Chapter 1
1. The
setting of the Scarlet Letter is Boston in the 1640’s. “It may safely be
assumed that the forefathers of Boston…” That line indicated that Boston was
the setting and the introduction already stated that the story was set in the
mid to late 1600’s. pg 43 and “The grass-plot before the jail, in Prison Lane,
on a certain summer morning, not less than two centuries ago” pg 45
2. Hawthorne
began the story with a reflection about the need for a cemetery and a prison
because he wanted to emphasize that a new colony was founded and the first
thing this free colony did was make places that represent the opposite of
freedom. “The founders of a new colony, whatever Utopia of human virtue and
happiness they might originally project, have invariably recognized it among
their earliest practical necessities to allot a portion of the virgin soil as a
cemetery, and another portion as the site of a prison.” Pg 43
3. The wild
rosebush that grows beside the prison door represents hope. It’s right next to
a dilapidated prison that is an ugly place to be, and everything around it is
unsightly, except for it, which brings beauty to the scene, showing that there
can be something beautiful or good in a bad situation, like hope. “But, on one
side of the portal, and rooted almost at the threshold, was a wild rose-bush,
covered, in this month of June, with its delicate gems, which might be imagined
to offer their fragrance and fragile beauty to the prisoner as he went in, and
to the condemned criminal as he came forth to his doom, in token that the deep
heart of Nature could pity and be kind to him.” Pg 44
4. Anne
Hutchinson was an English woman who stood up to the puritans in court to fight
for the freedom to follow any religion you wish. Her wish was not granted and
she was banned from the colony to live with Indians. “…as there is fair
authority for believing, it had sprung up under the footsteps of the sainted
Ann Hutchinson, as she entered the prison-door…” Pg 44
5. Hawthorne
doesn’t know where the rosebush came from but by referring Ann Hutchinson, it’s
like he’s saying that the Puritan beliefs have made everything ugly and hated,
but there is still hope, and some people can still bring beauty into the
situation, people like Ann who opposed the Puritans’ beliefs and went against
them.“…as there is fair authority for believing, it had sprung up under the
footsteps of the sainted Ann Hutchinson, as she entered the prison-door…” Pg 44
Chapter 2
1. This
chapter begins on a negative note. The day is
nice, but everyone gathered around knows that something bad is going on.
“The grass-plot before the jail, in Prison Lane, on a certain summer morning, not
less than two centuries ago, was occupied by a pretty large number of the
inhabitants of Boston; all with their eyes intently fastened on the
iron-clamped oaken door. Amongst any other population, or at a later period in
the history of New England, the grim rigidity that petrified the bearded
physiognomies of these good people would have augured some awful business in
hand.” Pg 45
2. Hawthorne
is saying that the Puritan women of the New World were too interested in the
punishment of other women. They would get as close to the punishment platform
and watch what was going on.“…the women, of whom there were several in the
crowd, appeared to take a peculiar interest in whatever penal infliction might
be expected to ensue. The age had not so much refinement, that any sense of
impropriety restrained the wearers of petticoat and farthingale from stepping
forth into the public ways, and wedging their not unsubstantial persons, if
occasion were, into the throng nearest to the scaffold at an execution.
Morally, as well as materially, there was a coarser fibre in those wives and
maidens of old English birth and breeding…” pg 46 The women also wanted other
women to be punished more severely than they were. They really wanted everyone
to get what they deserved, as one woman said, “If the hussy stood up for
judgment before us five, that are now here in a knot together, would she come
off with such a sentence as the worshipful magistrates have awarded? Marry, I
trow not!”” pg 47
3. The sin
that Hester Payne is being condemned for wasn’t outrightly stated, but the
women in the town were talking about her, and all of the things they said
alluded to the fact that she had been unfaithful and adulterous, hence the A on
her gown, and that she had done something sexually immoral. That is also why
she is holding the baby. “But she,—the naughty baggage,—little will she care
what they put upon the bodice of her gown!” pg 47 This quote shows that the
people knew she had been “naughty”, or sexually immoral.
4. The Old
Testament punishment for adultery was death. One woman said it, “ ‘This woman
has brought shame upon us all, and ought to die. Is there not law for it? Truly
there is, both in the Scripture and the statute-book.’ ” pg 47
5. The
public think Hester’s sin was terrible and that she deserves to die. This shows
that society was very tough and religious, and they lived by the bible’s strict
rules. “This woman has brought shame upon us all, and ought to die.” Pg 47
6. Hester’s
punishment was that she had to stand on the scaffolding for everyone to look at
her, while holding her baby, and having the letter “A” for adultery stitched
into her dress, which she had to do herself. “In Hester Prynne’s instance,
however, as not unfrequently in other cases, her sentence bore, that she should
stand a certain time upon the platform” pg. 51
7. The
surprising thing about the “A” that Hester has sewn for herself is that it’s
really beautifully done. The fact that she took so much time to beautifully
stitch this letter could mean that she wasn’t ashamed of her sin and that she
didn’t really care that other people thought it was wrong. “On the breast of
her gown, in fine red cloth, surrounded with an elaborate embroidery and
fantastic flourishes of gold thread, appeared the letter A. It was so artistically
done, and with so much fertility and gorgeous luxuriance of fancy, that it had
all the effect of a last and fitting decoration to the apparel which she wore”
pg 48
8. Hawthorn
alludes to the Madonna and Child when Hester is standing on the platform,
holding her baby in her arms, close to her body because it compares her to Mary
holding baby Jesus. Hester had taken pride in stitching her letter A on her
dress, and had been holding her beautiful self proudly, just like Mary had
been. Her child represents innocence and purity just like baby Jesus did. “…who
stood on the scaffold of the pillory, an infant on her arm.” pg 54
9. The use
of physiognomy, the judging of a person’s natural character based on looks,
would have in this case meant that Hester was a kind person. She was portrayed
as beautiful and elegant, so she should have a matching personality based on
physiognomy. “The young woman was tall, with a figure of perfect elegance, on a
large scale. She had dark and abundant hair, so glossy that it threw off the
sunshine with a gleam, and a face which, besides being beautiful from
regularity of feature and richness of complexion, had the impressiveness
