A. P. English Language & Composition
Name _____________________
Nathaniel Hawthorne’s
The Scarlet Letter
Chapter One, “The Prison Door”
1. Hawthorne carefully controls his description of setting in order to convey the “atmosphere” of Puritan Boston
in 1642. Examine Hawthorne’s word choices in Chapter One. What are your initial impressions of this Puritan
settlement?
2. Please define “Utopia.” According to Hawthorne, what two “necessities” are invariably recognized by the
founders (however idealistic) of any Utopian society? (45)
3. Examine Hawthorne’s description of the prison. What metaphor does he use to convey the essence of the
prison? (46)
4. Examine the wild rosebush which grows outside the prison door. How does this rosebush function
symbolically within the shadow of the prison? (Hawthorne has established a symbolic “antithesis.” Can you
explain it?) (46)
5. One theory accounting for the presence of the rosebush is that it has “sprung up under the footsteps of the
sainted Anne Hutchinson, as she entered the prison door.” Identify the significance of this real historical figure.
(46)
6. Hawthorne uses the technique of “direct address” to offer the reader a rose from the bush. Comment on the
possible significance of this narrative “move.” (46)
Chapter Two, “The Market Place”
1. With Chapter Two, Hawthorne shifts his focus from a description of the Puritan graveyard and prison to a
description of the Puritans themselves. Examine Hawthorne’s word choices in Chapter Two. What are your
initial impressions of the Puritan people?
2. Hawthorne’s narrator provides us with a list of reasons these people might have gathered outside the prison
door. First itemize these reasons. Second, what can we conclude about the Puritans on the basis of your list?
(47)
3. Inference: Explain why the women “take a peculiar interest in whatever penal infliction might be expected to
ensue.”
4. Examine the women’s commentary regarding Hester and which punishment would best suit her. What can we
infer about these women, and about Puritan society in general/ (Note also the “young wife” who disagrees with
the more severe judges among them. Why would Hawthorne include her character?) (49)
5. Note Hawthorne’s evocative description of the town beadle as he emerges from the prison. What significance
can you ascribe to this description? (50)
6. Hester Prynne’s first appearance in the novel in highly dramatic; it speaks volumes of her character and how
Hawthorne wishes us to perceive her. Please examine the details of her initial appearance. What first
impressions do we gain of the principal character of the novel? (50-51)
7. Examine carefully the passage in which Hester clasps her baby girl, Pearl, tight to her bosom? Why does she
do so? Why does she subsequently relax her hold on the girl? What is the symbolic significance of this brief
scene? (50, bottom)
8. Some of the townspeople are stunned by Hester’s appearance, noting how “here beauty shone out and made a
halo of the misfortune and ignominy in which she was enveloped.” What do we learn of Hester in this
remarkably meaningful line? Speculate as to the significance of Hawthorne’s precise wording. (51)
9. Describe the scarlet letter embroidered upon Hester’s bosom. Discuss the significance of its appearance. (52)
10. The scaffold is a remarkably evocative setting, central to the progress of the novel and its characters.
Describe the scaffold fully and comment regarding its appearance and functions. (53-54)
11. Do you believe (personally) that a scaffold would be an effective punishment in our own society? How
would such punishment work, or fail to work? Explain your response.
12. As Hester endures the scaffold her mind begins to wander, “bringing up other scenes than this roughly hewn
street of a little town on the edge of the Western wilderness.” (55) (Essentially, her life flashes before her eyes. .
. . This experience is virtually a “death” for Hester.) Describe these scenes that pass before her “mind’s eye.”
Note in particular the “misshapen scholar” who is a part of Hester’s musings. This scholar is her husband,
whom most of the town presumes to be drowned. What impressions do we gain of this man, whose left shoulder
is a “trifle” higher than his right? (56-57)
Chapter Three, “The Recognition”
1. In the beginning of Chapter Three, Hester recognizes the misshapen scholar on the edge of the crowd. (It is
none other that her husband, Master Prynne, who will henceforth adopt the name Roger Chillingworth in order
to conceal his identity from the Puritan community.) Describe Hester’s response as she initially recognizes him.
