THE SCARLET LETTER.
Authorized by Nathaniel
Hawthorne.
WHERE DOES IT TAKE PLACE?
• Boston Massachussetts
POINT OF VIEW
• Nathaniel is Omniscient meaning he knows everything. He has
his own imitations and perspective on the characters. Nathaniel
has sympathy for Hester and Dimmesdale most certainly.
MAIN CHARACTERS
• Hester Prynne
• Arthur Dimmesdale
• Roger Chillingworth
• Governor Richard Bellingham
• Pearl
CHARACTER DESCRIPTIONS
•
Hester Prynne - Hester Prynne, the protagonist of the novel, is the mother of
Pearl. She must wear the scarlet letter A on her body as punishment for her
adulterous affair with Arthur Dimmesdale, the town minister. Hester is married to
Roger Chillingworth.
•
Pearl - Hester's daughter. Pearl is characterized as a living version of the scarlet
letter. She constantly causes her mother and Dimmesdale torment.
•
Roger Chillingworth - Hester's husband from the Netherlands. Chillingworth
arrives in Boston on the day that Hester is publicly shamed and forced to wear
the scarlet letter. He vows revenge on the father of Pearl, and he soon moves in
with Arthur Dimmesdale.
•
Governor Bellingham - the former governor, who believes Hester should not be
allowed to raise Pearl since it would only lead to the child's spiritual demise. He
decides to allow Pearl to stay with her mother after Dimmesdale pleads on her
behalf.
•
Arthur Dimmesdale - Dimmesdale is a respected minister in Boston and the
father of Pearl. While Hester waited for her husband to arrive from Amsterdam,
she met Dimmesdale and had an adulterous affair with him, which led to the birth
of their daughter.
CONFLICTS
• Conflict 1. Hester has an affair with Arthur Dimmesdale who
impregnates her. She is then alienated and condemned by the
community.
• Conflict 2. Hester's husband, posing as Chillingworth, hides his
identity to exact revenge.
• Conflict 3. Dimmesdale is a reverend riddled with guilt because
of his love for and relationship with Hester, which he has not
taken responsibility for.
FORESHAWDOWING
• One example of foreshadowing is when Chillingworth is talking
to Hester in the dungeon. He keeps saying "He will be known!
He will be known! He will be known!" Here, Chillingworth is
talking about how he will find out who the father of Hester's child
is, as this is the man who wronged both Chillingworth and
Hester. Another example is some of the scaffold scenes. In the
second scaffold scene, which takes place at night, Dimmesdale,
Hester, and Pearl stand on the scaffold together holding hands.
Pearl asks Dimmesdale if they will stand on the scaffold
together the next day, in which Dimmesdale replies that they will
another day, but not tomorrow. This foreshadows the last
scaffold scene, where Dimmesdale calls Hester and Pearl to the
scaffold during the Election Procession.
IRONY
• Dimmesdale at the beginning of the novel questions Hester
about the father of the baby and demands her to tell the name
to the entire town so that he could be condemned as well, even
though Dimmesdale is the father and is actually wishing the
opposite from Hester. That she will hide the identity of the father.
PLOT SUMMARY
•
“Hester arranges an encounter with Dimmesdale in the forest because she is aware that
Chillingworth has probably guessed that she plans to reveal his identity to Dimmesdale.
The former lovers decide to flee to Europe, where they can live with Pearl as a family.
They will take a ship sailing from Boston in four days. Both feel a sense of release, and
Hester removes her scarlet letter and lets down her hair. Pearl, playing nearby, does not
recognize her mother without the letter. The day before the ship is to sail, the townspeople
gather for a holiday and Dimmesdale preaches his most eloquent sermon ever.”
THEME
•
An example of theme in the scarlet letter Sunlight
•
Happiness
•
“‘No, my little Pearl!’ said her mother. ‘Thou must gather thine own sunshine. I have none
to give thee!’” (7.100).
•
Hester feels as if she has no happiness to give to Pearl. Hester needs Pearl to make
herself happy. Hester is so grief-stricken all the time that she cannot share any
happiness.