belonging to a marked brow and deep black eyes. She was lady-like, too, after
the manner of the feminine gentility of those days; characterized by a certain
state and dignity, rather than by the delicate, evanescent, and indescribable
grace, which is now recognized as its indication.” Pg 49
10. The
flashback revealed that Hester used to live in poverty and had many memories
that suddenly flooded back. There was one part about a man that was thin and
old and had some sort of power over her soul, and that greatly affected her. “There
she beheld another countenance, of a man well stricken in years, a pale, thin,
scholar-like visage, with eyes dim and bleared by the lamp-light that had
served them to pore over many ponderous books. Yet those same bleared optics
had strange, penetrating power, when it was their owner’s purpose to read the
human soul.” Pg 54
Chapter 3
1. The
conversation between the townsman and the stranger at the beginning of this
chapter serves as a cover up because the stranger, who was actually her husband
and goes by Roger Chillingworth, didn’t want anyone to know that he knew who
Hester was, so he asked this question to make it seem like they had no
relation. “Then, touching the shoulder of a townsman who stood next to him, he
addressed him in a formal and courteous manner. “I pray you, good Sir,” said
he, “who is this woman?—and wherefore is she here set up to public shame?”” pg
56
2. Hester
wasn’t sentenced to death for her adultery because she was young and pretty,
and she probably lost her husband at sea, so they had mercy on her. “Now, good
Sir, our Massachusetts magistracy, bethinking themselves that this woman is
youthful and fair, and doubtless was strongly tempted to her fall;—and that,
moreover, as is most likely, her husband may be at the bottom of the sea;—they
have not been bold to put in force the extremity of our righteous law against
her. The penalty thereof is death. But, in their great mercy and tenderness of
heart, they have doomed Mistress Prynne to stand only a space of three hours on
the platform of the pillory, and then and thereafter, for the remainder of her
natural life, to wear a mark of shame upon her bosom.” Pg 57
3. The
stranger has been at the marketplace, watching Hester. “At his arrival in the
market-place, and some time before she saw him, the stranger had bent his eyes
on Hester Prynne.” Pg 55 The motion he made to Hester was putting his hand to
his lips to tell her to be quiet. “When he found the eyes of Hester Prynne
fastened on his own, and saw that she appeared to recognize him, he slowly and
calmly raised his finger, made a gesture with it in the air, and laid it on his
lips.” Pg 56
4. Dimmsdale
is the pastor of the church. “She hath raised a great scandal, I promise you,
in godly Master Dimmesdale’s church.” Pg 56 Dimmsdale used an appeal to what is
right and wrong in God’s eyes to convince Hester to reveal the baby’s father. “I
charge thee to speak out the name of thy fellow-sinner and fellow-sufferer! Be
not silent from any mistaken pity and tenderness for him; for, believe me,
Hester, though he were to step down from a high place, and stand there beside
thee, on thy pedestal of shame, yet better were it so, than to hide a guilty
heart through life.” Pg 60
5. The
stranger predicted that the name of the father would eventually be disclosed,
which foreshadowed that the “stranger’s” identity would also eventually be
disclosed. “But he will be known!—he will be known!—he will be known!” pg 58
6.
Dimmesdale’s reaction to Hester’s refusal to name the father of her child was
ironic because he seemingly tried so hard to get her to admit it, but he really
didn’t want her saying it was him.“So powerful seemed the minister’s appeal,
that the people could not believe but that Hester Prynne would speak out the
guilty name; or else that the guilty one himself, in whatever high or lowly
place he stood, would be drawn forth by an inward and inevitable necessity, and
compelled to ascend the scaffold.” (Page 62)
7. The
townsman told Chillingworth, “Of a truth friend, that matter remaineth a
riddle; and the Daniel who shall expound it is yet a-wanting” pg 57 and by this
he alluded that Daniel was a man in the bible who was hired to decode King
Nebuchadnezzar’s dreams, and that they needed someone to be able to figure out
what’s going on here like the way he did.
Chapter 4
1. The
stranger Hester recognized in the crowd that afternoon turned out to be her
husband, who now goes by Roger Chillingworth. “Live, therefore, and bear about
thy doom with thee, in the eyes of men and women,—in the eyes of him whom thou
didst call thy husband,—in the eyes of yonder child! And, that thou mayest
live, take off this draught.” Pg 68
2. Hester
fears Chillingworth because he was giving her and her child potion that he just
made, and they could be dangerous, so she wasn’t sure if she could trust him,
and was really skeptical about the potions. “I have thought of death,” said
she,—“have wished for it,—would even have prayed for it, were it fit that such
as I should pray for any thing. Yet, if death be in this cup, I bid thee think
again, ere thou beholdest me quaff it. See! It is even now at my lips.” Pg 68
3. With the
use of physiognomy, Hawthorne suggests by Chillingworth’s aged, deformed
appearances that he would be a bad person because he’s ugly on the outside, so
he might be as well on the inside. “…When I betrayed thy budding youth into a
false and unnatural relation with my decay.” Pg 69
4.
Chillingworht’s attitude toward Hester was compassionate and forgiving. He said
that they both had done wrong things and didn’t seem to be seeking revenge on
her. “We have wronged each other,”
answered he. “Mine was the first wrong, when I betrayed thy budding youth into
a false and unnatural relation with my decay. Therefore, as a man who has not
thought and philosophized in vain, I seek no vengeance, plot no evil against
thee. Between thee and me, the scale hangs fairly balanced. But, Hester, the
man lives who has wronged us both! Who is he?” pg 69
5.
Chillingworth intends to find out who the father of her baby, Pearl, is. “Never
know him! Believe me, Hester, there are few things,—whether in the outward
world, or, to a certain depth, in the invisible sphere of thought,—few things
hidden from the man, who devotes himself earnestly and unreservedly to the
solution of a mystery. Thou mayest cover up thy secret from the prying
multitude. Thou mayest conceal it, too, from the ministers and magistrates,
even as thou didst this day, when they sought to wrench the name out of thy
heart, and give thee a partner on thy pedestal. But, as for me, I come to the
inquest with other senses than they possess. I shall seek this man, as I have
sought truth in books” pg 70
6.
Chillingworth asks Hester to promise not to tell anyone who he is “Thou hast
kept the secret of thy paramour. Keep, likewise, mine! There are none in this
land that know me. Breathe not, to any human soul, that thou didst ever call me
husband! Here, on this wild outskirt of the earth…” pg 70 She agreed because he
was her husband and he might have gotten punished.
7.