Make an inference regarding why she responds this way. (58)
2. At about the same time Hester sees Roger Chillingworth on the edge of the crowd, he sees and recognizes
her. Describe his response. Based upon Hawthorne’s exact wording, what can we infer about Chillingworth’s
character? (58)
3. Describe how Chillingworth subtly communicates with Hester via a hand gesture. Why does he do so? What
is the significance of this silent communication between the husband and wife? (top 59)
4. Examine Chillingworth’s conversation with the townsman. What do we learn about Chillingworth during the
course of this conversation? (some factual information, and some inferences regarding his character) (59-60)
5. Why have the magistrates decided to spare Hester the death penalty for her crime? Do you believe the
punishment they have settled upon is appropriate considering the nature of her offense?
6. Examine Chillingworth’s repetition of the phrase, “He will be known!” What is the significance of this
phrase (top 61) (Foreshadowing? Character trains? Etc.)
7. Why does Hester dread being out of the public eye? (middle 61) How has the crowd ironically become a
“shield” for her?
8. Examine Hawthorne’s carefully worded description of the Puritan dignitaries present at the scaffold scene.
What are your impressions of these spiritual and political leaders of the Puritan community? (Notice the echoes
of common medieval and renaissance beliefs, such as the Divine Right of Kings and the Great Chain of Being.
Be sure to remember that this Puritan community is a “theocracy.”)
9. One of the Puritan dignitaries, John Wilson, encourages Arthur Dimmesdale – as Hester’s minister – to
convince Hester to divulge the identity of Pearl’s father. How does Dimmesdale respond? (64) Examine
Dimmesdale’s plea that Hester identify the father’s name, and draw inferences regarding Dimmesdale’s
character. (65) Do you detect any verbal irony in his plea?
10. In his plea, Dimmesdale compares Hester’s public penance to a cup from which she must drink. How is the
“cup presented to [Hester’s] lips” both “bitter and sweet”? Explain how public penance can be wholesome if
painful. (65)
11. Make an inference: Why does Hester decide to conceal the identity of her baby’s father, even though Wilson
has offered the prospect of removing the “A” from her bosom if she will speak?
Chapter Four, “The Interview”
1. Back in the prison, Hester is closely monitored by the Puritan guard. Why do the Puritans feel she demands a
state of “constant watchfulness?” (67)
2. Why is Roger Chillingworth longed in the prison? Why does Master Brackett (the guard) bring Chillingworth
to attend Hester? What are his qualifications? (68)
3. Explain the symbolism associated with little Pearl in the following image: “It now writhed in convulsions of
pain, and was a forcible type, in its little frame, of the moral agony which Hester Prynne had borne throughout
the day.” (68)
4. What is Chillingworth’s motivation in giving medicine to Pearl and Hester? (69) Explain how his
administration of the draught of medicine “for the relief of physical suffering” could be seen as “a refined
cruelty.” (71)
5. What or whom does Chillingworth blame for Hester’s “[fall] into the pit”? (71)
6. What does Chillingworth mean when he says to Hester, “Between thee and me, the scale hangs fairly
balanced.” (72)
7. After reading Chillingworth’s admission of his own “folly,” do you feel more sympathy for his position or for
Hester’s? Explain.
8. Chillingworth describes his plan for action thus: “I shall seek this man [the father of Pearl] as I have sought
truth in books, as I have sought gold in alchemy. There is a sympathy that will make me conscious of him. I
shall see him tremble. I shall feel myself shudder, suddenly and unawares. Sooner or later, he must needs be
mine! . . . He bears no letter of infamy wrought into his garment, as thou [Hester] dost; but I shall read it on his
heart. Yet fear not for him? Think not that I shall interfere with Heaven’s own method of retribution, or, to my
own loss, betray him to the gripe of human law. Neither do thou imagine that I shall contrive aught against his
life; no, nor against his fame, if, as I judge, he be a man of fair repute. Let him live! Let him hide himself in
outward honor, if he may! Not the less he shall be mine!” (73) On the basis of this quotation, what do we learn
of Chillingworth’s character? His plan? In your opinion, is his “quest” honorable or dishonorable? Reasonable
or unreasonable? Leading to good or to ill? Constructive or destructive?
10. Describe Hester’s response to Chillingworth’s special request. Inference: Why does she respond this way?
Prediction: What will be the outcome? (See the exact wording at the conclusion of Chapter Four for “hints.”)
