Review Notes: The Scarlet Letter, by Nathaniel Hawthorne
Guiding Questions on Plot for Ch.I-IV
1. Why are the townspeople gathered outside the Boston prison on this
summer morning? They await the appearance of Hester Prynne on the
scaffold.
2. Of what is Hester Prynne convicted? Adultery(Voluntary sexual relations between
a married person and a person who is not his or her spouse).
3. What is her punishment? Imprisonment (a few months), public
humiliation for three hrs. , to wear the scarlet letter A for life.
4. Who is the stranger Hester notices at the edge of the crowd?
Roger Chillingworth. Her husband.
5. How does this “stranger” learn the details about Hester's situation?
A townsman tells him her story: her husband, an educated man, sent her to
Boston from Holland, where the couple had been living. The husband was
supposed to join her later but has not been heard from in two years.
6. What outrages the “stranger” about this story? That Hester Prynne's
partner in adultery is unknown.
7. Who else wants the the father of Hester's child exposed to public
punishment? Everyone: the crowd, the community leaders.
8. Who implores Hester to publicly name the father?
Her pastor, Arthur Dimmesdale.
9. At the conclusion of her public humiliation when she is led back to the
prison, what causes the jailer to become concerned enough to find a
doctor? The baby is screaming, obviously in pain; Hester is having an
anxiety (panic) attack.
10.
Who offers his service as a physician? Chilllingworth
11.
Does he blame Hester for what happened? No. Says it was as
much his fault as hers.
12.
What does he want? The name of the man “who has wronged us
both,” but Hester refuses to reveal his identity.
13.
What does he ask Hester to promise him? That she won't let
anyone know that Chillingworth is her husband.
14.
Why does she agree to this? He threatens that her lover will not
be safe from him if she doesn't keep his secret.
Literary Elements:
Theme
Human weakness and sin
Hypocrisy
Symbol
Weeds/flowers
Shade/dark; light/sun
scaffold (chapter2)
Foreshadowing
Characterization
*direct characterization
*indirect characterization
Introduced by H.'s comments that
prisons and graveyards are the first
spots to spring up wherever humans
settle
evident in description of the religious
but mean-spirited, ugly, crude women
outside the prison/contrasted with the
description of Hester: beautiful,
graceful, proud—ironically a
convicted adulterer.
Represents....
*evil/goodness of human soul
*guilt,condemnation/innocence
redemption
*public exposure contrasted to what
is hidden in human hearts
*Hester's remembering her past while
on scaffold: the “misshapen scholar”
foreshadows his appearance in crowd
*the infant holding up her arms to the
Rev. Mr. Dimmesdale foreshadows
future events
*Achieved by omniscient point of
view
*Achieved by symbols, dialogue
between characters
Guiding Questions on Plot for Ch.V-VIII
1. What are Hester's reasons for staying in Boston?
*Her sin and shame “were the roots which she had struck into the soil”
*the bond she feels for her lover, eventhough they cannot be together
2. How is Hester treated as she goes about her life after release from
prison? Adults act like she doesn't exit, children taunt her in the
streets, strangers in town stare at her.
3. What is Hester's worry about her daughter Pearl?
That Pearl will show “some dark and wild peculiarity” as a result of the
circumstances of her birth.
4. How do the town gossips label the three-year-old Pearl? A “demon
offspring”
5. What crisis does Hester now face that compels her to meet with the
Governor? There is a movement to take Pearl away from her, and she
will die before she allows her child to be taken.
6. Who does Hester appeal to for help? Rev. Arthur Dimmesdale.
7. What is now Chillingworth's situation in Boston? He is now Rev.
Dimmesdale's friend and physician.
Literary Elements:
Theme
Alienation from
society
Symbol
the scarlet letter
*HP is an outcast for her
sin, yet is sought out for
her talent (sewing)
*Pearl's behavior
reflects that she is aware
of being an outcast (a
born outcast)
*the throb of the letter
alerts H. to the secret
sins others carry around
*Pearl's clothes—like
the beautiful
embroidered s.l., she is
both the object of
Hester's love and the
symbol of her guilt and
torture.
flower/weed imagery
light/sun vs shade/dark
Pearl (wanting to
catch the sunshine at
Governor's house)
Chillingworth
Dimmesdale
Irony
Pearl= “immortal
flower”
Puritan children= “the
ugiest weeds in the
garden...”
Pearl says she's... “a rose
plucked from the bush
by the prison door.
*Hester: “Thou must
gather thine own
sunshine. I have none to
give thee!” H. no longer
has the innocent moral
goodness the sun
represents.
*his features described
as growing “duskier,”
(becoming more evil)
*name- “Dim” =little
light
in scene in Governor's
house the interplay
between shadow and
sunlight is representative
of D.'s internal conflict
between good and evil.
*D's health declining as
a result of his guilt needs
medical attention and
Characterization
Pearl
develops a friendly
relationship with
Chillingworth (a
“doctor”), who has
sworn to discover H.'s
lover.
*Symbolic character.
She is both the cuse and
the blessing of human
weakness; H.'s daily
challenge and her hope
for redemption. Note:
symbolism of the name.
Pearls are rare, beautiful,
but abnormal growths
formed by irritation
within the shell of some
oysters.
Source: The Scarlet Letter Study Guide. Holt, Rinehart and Winston.
Hawthorne, Nathaniel. The Scarlet Letter.