Chillingworth’s and Hester’s exchange at the end of the chapter foreshadows
that the agreement they made will cost someone their soul. “’Hast thou enticed
me into a bond that will prove the ruin of my soul?’ ‘Not thy soul,’ he
answered, with another smile. ‘No, not thine!’” pg 71
Chapter 5
1. Hester’s
emergence from the prison at the end of her confinement was different from her
emergence the day she stood in public humiliation because it was more
torturous. At least before there were people pointing fingers at her and
scolding her for the wrong she had done, but now she was a free woman and was
allowed to step out into the sunshine of the beautiful day. “Perhaps there was
a more real torture in her first unattended footsteps from the threshold of the
prison, than even in the procession and spectacle that have been described,
where she was made the common infamy, at which all mankind was summoned to
point its finger. Then, she was supported by an unnatural tension of the
nerves, and by all the combative energy of her character, which enabled her to
convert the scene into a kind of lurid triumph.” Pg 72
2. Hester’s
location was described as “On the outskirts of the town, within the verge of
the peninsula, but not in close vicinity to any other habitation, there was a
small thatched cottage.” Pg 74 The traditional dichotomy Hawthorne began to
establish with the location of Hester’s cottage was how she wanted to stay a
part of the colony that she was, in, but at the same time she didn’t want to.
That’s why she did stay within the colony grounds, but she went to the far
outskirts as to remove herself as much s possible without leaving completely.
There is also the contrast between the fact that the people hated her, yet they
needed her to sew things for her. Another contrast is that she could go to a
place of freedom, but instead she chose to stay in Boston, where she’s neither
wanted nor free.
3. Hester
decided to stay within the colony because here she was rooted in a way; she had
sinned there, and deserved to live out her punishment there. The second reason
was because her lover, Dimmesdale was there. “Her sin, her ignominy, were the
roots which she had struck into the soil. It was as if a new birth, with
stronger assimilations than the first, had converted the forest-land, still so
uncongenial to every other pilgrim and wanderer, into Hester Prynne’s wild and
dreary, but life-long home” pg 73 “There dwelt, there trode the feet of one
with whom she deemed herself connected in a union, that, unrecognized on earth,
would bring them together before the bar of final judgment, and make that their
marriage-altar, for a joint futurity of endless retribution. ” pg 74 “Here,
she said to herself, had been the scene of her guilt, and here should be the
scene of her earthly punishment” pg 74
4. The
people in the town treated her in a way that reminded her that she was
banished. “In all her intercourse with society, however, there was nothing that
made her feel as if she belonged to it. Every gesture, every word, and even the
silence of those with whom she came in contact, implied, and often expressed,
that she was banished,” pg 77 Hester reacted to this treatment by ignoring the
comments, and praying for the people who were rude to her. “Hester had schooled
herself long and well; she never responded to these attacks, save by a flush of
crimson that rose irrepressibly over her pale cheek, and again subsided into
the depths of her bosom. She was patient,—a martyr, indeed,—but she forbore to
pray for her enemies; lest, in spite of her forgiving aspirations” pg 78
5. Hester’s
character evolved because before, she had a weaker character, always letting people
get a reaction about her, but now she doesn’t even react when they insult her
and she doesn’t even care. The people in the town treated her in a way that
reminded her that she was banished. “In all her intercourse with society,
however, there was nothing that made her feel as if she belonged to it. Every
gesture, every word, and even the silence of those with whom she came in
contact, implied, and often expressed, that she was banished,” pg 77
6. Hester’s
clothing was made of rough materials and gloomy colors, where Pearl’s were made
beautifully to show off her liveliness. “Her own dress was of the coarsest
materials and the most sombre hue; with only that one ornament,—the scarlet
letter,—which it was her doom to wear. The child’s attire, on the other hand,
was distinguished by a fanciful, or, we might rather say, a fantastic
ingenuity, which served, indeed, to heighten the airy charm that early began to
develop itself in the little girl, but which appeared to have also a deeper
meaning.” Pg 76
7. Hawthorne
made the point that an individual has a hard time separating oneself from one’s
wrongdoing, and it’s like the wrongdoing has already burnt itself into the
person. Hester could never get rid of the scarlet letter, and she could never
get rid of the guilty feeling. “They averred, that the symbol was not mere
scarlet cloth, tinged in an earthly dye-pot, but was red-hot with infernal
fire, and could be seen glowing all alight, whenever Hester Prynne walked
abroad in the night-time.” Pg 81
8. Hawthorne’s
sympathies lie with Hester because he describes how terrible her life was, and
that she feels really bad about it all, and everyone treats her poorly. Her
life was in anguish, and he felt sorry for her. “Her imagination was somewhat
affected, and, had she been of a softer moral and intellectual fibre, would
have been still more so, by the strange and solitary anguish of her life.” Pg 79
Chapter 6
1. The irony
in Pearl’s existence is that she is such a beautiful and pure child, but she
came out of a despicable, immoral being—Hester. “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. How strange it seemed to the sad woman, as she
watched the growth, and the beauty that became every day more brilliant, and
the intelligence that threw its quivering sunshine over the tiny features of
this child!” pg 82
2. The
significance of Pearl’s name is that she is something beautiful that had come
at a great price. She cost her mother’s virtue, which was all she really had. “Her
Pearl!—For so had Hester called her; not as a name expressive of her aspect,
which had nothing of the calm, white, unimpassioned lustre that would be
indicated by the comparison. But she named the infant “Pearl,” as being of
great price,—purchased with all she had,—her mother’s only treasure!” pg 82
3. Pearl’s temperament
was significant because she had the temperament of her mother when she was
being conceived. She couldn’t follow rules, in the same way that she was born
because of broken rules. “The child could not be made amenable to rules. In
giving her existence, a great law had been broken; and the result was a being,
whose elements were perhaps beautiful and brilliant, but all in disorder; or
with an order peculiar to themselves, amidst which the point of variety and
arrangement was difficult or impossible to be discovered. Hester could only
account for the child’s character—and even then, most vaguely and
imperfectly—by recalling what she herself had been, during that momentous
period while Pearl was imbibing her soul from the spiritual world, and her
bodily frame from its material of earth.” page 83
4. Pearl’s
personality came with a touch of ambiguity to reflect the ambiguity of her background.