Would you have the done the same as Hester? Explain. (74)
Chapter Five, “Hester at Her Needle”
1. Explain why there is “more real torture” as Hester leaves the prison than she experienced even on the day she
was required to stand on the scaffold. (75)
2. The narrator offers two reasons (theory A and theory B) why Hester doesn’t simply pack up and leave the
Puritan community behind her. What are those reasons? (76-77)
3. Hester herself offers a reason (theory C) why she does not leave Boston. Please explain this reason. (77)
4. What is the “idea” (courtesy of the “tempter of souls”) which Hester seizes upon “with passionate and
desperate joy”? (As a follow-up question, how does Hester conceiver her own afterlife?)
5. Describe Hester’s new home (top 78). Can you find symbolic significance in Hawthorne’s descriptive
details?
6. How does Hester manage to feed herself and her daughter, Pearl? (78) (Follow-up question: What do the
“jobs” Hester is hired to perform reveal about her Puritan customers?)
7. Examine how Hester clothes herself and (contrastingly) how she clothes Pearl. What is the significance of
this contrast?
8. Explain how Hester “bestow[s] all her superfluous means.” (80) What can we infer about her character and
her motives?
9. Find the powerful simile that Hawthorne crafts in order to convey the experience of alienation or
“banishment” which Hester feels. (81)
10. How does Hester respond to the slights and insults she receives from rich and poor alike? Infer her motives
and character on the basis of her response to these “attacks.” (82)
11. Hester’s solitude has produced a remarkable “fancy” – “that the scarlet letter had endowed her with a new
sense. She shuddered to believe, yet could not help believing, that it gave her a sympathetic knowledge of the
hidden sin in other hears. . . .” Explain his “fancy” in your own words and explore its significance to the novel.
(83-84)
Chapter Six, “Pearl”
1. Please examine the opening sentence of Chapter Six: “We have as yet hardly spoken of the infant; that little
creature, whose innocent life had sprung, by the inscrutable decree of Providence, a lovely and immortal flower,
out of the rank luxuriance of a guilty passion.” On the basis of the details of this sentence, how does Hawthorne
view Pearl? (85)
2. Explain the significance of Pearl’s name. (85)
3. How does Hester view her own child? (86)
4. Examine and explain the significance of the following quotations regarding Pearl: “the infant was worthy to
have been brought forth in Eden. . . . the child had a native grace. . . . there was an absolute circle of radiance
around her on the darksome cottage floor.” (86)
5. Assess the significance of the following passage. (It functions on two levels of meaning, literal and
symbolic.) “Pearl’s aspect was imbued with a spell of infinite variety; in this one child there were many
children, comprehending the full scope between the wild-flower prettiness of a peasant baby, and the pomp, in
little, of an infant princess.” (87)
6. Examine Hester’s attempts to “discipline” Pearl. Ho do her disciplinary methods compare with those of the
typical Puritan family? (88)
7. How do Puritan children “disport themselves” – that is, how do they play? (90)
8. Describe Pearls relationship with other children in the community? (90-91)
9. How does Pearl “disport herself” – how does she play? (92)
10. According to Hester’s (somewhat hesitant) response to her daughter’s question, who has “sent [Pearl]
hither”? According to the talk of the neighboring townspeople, who has “sent” Pearl?” (95) Which view would
Hawthorne agree with?
Chapter Seven, “The Governor’s Hall”
1. Explain Hester’s two purposes in visiting Governor Bellingham at his estate. (96)
2. What do “some of the leading inhabitants” of the colony intend for Pearl? Explain their rational. (96-97)
3. Examine Hawthorne’s description of the three-year-old Pearl. In particular, note the extravagant clothing her
mother has created for her. Why has Hester chosen to attire Pearl thus? Can you find symbolic significance in
this clothing? (98)
4. Note the Puritan childrens’ treatment of Hester and Pearl, as well as Pearl’s response to them. Does Pearl
deserve the appellation, “the scarlet fever”? (99)
