The Scarlett Letter
Chapter 3-4
By: Rachel Riser
Summary
•
Hester is standing on the scaffold holding her baby while everyone stares at her, as part of her
punishment for sleeping with another man, when all of a sudden she sees this man that appears to be
kind of lopsided, he is being accompanied by some native Americans. She then realizes that the man is
her husband. It’s kind of awkward for her, because she hasn’t seen him in over two years and now she is
standing on this scaffold with a three-month old baby. The man did not know why his wife had the scarlet
letter on her chest, or what it meant. He began to ask people in the crowd around him, he then soon
found out his wife had the “A” for committing adultery. He doesn’t reveal to anyone that he is Hester’s
husband, he just keeps quiet about it. The leader of the congregation calls out to Hester and asks her to
reveal her lover, and she refuses. The governor then goes to the reverend, his name is Dimmesdale, he
asks him to talk to Hester and try to get her to reveal her lover, but she refuses. After Hester went back to
the prison she was in a weird state of nervousness that required her to be watched at all times in case of
self violence, or violence to the child. The jailer brought in a physician as night came, more so for the
babies sake and not Hester’s. The jailer brought him into the room, and then the physician asked the
jailer to leave so he could be alone with his patient. He also stated that he believes Hester will behave
more normal around him than she has most of the day. The jailer did not know that the man was Hester’s
husband. The baby was laying in bed crying, The husband picked up, and inspected the child. He got out
some medicine and offered it to Hester to administer it to the baby. Hester said no to the medicine. The
man called her foolish, and proceeded to give the child the medicine. He then gave Hester some medicine
too. He began to apologize, and blamed himself for Hester committing adultery. He then asks her to keep
the secret of him being her husband. She agrees.
Narratives Voice
• “The eyes of the wrinkled scholar glowed so
intensely upon her, that Hester Prynne clasped
her hands over her heart, dreading lest he
should read the secret there at once.”
▫ This is the narrarator’s way of showing the
husbands anger, and how he may end up hurting
someone, even if it’s not her.
Literary Devices
• Irony:
▫ I know you’re distressed that Hester has sinned.
 Secretly he is not distressed because he is part of the
cause of Hester’s sin.
• Symbolism:
▫ “The eyes of the wrinkled scholar glowed..”
 This shows the anger contained in his eyes.
Character Developments
•
•
•
Hester: In this section Hester is starting to transform as a character, because she is still a “strong
independent” woman, even though most puritan women are not this way, but in this section she
discovers that her husband has finally made it to Boston, and is now seeing her stand on this
scaffold as a result of her committing adultery.
Pearl: Pearl is still a baby, but she is seen by everyone as the product of sin.
Chillingworth: He comes back, and does not want to reveal the secret of him being the husband
because he doesn’t want the shame of being known as the husband of the person who committed
adultery.
Themes
• Guilt
▫ Because Hester will not reveal the name of her lover, it kind of
represents the struggle that we have; we have this desire to do good, but
we don’t do good, and so we’re left with this guilty feeling that weighs
down on us.
• Secrecy
▫ Hester doesn’t reveal the name of her lover, and her husband doesn’t
want to reveal that he is her husband. This is an example of how we keep
secrets to protect ourselves and others from getting hurt.
Activity
• Everyone at some point does something that
makes them guilty or leaves them with a feeling
of guilt. On a piece of paper list something
you’ve done that has made you feel this way.
Write down why you did this, and also list if you
would go back and change what you did if given
the option to do so, why or why not?
Quiz
1. Who was Hester’s husband accompanied by when she
first saw him?
2. Why does Hester have to be watched at all times while
back in the prison?
3. Why did the reverend secretly hope Hester would not
give up the name of her lover?
4. What does Hester’s husband pretend to be in order to
get into the prison?
5. Why does her husband not want her to share that he is
in fact her husband?