It was said that she had more than one personality and was ever changing, in a
similar way that the scarlet letter, A, could have more than one meaning, and
also reflecting the ambiguity about how she came upon living on this earth. “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.” Pg
83
5. Hester
explained to Pearl that her existence came from her heavenly father, and that
everyone, including her was sent from God. ““Thy Heavenly Father sent thee!”
answered Hester Prynne.” Pg 90
Chapter 7
1. The
townspeople were genuinely concerned about the souls of Hester and Pearl
because they really wanted both on their way to salvation. They thought that
giving Pearl to someone else would benefit both people, so that’s how they
wanted to help. “On the supposition that Pearl, as already hinted, was of demon
origin, these good people not unreasonably argued that a Christian interest in
the mother’s soul required them to remove such a stumbling-block from her path.
If the child, on the other hand, were really capable of moral and religious
growth, and possessed the elements of ultimate salvation, then, surely, it would
enjoy all the fairer prospect of these advantages by being transferred to wiser
and better guardianship than Hester Prynne’s. ” pg 92
2. The
governor’s garden was badly kept in comparison to the gardens in Old England.
It was decaying, and only cabbages, pumpkins, and a few rosebushes were growing
there. This implies that the English principles and ideals of the old world, can’t
be successfully transplanted to America. “But the proprietor appeared already
to have relinquished, as hopeless, the effort to perpetuate on this side of the
Atlantic, in a hard soil and amid the close struggle for subsistence, the
native English taste for ornamental gardening. Cabbages grew in plain sight;
and a pumpkin vine, rooted at some distance, had run across the intervening space,
and deposited one of its gigantic products directly beneath the hall-window; as
if to warn the Governor that this great lump of vegetable gold was as rich an
ornament as New England earth would offer him. There were a few rose-bushes,
however, and a number of apple-trees, probably the descendants of those planted
by the Reverend Mr. Blackstone, the first settler of the peninsula; that
half-mythological personage who rides through our early annals, seated on the
back of a bull.” Pg 98
3. Pearl is
wearing a red dress with cold stitching and is compared to the scarlet letter
on her mother’s dress. “Her mother, in contriving the child’s garb, had allowed
the gorgeous tendencies of her imagination their full play; arraying her in a
crimson velvet tunic, of a peculiar cut, abundantly embroidered with fantasies
and flourishes of gold thread. …But it was a remarkable attribute of this garb,
and, indeed, of the child’s whole appearance, that it irresistibly and
inevitably reminded the beholder of the token which Hester Prynne was doomed to
wear upon her bosom. It was the scarlet letter in another form; the scarlet
letter endowed with life!” pg 93
4. The other
place in the novel that a rosebush appeared was outside the prison in the
beginning of the story. “But, on one side of the portal, and rooted almost at
the threshold, was a wild rose-bush, covered, in this month of June, with its
delicate gems, which might be imagined to offer their fragrance and fragile
beauty to the prisoner as he went in, and to the condemned criminal as he came
forth to his doom, in token that the deep heart of Nature could pity and be
kind to him.” Pg 44
5. Then, the
rosebush symbolized hope. The Puritans in combination with Hester’s own wrongs
had made a big ugly mess out of her life, and the decrepit prison symbolized
that, but amidst all of this crappiness there was a beautiful rosebush which
showed that something beautiful could come from something ugly “…in token that
the deep heart of Nature could pity and be kind to him.” Pg 44
6. The
rosebush in this chapter is also in the middle of an ugly place. The garden it
is in is amidst a lot of dead plants, but this rosebush is beautiful and
prospering. It is similar to the one next to the prison in that way and also
shows that there is always something pure, like hope. Pearl is compared to the
rosebush when she meets Governor Bellingham, because she is the pure thing that
came from sin. “There were a few rose-bushes, however, and a number of
apple-trees, probably the descendants of those planted by the Reverend Mr.
Blackstone, the first settler of the peninsula” pg 98
Chapter 8
1. The
puritan attitude toward luxury is that it’s not necessary, but this is a
contradiction to the Governor because he was dressed really well, and showing
off his luxurious house which is the opposite of the puritan beliefs. “Governor Bellingham, in a loose gown and
easy cap,—such as elderly gentlemen loved to indue themselves with, in their
domestic privacy,—walked foremost, and appeared to be showing off his estate,
and expatiating on his projected improvements. The wide circumference of an
elaborate ruff, beneath his gray beard, in the antiquated fashion of King
James’s reign, caused his head to look not a little like that of John the
Baptist in a charger.” Pg 100
2. The
magistrates react to Pearl like she is a very interesting child. They compare
her to elves or fairies, and are shocked by the clothing she wears. They didn’t
yet know she was Hester’s child, so they just thought of her as an innocent
lost kid. ““Ay, indeed!” cried good old Mr. Wilson. “What little bird of
scarlet plumage may this be? Methinks I have seen just such figures, when the
sun has been shining through a richly painted window, and tracing out the
golden and crimson images across the floor. But that was in the old land.
Prithee, young one, who art thou, and what has ailed thy mother to bedizen thee
in this strange fashion? Art thou a Christian child,—ha? Dost know thy
catechism? Or art thou one of those naughty elfs or fairies, whom we thought to
have left behind us, with other relics of Papistry, in merry old England?”” pg
101
3. Hester
acts calmly towards the magistrates because she wants to be able to keep her
daughter. This only lasted in the beginning, because later on when they weren’t
really going in the direction of letting her keep Pearl, she turned manic and
crazy while pleading to keep her child. ““Nevertheless,” said the mother
calmly, though growing more pale, “this badge hath taught me,—it daily teaches
me,—it is teaching me at this moment,—lessons whereof my child may be the wiser
and better, albeit they can profit nothing to myself.”” Pg 102
4. Hester
feels that Dimmesdale should speak on her behalf because he was her pastor, and
he knows her heart better than the other men who are making the decision. “And
here, by a sudden impulse, she turned to the young clergyman, Mr. Dimmesdale,
at whom, up to this moment, she had seemed hardly so much as once to direct her
eyes.—“Speak thou for me!” cried she. “Thou wast my pastor, and hadst charge of
my soul, and knowest me better than these men can. I will not lose the child!
Speak for me! Thou knowest,—for thou hast sympathies which these men lack!—thou
knowest what is in my heart, and what are a mother’s rights, and how much the
stronger they are, when that mother has but her child and the scarlet letter!
Look thou to it! I will not lose the child! Look to it!”” pg 105
5. Hawthorne
had pearl perform such an uncharacteristically tender action to show that she
really appreciated what the young minister Dimmsdale did for her. “Pearl, that
wild and flighty little elf, stole softly towards him, and, taking his hand in
the grasp of both her own, laid her cheek against it; a caress so tender, and
withal so unobtrusive, that her mother, who was looking on, asked herself,—“Is
that my Pearl?”” pg 107
6.