5. Examine the details of Hawthorne’s description of the Bellingham mansion, a veritable “Aladdin’s palace.”
What is the significance of this description to the concerns and themes of the novel as a whole? (99)
6. Examine the scene in which Hester arrives at the Governor’s door and is met by his bond-servant. On the
basis of Hawthorne’s treatment of this scene, what can you infer of his (Hawthorne’s) view regarding bondservitude? (100)
7. Why does the bond-servant allow Hester to enter the mansion despite the governor’s occupation with his
other guests? (Explain the irony which underlies the bond-servant’s allowing Hester to enter.) (100)
8. Examine the furnishings inside the mansion, as well as the folio tome resting on one of the Governor’s
cushions. Explain the (ironic) significance of their “old world” qualities. (101)
9. Identify the simile which the narrator describes the portraits of Bellingham’s ancestors. (Can you explain the
ironic significance of this simile given your knowledge of Hawthorne’s relationship to his own ancestors?) (10)
10. Pearl draws Hester’s attention to an image reflected in the Governor’s coat of mail (armor). Describe this
image and its symbolic significance. (102)
11. Pearl begs her mother for a red rose growing on one of the rosebushes in the garden, but Hester hushes her
emphatically as the Governor approaches. How does this moment “fit” the symbolic scheme Hawthorne has
constructed? (Recall the wild rosebush in Chapter One.) (103)
Chapter Eight, “The Elf-Child and the Minister”
1. Examine Hawthorne’s evocative description of Governor Bellingham. How do Hawthorne’s particular word
choices create an impression of the Governor at odds with the opulence of the mansion in which he lives? What
is the significance of this contrast? Distinguish between the Governor’s “public” and “private” faces/facades.
(104)
2. In response to Bellingham’s and Wilson’s challenge to her parenting, Hester asserts, “I can teach my little
Pearl what I have learned from this [the scarlet letter].” What, exactly, has Hester learned from the scarlet
letter? Explain her reasoning fully. (107)
3. Describe Pearl’s response to Reverend Wilson’s question, “Who made thee?” (107-108) Why does she
respond in this manner, according to the narrator?
4. Hester is astonished to note a dramatic transformation in Chillingworth’s physical appearance. Describe this
transformation and explain its symbolic significance. (108)
5. Hester appeals desperately to Dimmesdale for assistance in convincing the Governor and Reverend that she
should be allowed to keep her daughter. Examine Dimmesdales’s appearance and posture, as well as the content
of his speech on Hester’s behalf. Summarize the contents of Dimmesdale’s argument. Do you find his words
convincing? (110-111)
6. Examine Roger Chillingworth’s comment in response to Dimmesdale’s argument. Infer Chillingworth’s
thoughts as he smiles at Dimmesdale.
7. Specify the several conditions under which Governor Bellingham will allow Hester to keep Pearl.
8. Examine the interaction between Pearl (uncharacteristically affectionate, she “stole softly” toward him) and
Arthur Dimmesdale (half concealed by a curtain, he carefully “look[s] round” before kissing her). (Just in case
you missed the earlier hints regarding Pearl’s parentage! . . .) (112)
9. Identify the character of Mistress Hibbins. What does she ask Hester upon her (Hester’s) exit from the
Governor’s mansion? Describe Hester’s response as well as its significance to our understanding or her
character and the symbolic significance of her daughter. (113-114)
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.” (115)
2. Describe the state of medical care in Boston prior to Chillingworth’s arrival. (115)
3. Whom did Chillingworth choose as his “spiritual guide”? (116)
4. Dimmesdale’s health has declined markedly. List the various theories as to why his health has taken a turn
for the worse. (There are at least four distinct theories.) (116)
5. Inference: why has Dimmesdale taken to holding his hand over his heart? *(Answer on the literal level as
well as the symbolic level.) (117)
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.” (117)
7. Examine the following quotation regarding Dimmesdale: “Mr. Dimmesdale was a true priest, a true
religionist, with the reverential sentiment largely developed, and an order of mind that impelled itself
powerfully along the track of a creed and wore its passage continually deeper with the lapse of time. In no state
of society would he have been what is called a man of liberal views; it would always be essential to his peace to
feel the pressure of a faith upon him, supporting, while it confined him within its iron framework.” (119-120)
Discuss the significance of this quotation to our understanding of Dimmesdale’s character and his “situation.”
8. 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….”
