans to meet
him in the forest instead.
2. What is symbolic about the the path which Hester follows through the forest.
3. The sunshine performs an obviously symbolic function within this chapter (and in subsequent
chapters of the novel, as well.) Examine how Hester and Pearl (contrastingly) interact with the
sunshine, then offer a theory regarding the symbolic meaning of the sunshine.
4. Examine the conversation between Pearl and Hester regarding the “Black Man’ in the forest.
What can we infer regarding both characters’ perceptions on the basis of this conversation? Does
Pearl view her mother as a sinner? Does Hester view herself as a sinner?
5. Examine the small brook running through the forest. It is undoubtedly of symbolic importance.
How does the brook resemble Pearl, and how does it differ from her?
6. Examine the description of Arthur Dimmesdale when Hester first spies him coming through the
forest. The details of this description are important in that they contrast strongly with others to
come in subsequent scenes of the novel.