Chillingworth noticed that Dimmsdale had such force and conviction in his
speech about letting Hester keep her baby. ““You speak, my friend, with a
strange earnestness,” said old Roger Chillingworth, smiling at him.” Pg 106
7. Dimmsdale
has changed sinc Hester’s public punishment because at that time, he scolded
her infront of everyone and said she was doing everything wrong, but now he is
saying that she is doing the right thing with her daughter. He also said that
God’s will goes along with Hester’s plan, which is the opposite of what he said
at the public punishment scene. “This child of its father’s guilt and its
mother’s shame hath come from the hand of God, to work in many ways upon her
heart, who pleads so earnestly, and with such bitterness of spirit, the right
to keep her.” Pg 105
8. Chillingworth
changed over the last few years by growing old and getting uglier. “Hester
Prynne looked at the man of skill, and even then, with her fate hanging in the
balance, was startled to perceive what a change had come over his features,—how
much uglier they were,—how his dark complexion seemed to have grown duskier,
and his figure more misshapen,—since the days when she had familiarly known
him.” Pg 104
9. Physiognomy
suggests that Chillingworth has become more malevolent and meaner because of
the state that his face is now in, and that since Dimmsdale is still young and
handsome looking, he is a generally kind person. “Hester Prynne looked at the
man of skill, and even then, with her fate hanging in the balance, was startled
to perceive what a change had come over his features,—how much uglier they
were,—how his dark complexion seemed to have grown duskier, and his figure more
misshapen,—since the days when she had familiarly known him.” Pg 104
10. The
author included Mistress Hibbins as a minor character because since she was
executed as a witch later on, it showed that there are hidden evils in Puritan
society, and that even the Governor’s life has evil in it. “As they descended
the steps, it is averred that the lattice of a chamber-window was thrown open,
and forth into the sunny day was thrust the face of Mistress Hibbins, Governor
Bellingham’s bitter-tempered sister, and the same who, a few years later, was
executed as a witch.” Page 108
Chapter 9
1. Chillingworth
doesn’t assert his rights as Hester’s husband because he didn’t want to be
associated with someone who had such a bad standing in society, so he pretended
to be someone else. “Under the appellation of Roger Chillingworth, the reader
will remember, was hidden another name, which its former wearer had resolved
should never more be spoken. ” pg 109
2. Dimmsdale’s
health is declining, and people have different opinions about the reason behind
this decline. The townspeople believe it is because he is very devoted to his
work and that is why he has been becoming weak, but he knows it is because his
sin is taking a toll on him physically as well as mentally. “About this period,
however, the health of Mr. Dimmesdale had evidently begun to fail. By those
best acquainted with his habits, the paleness of the young minister’s cheek was
accounted for by his too earnest devotion to study, his scrupulous fulfilment
of parochial duty, and, more than all, by the fasts and vigils of which he made
a frequent practices in order to keep the grossness of this earthly state from
clogging and obscuring his spiritual lamp.” Pg 110
3. Dimmsdale
rejected Chillingworth’s offer to help because he thought he didn’t need any,
but eventually accepted because the elders told him it would be like rejecting
God’s help. “These questions were solemnly propounded to Mr. Dimmesdale by the
elder ministers of Boston and the deacons of his church, who, to use their own
phrase, “dealt with him” on the sin of rejecting the aid which Providence so
manifestly held out. He listened in silence, and finally promised to confer
with the physician.” Pg 113
4. The title
of the Chapter is “The Leech” which has an ambiguity factor. The leech could
refer to the physical leeches used by doctors since this chapter was about
doctors, or it could refer to Chillingworth himself. He was being a leech
because he was sucking out every bit of information from Dimmesdale in order to
help him out, and later find his secret. “So Roger Chillingworth—the man of
skill, the kind and friendly physician—strove to go deep into his patient’s
bosom, delving among his principles, prying into his recollections, and probing
every thing with a cautious touch, like a treasure-seeker in a dark cavern. Few
secrets can escape an investigator, who has opportunity and license to
undertake such a quest, and skill to follow it up. A man burdened with a secret
should especially avoid the intimacy of his physician. ” page 115
5. Dimmsdale
was described as a very devoted priest, and generally a good man. The opposite
of him was Chillingworth who was described to know how to extract any secret
from a man. He used his tricky doctor ways to get inside a man’s head and get
him to admit anything, and used this deceptive trick on Dimmsdale. “A man
burdened with a secret should especially avoid the intimacy of his physician.
If the latter possess native sagacity, and a nameless something more,—let us
call it intuition; if he show no intrusive egotism, nor disagreeably prominent
characteristics of his own; if he have the power, which must be born with him,
to bring his mind into such affinity with his patient’s, that this last shall
unawares have spoken what he imagines himself only to have thought; if such
revelations be received without tumult, and acknowledged not so often by an
uttered sympathy, as by silence, an inarticulate breath, and here and there a
word, to indicate that all is understood; if, to these qualifications of a
confidant be joined the advantages afforded by his recognized character as a
physician;—then, at some inevitable moment, will the soul of the sufferer be
dissolved, and flow forth in a dark, but transparent stream, bringing all its
mysteries into the daylight.” Pg 115
6. Chillingworth’s
method for treating illness was by using natural herbs that he learned how to
use when he was captured. “In his Indian captivity, moreover, he had gained
much knowledge of the properties of native herbs and roots; nor did he conceal
from his patients, that these simple medicines, Nature’s boon to the untutored
savage, had quite as large a share of his own confidence as the European
pharmacopœia, which so many learned doctors had spent centuries in elaborating.”
Pg. 110
7. Dimmesdale
is now Chillingworth’s spiritual guide. They even started living together. “This
learned stranger was exemplary, as regarded at least the outward forms of a
religious life, and, early after his arrival, had chosen for his spiritual
guide the Reverend Mr. Dimmesdale. The young divine, whose scholar-like renown
still lived in Oxford, was considered by his more fervent admirers as little
less than a Heaven-ordained apostle, destined, should he live and labor for the
ordinary term of life, to do as great deeds for the now feeble New England
Church, as the early Fathers had achieved for the infancy of the Christian
faith.” Pg 111
8. The other
view about Chillingworth is that he was evil, and bad for Dimmesdale. They
believed that he was associated to a murder, and that he was not even close to
God-sent. “The people, in the case of which we speak, could justify its
prejudice against Roger Chillingworth by no fact or argument worthy of serious
refutation. There was an aged handicraftsman, it is true, who had been a
citizen of London at the period of Sir Thomas Overbury’s murder, now some
thirty years agone; he testified to having seen the physician, under some other
name, which the narrator of the story had now forgotten, in company with Doctor
Forman, the famous old conjurer, who was implicated in the affair of Overbury.