9. How does it happen that Chillingworth and Dimmesdale move in together? (121) How do Dimmesdale’s
supporters feel initially about this arrangement? (121-122) Discuss the symbolic significance of their “new
abode.” (122)
10. There are those who come to question Chillingworth’s identity and his relationship with Dimmesdale.
Explain their views and their relevance to the novel’s themes. (124)
Chapter Ten, “The Leech and His Patient”
1. Examine Hawthorne’s particular word choices in the middle of page 126, in which he describes how
Chillingworth has started digging into Dimmesdale’s mind and conscience like a “sexton digging a grave.” On
the basis of those word choices, make an inference regarding Hawthorne’s opinion / view of Chillingworth’s
probing of Dimmesdale.
2. When Dimmesdale becomes almost aware of Chillingworth’s malice, how does Chillingworth cover
himself?
3. According to narrator, why is Dimmesdale incapable of identifying Chillingworth as an enemy? (bottom
126)
4. 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)
5. 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? (127-129) With
whose arguments about the revelation of sin do you agree, Dimmesdale’s or Chillingworth’s?
6. Pearl shows disregard for the dead when she prances over their graves. Why does Hawthorne include this
scene? Explain its significance. (130)
7. Describe Pearl’s antics involving the prickly burrs. How does this scene function symbolically? (130-131)
8. 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)
9. 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 up in his heart.” (131)
Discuss the significance of Dimmesdale’s view. Why, then, does he not “show his pain”?
10. When Chillingworth informs Dimmesdale that he suspects the root of Dimmesdale’s illness to be spiritual
rather than physical, how does Dimmesdale respond? (133)
11. As Dimmesdale lies asleep, Chillingworth approaches him, draws aside his vestment, and sees. . . . Explain
fully this tantalizing moment in the novel. (135)
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? (137-139) Finally, how does Dimmesdale feel about his parishioners’
response to him? (139)
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”? (140)
5. What actions does Dimmesdale undertake in order to do penance for his sins? (at least three actions. . . .)
(141) 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? (142)
Chapter Twelve, “The Minister’s Vigil”
1. Which impulse “drew [Dimmesdale] hither [to the scaffold]”? Which impulse “drew him back”? (144) In
your own words, explain what has drawn Dimmesdale to the scaffold in the middle of the night. Is this a
penitential act, or is it a “mockery of penitence” on his part? Will his appearance on the scaffold allow him to
expiate his sin, or is this merely a “vain show of expiation.” Answer on the basis of the entire chapter, and
explain your opinion.
2. Describe the thoughts which run through Dimmesdale’s head as Reverend Wilson approaches and walks
past the scaffold. Explain the significance of these wild thoughts. (147)
3. Why does Dimmesdale ask Hester and Pearl to join him on the scaffold? Thoroughly explain his
motivations at this crucial moment.
4. As Hester, Pearl, and Dimmesdale take one another’s hands on the scaffold, “a tumultuous rush of new life”
courses through Dimmesdale’s body like an electric current. (149) Explore the symbolic significance of this
event.
5. Is Dimmesdale ready to “confess” in public and join Hester in her ignominy? Exactly when, according to
Dimmesdale, will he and Hester and Pearl finally stand together in the light of day? (150)
6. A tremendous “meteor” appears beneath the canopy of clouds, lighting up the night sky. To Dimmesdale,
this light in the sky appears to be a “revelation from a supernatural source.” (151) Discuss the symbolic
significance of this “revelation.” Describe, in particular, how Dimmesdale perceives the zenith of the meteor. In
what shape does it appear to him? (151) How do other characters, including the old sexton, perceive that same
light in the night sky? (155) Fully explore the possible significance of this symbol to the novel as a whole.
7. As Hester, Pearl, and Dimmesdale stand on the scaffold and gaze at the “meteor,” another character appears
out of the darkness—Roger Chillingworth. Describe this response to finding the minister on the scaffold. (153154)
8. How does the sexton interpret the fact that Dimmesdale’s glove was found on the scaffold? (154-155) How
is he—like many other members of the community—predisposed to view Dimmesdale?
