The
Scarlet
Letter
Nathaniel Hawthorne
Puritans
• Puritans believed nothing could save their souls but the
grace of God, and he decides everything ahead of time.
• Puritans lived by a strict code of ethics and literally
interpreted the Bible.
• They did contribute many positive things to America: the first
American college, printing press, elections, and public
schools.
• Hawthorne wrote The Scarlet Letter two hundred years after
his ancestors arrived in Salem. He acknowledges his
“ancestral guilt” as a descendant of one of the judges in the
Salem witchcraft trials.
Chapters 1-3
• Characters:
Hester Prynne
“The Stranger”
Pearl
Rev. Arthur Dimmesdale
Chapters 4-6
• Symbols:
“The Black Man”
Hester’s self-penance and elevation of Pearl
Pearl - the repercussions of secret sin
Chapters 7-9
•
Bellingham’s home and Mistress Hibbins
The importance and imagery of the scarlet A.
Dimmesdale with Pearl
Chillingworth and Dimmesdale’s soul
Chapters 10-12
•
Pearl – symbol of truth and disregard for
society and its methods.
Scaffold: scene 2
… The “electric chain.”
The “A” in the sky
Chapters 13-15
•
Hester’s new role and self-awareness seven
years after the act
The transformation of Chillingworth and Hester
cutting ties of responsibility to him
The role of the Scarlet
Letter – who should
remove it and Pearl’s
understanding of it
Chapters 16-18
•
The source of sin is varied, starting with Hester’s
marriage. Sin versus evil.
• Hypocrisy in Mistress Hibbins.
• The forest reflecting mood, joy realized. Hester’s
transformation and Pearl’s reaction.
Chapters 19-21
•
Hester and Dimmesdale making the same
mistakes made when the Puritans left for the New
World, in reverse.
• Dimmesdale’s wandering thoughts, his soul torn.
• What is the purpose of chapter 21?
Chapters 22-24
•
The visiting sailors and Native
Americans and the Scarlet Letter
• Dimmesdale: judge, jury, and
executioner
• Dimmesdale’s proclamation manipulated
into allegory
• Pearl becomes human, Hester becomes
a symbol