Two or three individuals hinted, that the man of skill, during his Indian
captivity, had enlarged his medical attainments by joining in the incantations
of the savage priests; who were universally acknowledged to be powerful
enchanters, often performing seemingly miraculous cures by their skill in the
black art.” Pg 118
9. The
people explained the gloom and terror in the depths of the poor minister’s eyes
to be because he was possessed. They thought he had been possessed because he’s
been with Chillingworth so much lately, and they thought Chillingworth had
learned some evil spells from the Indians who had captured him. “According to
the vulgar idea, the fire in his laboratory had been brought from the lower
regions, and was fed with infernal fuel; and so, as might be expected, his
visage was getting sooty with the smoke.” pg 118
10. The
characters’ names tell us a little bit about the character, in the same way
their physical appearance does. Hawthorne implies that Chillingworth is cold, (the
Chilling part of his name sounds like something is chilly or cold), which fits
his role as the antagonist. He also became uglier as the people started to
believe that he was evil. Dimmesdale is dim, (not very smart) because he is
indecisive, and he looks really weak and worn-down because his character is
weak, and not strong enough to own up to his own mistakes. “Now, there was
something ugly and evil in his face, which they had not previously noticed” pg
118
Chapter 10
1. Dimmesdale
acts suspicious in his conversation with Chillingworth about sin because he
takes the positions that the person who died without admitting his sin could
have had a reason that he couldn’t admit it, and kept defending that position.
““Perchance,” said Mr. Dimmesdale, “he earnestly desired it, but could not.””
Pg 122
2. The black
flowers/herbs initiated a discussion on hidden sins because Chillingworth
suggested that since he found them growing on a grave, the weeds could have
been growing there in the man’s remembrance. He said they grew out of the dead
person’s heart because he had a terrible secret that he had hidden all his
life, and taken to the grave. “Even in the grave-yard, here at hand,” answered
the physician, continuing his employment. “They are new to me. I found them growing
on a grave, which bore no tombstone, nor other memorial of the dead man, save
these ugly weeds that have taken upon themselves to keep him in remembrance.
They grew out of his heart, and typify, it may be, some hideous secret that was
buried with him, and which he had done better to confess during his lifetime.”
Pg 122
3.
Dimmsdale’s rationale for the confessing a hidden sin supports the doctrine of
salvation by works rather than salvation by faith because he is saying that
people should do things, particularly repent and confess their sins, in order
to be able to go to heaven. Having to do things to get God’s approval supports
the doctrine of salvation by works. “But, if they seek to glorify God, let them
not lift heavenward their unclean hands!” pg 123
4. Through
metaphors, Chillingworth is described as similar to a miner digging for gold or
a grave-digger digging for treasures. In both examples, he is someone digging
for something, but he is not likely to find anything. This reflects on
Chillingworth’s character. It shows that he is determined to find out
Dimmesdale’s secret and that he is becoming more obsessed with finding his
“gold”. “He now dug into the poor clergyman's heart, like a miner searching for
gold; or, rather, like a sexton delving into a grave,
possibly in
quest of a jewel that had been buried on the dead man's bosom, but likely to
find nothing save mortality and corruption.” Pg 120
5.
Chillingworth said, “A strange sympathy betwixt soul and body! Were it only for
the art’s sake, I must search this matter to the bottom!” (pg 128) By that he
meant that there was a strange bond between Dimmesdale’s soul and body that he
wanted to figure out. Even if it was only for fun, he now really wanted to get
to the bottom of this mystery.
6. While
Dimmesdale was sleeping, Chillingworth but his hand on his chest, and then pushed
aside the robe that covered his chest. This action represents Chillingworth’s
character because he investigated Dimmesdale while he was sleeping instead of
when he was awake and conscious of what was going on, which is tricky and
sneaky, like the type of person Chillingworth is. He reacted shocked and
joyfully after he saw what was on his chest. “But with what a wild look of
wonder, joy, and horror! With what a
ghastly
rapture, as it were, too mighty to be expressed only by the eye and features,
and therefore bursting forth through the whole ugliness of his figure, and
making itself even riotously manifest by the extravagant gestures with which he
threw up his arms towards the ceiling, and stamped his foot upon the floor!” pg
129
7. I suppose
Chillingworth found something that would connect Dimmesdale to Hester. Because
he was so joyful, and his mission was to find out who Pearl’s father was, I’m
assuming that this has something to do with his search.
Chapter 11
1. This
statement, “He became, thenceforth, not a spectator only, but a chief actor, in
the poor minister’s interior world.” Means that after Chillingworth found out
Dimmesdale’s secret, he could now influence his life. He could manipulate him
any way he wanted, making him feel guilty, without Dimmesdale knowing. He
wasn’t only observing Dimmesdale’s life, but influencing it now. pg 130
2.
Dimmesdale’s incredible success as a minister is ironic because he has been
hiding a terrible secret that goes against what he preaches, yet everyone
thinks he is a holy man. “They deemed the young clergyman a miracle of
holiness. They fancied him the mouth-piece of Heaven’s messages of wisdom, and
rebuke, and love. In their eyes, the very ground on which he trod was
sanctified.” Pg 133
3. Dimmesdale’s
public assertions of guilt are ironic because he told everyone who was
listening to him that he was a vile person and that he deserved to be punished,
but all it did was make the people revere him more. They praised him for what
he did with the intention of making them dislike him. “He had told his hearers
that he was altogether vile, a viler companion of the vilest, the worst of
sinners, an abomination, a thing of unimaginable iniquity; and that the only
wonder was, that they did not see his wretched body shrivelled up before their
eyes, by the burning wrath of the Almighty! Could there be plainer speech than
this? Would not the people start up in their seats, by a simultaneous impulse,
and tear him down out of the pulpit which he defiled? Not so, indeed! They
heard it all, and did but reverence him the more.” Pg 134
4. Reverend
Dimmesdale tortured himself in more than on way for his sin. He did this
mentally and physically. He was always thinking of himself as such a terrible
person, thinking things like how grass probably wouldn’t grow on his grave
because of how terrible a person he was. He also tortured himself by whipping
his own shoulders. He fasted until he was feeling week, and was constantly
dwelling on his sin. “In Mr. Dimmesdale’s secret closet, under lock and key,
there was a bloody scourge. Oftentimes, this Protestant and Puritan divine had
plied it on his own shoulders; laughing bitterly at himself the while, and
smiting so much the more pitilessly, because of that bitter laugh.” Pg 135
5.After comparing
Dimmesdale’s current struggle with his sin to Hester’s earlier treatment and
her sin, it is apparent that Hawthorne is trying to convey something about the
effects of sin. Hester was looked down upon and treated badly by everyone in
society. She did not feel sorry for herself about her treatment because deep
down she knew she deserved it. She was guilty, and kept thinking about the sin,
and knew she had done something wrong, therefore she deserved punishment.