Chapter Thirteen, “Another View of Hester”
1. Examine the following quotation, in which Hester faces a moral choice: “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? (156)
2. Examine the narrator’s comments regarding human nature (offered as commentary on the public’s changing
view of Hester): “It is to the credit of human nature, that except where its selfishness is brought into play, it
loves more readily than it hates.” (156) 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? Fully describe how Hester has “earned” her new status in the community. (157159)
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? (158-159)
5. What has been the letter’s effect upon Hester over the years? (1590160)
6. Locate foreshadowing that the deleterious effects of the scarlet letter may, in fact, be undone. (160)
7. From the Puritan’s point of view, what is the crime “deadlier than adultery” of which Hester is guilty? (161)
8. When Hester “speculates,” she becomes “sad.” Explain fully the sources of her sadness. See especially the
remarkable quotation on the middle of page 162 which considers the position of women within her society.
9. To what “resolution” does Hester commit herself at the close of this chapter? (163)
Chapter Fourteen, “Hester and the Physician”
1. When Hester approaches Chillingworth, he informs her that, according to a local magistrate, the council has
been “discoursing of [Hester’s] affairs.” What has the council been debating regarding Hester? What is Hester’s
response to this controversy? (166) Given that response, 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. (166)
3. Chillingworth and Hester concur that Dimmesdale would have been better off dead rather than tortured for
seven long years with no end in sight. Do you agree with their assessment?
4. Chillingworth admits he has become a “fiend.” Who has made him so? (169)
5. 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? (170-171)
6. 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. Will
Dimmesdale be better off for knowing Chillingworth’s true identity? Will Chillingworth be prompted to expose
Dimmesdale? What will be the “fallout” for Hester herself? Speculate boldly! Predict the course of future
chapters! . . .
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.” (171-172)
2. Examine Hester’s comment regarding Chillingworth: “Be it sin or no…I hate the man!” (172) Subsequently,
she comments: “He betrayed me! He has done me worse wrong than I did him!” (173) 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”? (172)
4. Examine carefully the details of how Pearl amuses herself while Hester speaks with Chillingworth. (173174) List Pearl’s “play” activities, and discuss their significance.
5. Ho does Pearl answer Hester’s query, “Dost thou know, child, wherefore thy mother wears this letter?”
(175) (It’s a very perceptive response on Pearl’s part!)
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”? (176)
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. (177)
8. Finally, examine how Hester does respond to Pearl’s persistent questions regarding the meaning of the
scarlet letter. (177)
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. (179)
2. Examine (descriptive details regarding) the path which Hester follows through the forest. Discuss the
symbolic significance of this setting. (179)
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. (On a more challenging level of analysis: Will Hester ever find
sunshine for herself? How will this come to pass? Look for a subtle “hint” in this chapter.) (178-180)
4. According to the narrator, Pearl “wanted [lacked] a grief that would deeply touch her and thus humanize and
make her capable of sympathy.” (181) This passage foreshadows a grief in Pearl’s future that will, indeed,
“humanize” her as she transcends the “symbolic” role she performs in her mother’s life. Apart from the
foreshadowing of Pearl’s fate, this passage offers (it seems to me) a wise perception regarding the human
psyche. Offer your own comments in (dis)agreement with the philosophy represented by this quotation.
5. Examine the conversation between Pearl and Hester regarding the “Black Man’ in the forest. (182) 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?
6. Examine the small brook running through the forest. It is undoubtedly of symbolic importance (which will
come as not surprise to you, given Hawthorne’s predilections!) How does the brook resemble Pearl, and how
does it differ from her? (183)
7. 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.
Chapter Seventeen, “The Pastor and His Parishioner”
1. Describe the rather bizarre feelings that both Hester and Arthur experience as they first encounter one
another in the forest. How can you account for these feelings? (186)
2. When Hester asks Dimmesdale if his “good works” do not bring him some measure of comfort, he responds,
“As concerns the good which I may appear to do, I have no faith in it. It must needs be a delusion. What can a
ruined soul like mine effect towards the redemption of other souls?—or a polluted soul, towards their
purification?” (187)
Hester cannot agree with Dimmesdale’s self-condemning stance. She responds, “You wrong yourself in this.
. . . You have deeply and sorely repented. Your sine is left behind you, in the days long past. Your present life is
no less holy, in very truth, than it seems in people’s eyes. Is there no reality in the penitence thus sealed and
witnessed by good works? And wherefore should it not bring you peace?”
