The Scarlet Letter
Source 1
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What are the conflicts in The Scarlet Letter? What types of conflict (physical,
moral, intellectual, or emotional) are in this novel?
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Is Hester consistent in her actions? Is she a fully developed character? How?
Why?
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Does the story end the way you expected? How? Why?
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How does this novel relate to feminist literature? Is Hester a strong female
character?
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What is the role of women in the text? How are mothers represented? What
about single/independent women?
Source 2
Study Questions on Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter
Red on black: "On a field, sable, the letter A, gules."
This is a tale of frail humans dealing with the consequences of an act defined as sin by
their society but not necessarily by themselves, a tale of isolation and community and
the tragic inadequacy of human relationships.
What do the prison and the rose represent? How are the village people described? How
do they see Hester? In what other ways does Hawthorne let you see who she is?
Consider the scenic qualities of the first scaffold gathering.
How are Dimmesdale, Chillingworth, and Hester all described at the beginning? What is
their relationship and who is to blame? Why doesn't Hester confess the name of the
father? Why does she not leave the village after she leaves prison? What sort of place
does she make for herself in this society that has condemned her?
How does the letter A gradually take on symbolic meaning? How is it connected to
Pearl? What sort of person does she become?
What happens to Dimmesdale and Chillingworth in their relationship with each other?
What does Chillingworth see when he uncovers Dimmesdale's chest? How has he
changed? How has Dimmesdale changed? Hester? For Hawthorne, perhaps the
ultimate, and possibly unforgiveable, sin is the violation of the human soul or heart. By
this definition, who sins at this point of the story?
The Scarlet Letter
Describe the 2nd scaffold scene in terms of the changed relationship of the four people.
What does the scarlet meteor signify?
How has Hester changed after 7 years? What has her A come to mean? What has she
lost and gained? How does she feel about Pearl? about being a woman?
How has Chillingworth changed?: How does he explain his actions (past, present,
future)? What is the relationship here between Pearl and the letter (including the green
letter)?
How is the forest described? What does it mean to Pearl? to Hester? to Dimmesdale?
How do she and Dimmesdale view her secret? their sin? What does Hester resolve to
do? How does Dimmesdale react to the decision? Hester? What role has Nature played
in this drama? What signs are there that such a "happy ending" is doomed? Why does
Pearl reject them? What happens to Dimmesdale as he returns home?
How are the people described in the final scaffold scene as compared with the first?
Why does Hester's plan fail? What does Hester hear Dimmesdale say as he preaches?
the townspeople?
How do the four stand on the scaffold this last time? What does Dimmesdale reveal?
How is Pearl changed? How do the townspeople interpret this final revelation? What
happens to Chillingworth? to Pearl?
Why does Hester return? What is the "new truth" she represents?
How does this story of a relationship with tragic conseqauences played out within a
community fit with other "American" stories of self-reliance? of one's place in a
community? of one's place in nature? of the darker nature of human beings?
Source 3
Discussion Questions
Some critics say that Hester Prynne was the first American heroine. Others, however, say
that her somewhat silent suffering isn't truly heroic. What qualities and actions make a
character heroic? Are there any heroes or heroic actions in The Scarlet Letter ? Defend
1. your answer.
If Hester Prynne is the protagonist of The Scarlet Letter , who is the antagonist?
2. Arguments can be made not only for Roger Chillingworth and Governor Bellingham, but
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also perhaps for Arthur Dimmesdale—and even for the Puritan society as a whole. Which
of these characters (if any) do you believe serves as the villain in the novel? Why? What
qualities and actions make a character villainous? If you believe that there are no villains
in the story, why do you feel that is the case?
Throughout America's history, there have always been laws that regulated citizens'
personal behavior. Among the Puritans of the 18th century, for example, adultery was a
serious crime, as The Scarlet Letter makes clear. Today we have laws forcing motorcycle
riders to wear helmets, laws that make suicide illegal, and laws against speeding on an
empty highway, among many others. Where should society draw the line between personal
and political actions? Should society have the right to tell you how to behave on your own
time? Why or why not?
In recent years, the growing popularity of witchcraft, a neopagan religion with many
traditions derived from pre-Christian and prehistoric religions, has caught the public eye.
There are stores that sell witchcraft-related wares, movies with witches as heroes, and
popular books about pagan religious traditions. In The Scarlet Letter , however, the
portrayal of witches—particularly Mistress Hibbins, the sister of Governor Bellingham, is
far more negative. What differences between Puritan New England and American culture
today account for the fact that the practice of witchcraft is no longer considered an
abhorrent crime? How has society changed during that span of time?
The authorities ordered Hester Prynne to wear an A as a punishment for her adultery, but
nobody told her to make it as beautiful and elaborate as she did. The elegance of the A she
embroidered revealed her self-pride, even in the face of her public shame. Can you think of
any similar symbols that people wear today? In what ways do people change their
appearance to show self-pride, even when others see those changes as sources of shame?