Dimmesdale is the same way, he acknowledges his sin, and is extremely
introspective; always thinking about what he did wrong. He tortures and
punishes himself and dwells on his mistake. Hawthorne is trying to say that sin
is a terrible thing that once it’s done, it can’t be undone and it can destroy
a person. Sin also causes guilt that is hard to deal with, but it can also
change a person for the better. “The
only truth, that continued to give Mr. Dimmesdale a real existence on this
earth, was the anguish in his inmost soul, and the undissembled expression of
it in his aspect.” Pg 136
6. Puritan
society is supposed to be a perfect utopia. They have strict religious rules
and train everyone to do everything according to what God says, however, it’s
ironic that as soon as the town was being built, they made a prison for anyone
who disobeyed their rules. That by itself shows that the society is not
perfect. Also, the fact that the Governor’s sister is a witch, and the reverend
had an adulterous affair with a woman and had a child born out of wedlock,
shows that Puritan society is really messed up. They strived to be a perfect
community with perfect people, but that is not possible. Everyone sins and
messes up, and perfection in a person’s life is not possible. That is
Hawthorne’s developing theme.
Chapter 12
1. The
episode of Dimmesdale’s midnight vigil on the scaffold was significant because
that was the place where Hester had been publicly humiliated. He felt what she
felt when she was up there, minus the crowd of judgmental people. “Dimmesdale
was overcome with a great horror of mind, as if the universe were gazing at a
scarlet token on his naked breast, right over his heart. On that spot…there was
a poisonous tooth of bodily pain” pg 138
2. Pearl’s
challenge to Dimesdale to hold her and her mother’s hand tomorrow on the
scaffolding was significant because it further exposes him as a guilty man who
won’t take public responsibility for his actions. He told her he would never in
the public eye because he is a coward. ““Wilt thou stand here with mother and
me, to-morrow noontide?” inquired Pearl.” Pg 142
3. The
significance of the meteor event was that it happened while Dimmesdale was
refusing to stand on the platform with Hester and Pearl in the daylight at noon
the next day for everyone to see. The meteor light up the sky like as if it was
noon and shed the amount of light that would have been there in the day. It
represented coming out to the community and showing everyone his sin, which he
had just refused to do. “But, before Mr. Dimmesdale had done speaking, a light
gleamed far and wide over all the muffled sky. It was doubtless caused by one
of those meteors, which the night-watcher may so often observe burning out to
waste, in the vacant regions of the atmosphere. So powerful was its radiance,
that it thoroughly illuminated the dense medium of cloud betwixt the sky and
earth. The great vault brightened, like the dome of an immense lamp. It showed
the familiar scene of the street, with the distinctness of mid-day, but also
with the awfulness that is always imparted to familiar objects by an
unaccustomed light.” Pg 143
4. Hawthorne
chose the night Governor Winthrop died as the night Dimmesdale stands on the
scaffold with Hester and Pearl because he wanted to show that Puritan society
had faults once again. They had been reading signs of the sky for ages, trying
to figure out what they meant and represented, and this night, there was a big
A in the sky that was decided to have represented Angel because it was seen the
night Winthrop died. Dimmesdale believed that the letter was for him and represented
his sin, but if everyone sees the letter, is it really only for one person? It
could mean anything for anyone. “We impute it, therefore, solely to the disease
in his own eye and heart, that the minister, looking upward to the zenith,
beheld there the appearance of an immense letter,—the letter A,—marked out in
lines of dull red light.” Pg 145 ““And, since Satan saw fit to steal it, your
reverence must needs handle him without gloves, henceforward,” remarked the old
sexton, grimly smiling. “But did your reverence hear of the portent that was
seen last night? A great red letter in the sky,—the letter A,—which we
interpret to stand for Angel. For, as our good Governor Winthrop was made an
angel this past night, it was doubtless held fit that there should be some
notice thereof!”” pg 147
5.
Dimmesdale felt dread of public exposure, along with joy while holding Pearl’s
hand. He felt like there was electricity flowing from Hester to Pearl to him
through their linked hands. He felt this way because he was standing where he
belonged, on the platform, and with whom he belonged, and that was what he
needed to do. It was almost as if he was admitting his sin, and it was a
powerful moment. “With the new energy of the moment, all the dread of public
exposure, that had so long been the anguish of his life, had returned upon him;
and he was already trembling at the conjunction in which—with a strange joy,
nevertheless—he now found himself.” Pg 142
6. The first
time Pearl pulled away from Dimmesdale was when she asked him to stand on the
platform with her and her mother the next day and he refused, and the second
time when she actually succeeded in pulling away was when she withdrew her hand
to point at Chillingworth who was approaching them. “She withdrew her hand from
Mr. Dimmesdale’s, and pointed across the street. But he clasped both his hands
over his breast, and cast his eyes towards the zenith.” Pg 144
7. The
effect that the vigil had on Dimmesdale’s career is that it was making his
sermons stronger. This one had been so effective that it had saved many souls.
By dwelling on, and recognizing his sin, it had helped him see how wrong sin
was, which made his sermons stronger. “The next day, however, being the
Sabbath, he preached a discourse which was held to be the richest and most
powerful, and the most replete with heavenly influences, that had ever
proceeded from his lips. Souls, it is said, more souls than one, were brought
to the truth by the efficacy of that sermon, and vowed within themselves to
cherish a holy gratitude towards Mr. Dimmesdale throughout the long hereafter.”