First, which of these two perspectives is most representative of the Puritan world view? Second, which of
these two perspectives is approved by Hawthorne? (Provide evidence to support your inferences.) Third, which
of these two perspectives is in common currency in our own society? Fourth, with which perspective do you
agree personally? Explain your views.
3. How does Hester explain her previous decision to keep Chillingworth’s identity secret from Dimmesdale?
(190) What has caused her to reverse that decision and now reveal his identity? (189)
4. Describe Dimmesdale’s response to Hester’s revelation. (190-191) Examine the significance of this
response. What does it reveal of Dimmesdale’s character?
5. According to Dimmesdale, who is the “worst sinner” of all? Why is that the case? (191) Find and quote the
exact passage in which Dimmesdale condemns this “worst sinner.”
6. Dimmesdale affirms tat he and Hester never “violated the sanctity of a human heart.” Hester agrees: “What
we did had a consecration of its own.” (191) Explore the significance of these (revolutionary) ideas in the
context of the novel as a whole. Would Hawthorne agree with Dimmesdale’s and Hester’s assessment of “what
[they]”? (Provide evidence.) What is your own opinion regarding their behavior? Does “love conquer all,” as
the saying goes?
7. Dimmesdale, in his moral weakness, please with Hester to provide him guidance in this difficult time. She
does so, with remarkable strength and firmness of purpose. What is Hester’s advice to Dimmesdale? What does
she suggest he do at this time? (193-194)
8. Describe Dimmesdale’s initial response to Hester’s suggested course of action. What critical factor causes
him to take heart and change his mind? (195)
Chapter Eighteen, “A Flood of Sunshine”
1. How does Dimmesdale explain his decision to follow Hester’s advice? (197 bottom)
2. Describe Dimmesdale’s transformation once the decision is made. (198)
3. Describe Hester’s own transformation. (199)
4. Describe the transformation in Hawthorne’s symbolic setting. (Particularly note the symbolic role of the
sunshine at this key moment in the novel.) What significance can you ascribe to this transformation? (199)
5. Locate foreshadowing near the end of this chapter that trouble (in the shape of Pearl) is on the horizon. (200202)
Chapter Nineteen, “The Child at the Brookside”
1. Describe Dimmesdale’s response to Hester’s claim that he will love and be loved by Pearl. What is the
symbolic significance of the contrast between Dimmesdale’s and Hester’s feeling towards Pearl? (202)
2. Explain how Pearl is a “living hieroglyphic.” (202-203)
3. What has caused Hester and Pearl to feel “estranged” from one another as they stand on opposite sides of
the brook? (204)
4. What is the symbolic significance of Hester’s decision to replace the scarlet letter on her bosom? How does
she (unaware of any symbolic significance) rationalize her decision? Does she intend to wear the letter forever?
When will she remove it? (207)
5. Describe Hester’s transformation as she refastens the letter to her bosom. (207)
6. When Hester encourages Pearl to approach the minister an “entreat his blessing,” she responds with a
challenging question. What is that question? Explain its significance. (208)
7. Describe Pearl’s response to Dimmesdale’s kiss. Explore the significance of her response. (209)
Chapter Twenty, “The Minister in a Maze”
1. Why do Hester and Dimmesdale choose to sail to Europe rather than to strike off into the woods together?
(210)
2. Describe the transformation which overcomes Dimmesdale following his decision to escape. (bottom 211)
3. Describe each of “The Six Temptations of Dimmesdale,” as detailed on pages 213-216. How can you
account for these temptations? (See also page 218.) Explore their significance fully.
4. Describe Dimmesdale’s encounter with Mistress Hibbins. Offer an inference regarding why Hawthorne
includes this brief scene in Chapter 20. (217)
5. Describe Dimmesdale’s encounter with Chillingworth. On the basis of this brief encounter, offer a
prediction regarding how Dimmesdale and Chillingworth will “deal with” one another now that the latter’s
identity is known. (219-220)
6. Describe Dimmesdale’s preparation of the Election Day Sermon, to be delivered three
day’s hence. (221)
Chapter Twenty-One, “The New England Holiday”
1. Examine Hawthorne’s description of Hester’s appearance as she enters the market place. With which
metaphor and which simile does Hawthorne convey Hester’s attempt to conceal the excitement which swells
within her? (222)
2. Hawthorne offers and extended description of this Puritan holiday—to what effect? Find details of
Hawthorne’s description that imply a critique of the Puritans. (225 ff.)