What do our outward symbols say about us?
Does the character of Pearl seem realistic? Some readers of The Scarlet Letter think she
seems much older than her age—far too mature for a young girl. Can you think of any
reasons why Pearl should seem so unlike a child at times? Are children her age today ever
"forced to grow up early" like that? Why? Pearl is also a very angry child—angry with her
mother, in particular. Does this seem like a realistic trait as well? Why or why not?
Source 4
1. Many of the townspeople seem to take active, vicious pleasure in gossiping
about and scoffing at Hester Prynne, but eventually, a lot of the townsfolk come
to like Hester. What role does gossip play in developing Hester’s character? Why
are the characters in this novel so judgmental?
2. If Hester Prynne could have changed one thing about Puritan society, what do
you think it would have been?
3. Is it possible to detect Puritan ethics, religious ideals, and cultural/social
structures in modern-day America? If so, where do you see these ideals?
The Scarlet Letter
4. Do you think the Puritans needed the strict rules and laws they set down upon
first settling in America? Why?
5. In 1854 Hawthorne wrote, "it has often been a matter of regret for me, that I was
shut out from the most peculiar field of American fiction, by an inability to see any
romance, or poetry, or grandeur, or beauty in the Indian character" (source). The
Native Americans who appear at the periphery of The Scarlet Letter are possibly
of the Massachusetts or Pawtucket people. What does Hawthorne’s attitude
about Native Americans reveal to us about the relationships between America’s
first peoples and the Puritan colonists?
Source 5
1. Hester Prynne is considered the protagonist of The Scarlet Letter, but she is not always considered the
heroine of the piece. Does Hester show heroic qualities in The Scarlet Letter? If so, what are those heroic
qualities? If not, what is the difference between a protagonist and a heroine (or hero)?
2. All of the characters in The Scarlet Letter make mistakes. They all have their own agendas, and they
all succumb at one point or another to human desires and fallacies. So who is the antagonist inThe
Scarlet Letter? Who is the chief villain that orchestrates the largest amount of trouble for the characters?
If there isn't an antagonist, why?
3. Many people believe that the government should not be allowed to regulate personal behavior, and yet
we have laws that tell us we have to wear seatbelts, that we cannot be intoxicated in a public place, and
that we cannot commit suicide. In The Scarlet Letter, adultery was a crime. What laws today do we
disagree with, and where should the government be stopped in creating laws for personal regulation?
4. In The Scarlet Letter, witchcraft was considered a stigma on society. Mistress Hibbons, Governor
Bellingham's sister, was shunned from society for practicing witchcraft. Today, however, the practice of
neopagan religions and beliefs is no longer a topic of disgust, but rather a growing trend among
teenagers and adults alike. Why have we grown accepting of that behavior, and what has changed in
society to facilitate that growth?
5. Hester Prynne was forced to wear the scarlet letter A as an advertisement of her adulterous crime. She
took pride and courage, however, and made the A elaborate and elegant, perhaps flaunting her crime in
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the faces of those who condemned her. Today, people do this as well. Can you give me examples? How
does this help to shape and change society?
6. Children who grow up in adverse or difficult conditions are often forced to grow up much more quickly
than other children. They learn the ways of the world much sooner than they would have otherwise, and
this can be both a blessing and a curse. Pearl was like those children, displaying adult characteristics as
a young child. Does this seem like a realistic character trait? Why or why not?
7. There are hundreds of examples of perceived symbolism in The Scarlet Letter. Some are rather
blatant, while others require a certain amount of "reaching". Which examples of symbolism do you believe
were included in the novel by Nathaniel Hawthorne, and which have been inferred by literary experts?
Source 6
1. Do you believe that Hester was treated as other Puritan women would have been
treated at the time who had committed adultery?
1. How do you think that Hester would be treated today?
1. How do you think Dimmesdale would be treated today?
1. Why is this novel always taught in American Literature classes? Why is it
important?
1. What does this novel tell us about human nature?
1. Why has this novel lasted-endured?
1. What universal truths does it contain that all people, in any time period and culture,
can relate to? Any?
2. What does the narrator say the moral of the story is? (Be true! Be true! Be true!)
Another discussion will take place on a different day, after the novel is read.
The Scarlet Letter
Discussion Questions:
1. Class-Would Hester have been treated differently if she would have had a different
social status?
2. Would Dimmesdale?
3. Were people considered witches who were of the upper class?
4. Gender-Was Hester punished more severely than a man would have been, drawing
on what you know about the Puritans?
5. Would another woman be treated the same way?
6. Times-Would Hester and Arthur be treated the same today as they were in the
story?
7. Would the man's responsibility be different? How?