Lima
English Honors 11
Name: _______________________________
Date/Block:________________
The Scarlet Letter- Study Guide Ch. 9-11
Chapter Nine, “The Leech”
1. Identify Roger Chillingworth’s “new purpose; dark, it is true, if not guilty, but of force enough to
engage the full strength of his faculties.”
2. Describe the state of medical care in Boston prior to Chillingworth’s arrival.
3. Whom did Chillingworth choose as his “spiritual guide”?
4. Dimmesdale’s health has declined markedly. List the various theories as to why his health has
taken a turn for the worse.
5. Inference: why has Dimmesdale taken to holding his hand over his heart? *(Address both literal
and symbolic rationales.)
6. Explain the “rumor”… entertained by some very sensible people” regarding what has brought
Chillingworth to Boston and “the door of Mr. Dimmesdale’s study.”
7. Describe the developing relationship between Roger Chillingworth and Arthur Dimmesdale.
Discuss the significance of this relationship to the development of the novel’s plot and themes. (In
responding to this question, note particularly the passage beginning near the bottom of page 120,
describing how Chillingworth “strove to go deep into his patient’s bosom….”
8. How does it happen that Chillingworth and Dimmesdale move in together? How do
Dimmesdale’s supporters feel initially about this arrangement? Discuss the symbolic significance of
their “new abode.”
Lima
English Honors 11
Name: _______________________________
Date/Block:________________
Chapter Ten, “The Leech and His Patient”
1. When Dimmesdale becomes almost aware of Chillingworth’s malice, how does Chillingworth
cover himself?
2. According to narrator, why is Dimmesdale incapable of identifying Chillingworth as an enemy?
3. Chillingworth tells Dimmesdale a story regarding how weeds grew out of the heart of a dead
sinner in the cemetery. Inference: why does he tell this story to Dimmesdale? How does he hope the
story will affect Dimmesdale? (127)
4. Describe Dimmesdale’s response to Chillingworth’s story. Essentially, he articulates multiple
reasons why a person [in this case, he, himself] would choose to keep a sin secret. What are these
reasons? With whose arguments about the revelation of sin do you agree, Dimmesdale’s or
Chillingworth’s?
5. Pearl shows disregard for the dead when she prances over their graves. Why does Hawthorne
include this scene? Explain its significance.
6. Describe Pearl’s antics involving the prickly burrs. How does this scene function symbolically?
7. Pearl tells her mother to come away “or yonder Old Black Man will catch you!” Who is this
“Black Man”? Explore the significance of this detail. (131)
8. Examine Dimmesdale’s response to the physician’s probing: “Methinks. . .it must needs be
better for the sufferer to be free to show his pain, as this poor woman Hester is, than to cover it all
Lima
English Honors 11
Name: _______________________________
Date/Block:________________
up in his heart.” Discuss the significance of Dimmesdale’s view. Why, then, does he not “show his
pain”?
9. When Chillingworth informs Dimmesdale that he suspects the root of Dimmesdale’s illness to
be spiritual rather than physical, how does Dimmesdale respond?
10. As Dimmesdale lies asleep, Chillingworth approaches him, draws aside his vestment, and sees. .
. . Explain fully this tantalizing moment in the novel.
Chapter Eleven, “The Interior of a Heart”
1. In Chapter Eleven, it is apparent that Chillingworth’s heretofore latent malice has become fully
active. Chillingworth has become “not a spectator. . .but a chief actor in the poor minister’s interior
world. . . .” (136) Examine carefully Hawthorne’s description of Chillingworth’s “acting” upon
Dimmesdale’s psyche. In your own words, describe Chillingworth’s intentions and how he
influences Dimmesdale.
2. What is Dimmesdale’s attitude toward his “friend” Chillingworth at this point? (137) Why does
he resist acting upon this attitude?
3. How has Dimmesdale’s professional career progressed? How does he compare to his peers?
What factors account for this career trajectory? Finally, how does Dimmesdale feel about his
parishioners’ response to him?
4. Explain Dimmesdale’s attempts to speak out the truth to his congregation. What exactly does he
reveal of his own sins? What does he fail to reveal? How are his “confessions” received by his
congregation? What can we infer regarding Dimmesdale’s character and state of mind on the basis
of these “confessions”?
Lima
English Honors 11
Name: _______________________________
Date/Block:________________
5. What actions does Dimmesdale undertake in order to do penance for his sins? (at least three
actions. . . .) What “visions” occur to him?
6. Examine the following quotation: “It is unspeakable misery of a life so false as his, that it steals
the pitch and substance out of whatever realities there are around us, and which were meant by
Heaven to be the spirit’s joy and nutriment. To the untrue man, the whole universe is false—it is
impalpable—it shrinks to nothing within his grasp. And he himself, in so far as he shows himself in
a false light, becomes a shadow, or, indeed, ceases to exist.” Please paraphrase this quotation,
attempting to capture its central message in your own words. Do you agree or disagree with the
ideas expressed in the quotation?