3. Describe the mariners who are enjoying “shore leave” from a Spanish vessel. How are these manners
perceived and treated by the Puritans? What is the significance of this detail? (228-229)
Chapter Twenty-Two, “The Procession”
1. As Dimmesdale approaches the church to deliver his Election Day sermon, the townspeople notice a change
has come over his aspect. Describe this change. How do the townspeople account for it? (234)
2. Search this Chapter for examples of foreshadowing regarding the future of Hester’s and Dimmesdale’s
relationship. Will they be together (as planned) in Europe? Will they drift apart? List the examples of
foreshadowing you discover and speculate as to their possible significance. (234, 235, 241, others)
3. Describe Hester’s encounter with Mistress Hibbins. Why does Hawthorne include this brief scene?
(inference) (Hint: Hibbin’s comments serve to foreshadow Dimmesdale’s fate. . .) (236-237)
4. Note how Hester is exposed to heightened ridicule due to the presence of many visitors to town who are
seeing her scarlet letter for the first time. Why does Hawthorne emphasize the shame which Hester must endure
on this day? (inference) (242)
Chapter Twenty-Three, “The Revelation of the Scarlet Letter”
1. Describe the manner in which the Puritan public receives Arthur Dimmesdale’s Election Day sermon. How
do the people explain to themselves the undercurrent of pathos in the speech? Why is Dimmesdale’s saintly
aspect stressed? (243-245)
2. Describe Roger Chillingworth’s response to Dimmesdale’s reaching out to Hester and Pearl by the scaffold.
Explain why Chillingworth acts in this manner. (247-248)
3. As Dimmesdale has joined Hester and Pearl on the scaffold at last he turns to Hester and says, “Is not this
better. . .than what we dreamed of in the forest?” Record Hester’s response to this query as well as your own
opinion of Dimmesdale’s choice. (249)
4. Dimmesdale thrusts aside his priestly vestment and reveals the “stigmata” (observed by Chillingworth in an
earlier chapter) to all in the crowd. As the narrator opines, “It was revealed, but it were irreverent to describe
that revelation.” Why does Hawthorne choose to maintain the mystery of the stigmata even here in the
penultimate chapter of his novel? (inference) (250)
5. As Pearl finally consents to kiss her father, the tears run down her face. Discuss the significance of Pearl’s
tears, especially as they reveal her “future.” (251)
6. Describe Dimmesdale’s response to Hester’s hope that she and Arthur have “ransomed one another” and
will spend their immortal life together. (251-252) Discuss the significance of this response to the novel as a
whole.
7. According to Dimmesdale, how has God demonstrated mercy to him? (252)
Chapter Twenty-Four, “Conclusion”
1. The beginning of Chapter Twenty-Four considers the various theories which emerged among the Puritan
public regarding what had transpired upon the scaffold and, in particular, the nature of the stigmata on
Dimmesdale’s breast. Describe four separate explanations for the mark over Dimmesdale’s heart. (252-254)
2. Quote in full and interpret the “moral” which Hawthorne’s narrator provides on page 254. Explore the
meaning and significance of the “moral” in light of the novel as a whole as well as the “real world” of your own
experience.
3. Describe Chillingworth’s fate following the third and final scaffold scene. (254-255)
4. According to the narrator’s speculation, what characteristics are shared by the emotions of love and hate?
(255) Comment regarding the relevance of this philosophy to the novel as a whole. Finally, describe your own
opinion regarding this question of love and hate.
5. Consider the significance of Hester’s “prophecy”—that “at some brighter period, when the world should
have grown ripe for it, in Heaven’s own time, a new truth would be revealed, in order to establish the whole
relation between man and woman on a sure ground of mutual happiness.” (258)
6. The futures of both Hester and Pearl are sketched in this final chapter of the novel. Please describe Pearl’s
future.
7. Now, please describe the future of our heroine, Hester Prynne. Consider the role she comes to play in
Boston, the scarlet letter upon her bosom, and her final resting place. (256-259)
8. Is the ending of the novel a happy one?
“ON A FIELD, SABLE, THE LETTER
A, GULES.”