Name:
Date:
Class:
The Scarlet Letter: Society vs. Individual Morals Worksheet
Directions: Below are four quotes from the novel. Identify which character each quote
characterizes (either Puritan society at beginning of novel, Puritan society at end of
novel, Hester Prynne, or Arthur Dimmsdale) and how each quote develops your assigned
character. You may takes notes on this paper.
1. Quote 1: “At the very least, they should have put the brand of a hot iron on Hester
Prynne’s forehead… little will she care what they put upon the bodice of her gown! Why,
look at you, she may cover it with a brooch...and walk the streets as brave as ever!” (55)
2. Quote 2: “Hester Prynne had never before been false to the symbol on her bosom. It may be
that it was the tailsman, who now forsook her; as recognizing….some new evil had crept into it,
or some old one had never been expelled.” (193)
3. Quote 3: “Happy are you, Hester, that wear the Scarlet letter openly upon your bosom! Mine
burns in secret! Thou little knowest what a relief it is, after the torment of a seven years’ cheat to
look into an eye that recognizes me for what I am!” (206)
4. Quote 4: “After exhausting life in his [Dimmsdale’s] in his efforts for mankind’s spiritual good,
he had made the manner of his death a parable, in order to impress upon his admirers the
mighty and mournful lesson, that in the view of infinite purity, we are all sinners alike.” (275)