Pg 147
Chapter 13
1. The
general public had a sense of respect for Hester now that it was a few years
later and she had served her punishment gracefully. “As is apt to be the case
when a person stands out in any prominence before the community, and, at the
same time, interferes neither with public nor individual interests and
convenience, a species of general regard had ultimately grown up in reference
to Hester Prynne.” Page 149
2. The general
public had forgiven her and started acting kind towards her, but the community
leaders had taken longer to forgive her. They had prejudices formed towards her
that were harder to get out of their heads, so they were taking longer to
forgive her. “The rulers, and the wise
and learned men of the community, were longer in acknowledging the influence of
Hester’s good qualities than the people. The prejudices which they shared in
common with the latter were fortified in themselves by an iron framework of reasoning,
that made it a far tougher labor to expel them. Day by day, nevertheless, their
sour and rigid wrinkles were relaxing into something which, in the due course
of years, might grow to be an expression of almost benevolence. Thus it was
with the men of rank, on whom their eminent position imposed the guardianship
of the public morals.” Pg 151
3. In this
chapter, Hawthorne described the social change of forgiveness. The common
people as well as the community leaders had forgiven or started the forgiveness
process towards Hester. As for philosophical changes, the people now believed
that Hester’s sin was a blessing in disguise, and that it had led to many good
deeds afterwards. “Day by day, nevertheless, their sour and rigid wrinkles were
relaxing into something which, in the due course of years, might grow to be an
expression of almost benevolence.” Pg 151 “They had begun to look upon the
scarlet letter as the token, not of that one sin, for which she had borne so
long and dreary a penance, but of her many good deeds since. Pg 151”
4. “It is
remarkable, that persons who speculate the most boldly often conform with the
most perfect quietude to the external regulations of society. The thought
suffices them, without investing itself in the flesh and blood of action.” Pg
153 This quote is basically saying that it is ironic that the world’s most bold
thinkers often end up being the really quiet people in society. In Hester’s
case, she always had bold thoughts and wasn’t afraid of them, but because of
Pearl, she held back from doing anything daring.
5. The
initial intent of the Scarlet letter was to stand for Adulterous. This was the
label that would describe Hester because of her actions. It was supposed to be
a punishment that made Hester remember what she had done wrong, but instead of
Hester dwelling on her sin, she had a positive outlook on life. She would give
money to the less fortunate, and sew them clothing to help them out. She was
very helpful in society, which had caused the meaning of the letter to change
from Adultury to Able. It described her new self better with that adjective. “Such
helpfulness was found in her,—so much power to do, and power to
sympathize,—that many people refused to interpret the scarlet A by its original
signification. They said that it meant Able; so strong was Hester Prynne, with
a woman’s strength.” Pg 150
6. Hester
resolved to help free Dimmesdale from the clutch or Roger Chillingworth. She no
longer felt that she was no match against the man, and knew that he was
destroying her lover, so she decided she was going to do something about it. “She
determined to redeem her error, so far as it might yet be possible.
Strengthened by years of hard and solemn trial, she felt herself no longer so
inadequate to cope with Roger Chillingworth as on that night, abased by sin,
and half-maddened by the ignominy that was still new, when they had talked
together in the prison-chamber.” Pg 155
7.
Hawthorne’s point in comparing Hester’s and Dimmesdale’s reactions to their sin
was to show how sin destroyed a person. Because Hester’s sin had been publicly
acknowledged and she had been punished for it, it was a sort of relief to her.
She was able to reflect on it and allow the experience to make her a better
person. Dimmesdale on the other hand was on the verge of going crazy, which
shows that if you don’t confess your sins, you will still suffer, but it will
be an internal suffering. “She saw that
he stood on the verge of lunacy, if he had not already stepped across it.” Pg
155
8. The image
of Chillingworth digging up roots and leaves in the forest represents evil and
the devil. The way his body had started decaying and his face had gotten uglier
and uglier reflects upon his ugly personality. Also, in puritan society, the
forest represented the devil, so the fact that he was in the forest collecting
roots, similar to the way a witch would, shows that he is in some way like a
devil. “One afternoon, walking with Pearl in a retired part of the peninsula,
she beheld the old physician, with a basket on one arm, and a staff in the
other hand, stooping along the ground, in quest of roots and herbs to concoct
his medicines withal.” Pg 156
Chapter 14
1.
Chillingworth is called a leech in the chapters where he interacts with
Dimmesdale because leeches are insects that live off of other people, and suck
blood from them which is a representation of how he treats Dimmesdale.
Chillingworth sucked out information from Dimmesdale and thrived off of his
guilt and self-hate. In the chapters where Chillingworth interacts with Hester,
he is called a physician because it shows the other side of him—he is helpful
when it comes to treating patient, but he also has a dark “leech” side.
2. Hester
responded to the announcement that the council debated allowing her to remove
her scarlet letter by saying that they can’t decide that it is time for the
letter to go. If she was worthy to get rid of it, then it would fall off by
itself. ““It lies not in the pleasure of the magistrates to take off this
badge,” calmly replied Hester. “Were I worthy to be quit of it, it would fall
away of its own nature, or be transformed into something that should speak a
different purport.”” Pg 158
3. Anti-transcendentalists,
as opposed to positive transcendentalists , believed that all humans were evil,
bitter, and sinful, and therefore, they can’t be forgiven. Humans are dark
creatures and don’t deserve forgiveness.
4. The
doctrine of predestination is reflected in the conversation between Hester and
Chillingworth because when Hester is asking Chillingworth to allow her to tell
Dimmesdale that Chillingworth was her husband, she tells him that he should
leave further punishment up to God. This is alluding to judgement day, and she
is saying that something is going to happen after death, and it is only for God
to decide. “Forgive, and leave his further retribution to the Power that claims
it!” pg 162
5. Chillingworth
believes that he has a double reason for punishing Dimmesdale because he wanted
revenge on the man who had committed adultery with his own wife, and he
believed that he deserved some sort of punishment like the scarlet letter
Hester had to wear, but since he never got that, he deserved more suffering. “For,
Hester, his spirit lacked the strength that could have borne up, as thine has,
beneath a burden like thy scarlet letter.” Pg 160
6. Hester
asked Chilligworth if he would allow her to break her previous promise with him
saying that she wouldn’t tell Dimmesdale who Chillingworth was. She told him
that the scarlet letter has taught her to be truthful, so she must tell him.
Chillingworth told her to do what she will. ““I must reveal the secret,”
answered Hester, firmly. “He must discern thee in thy true character. What may
be the result, I know not. But this long debt of confidence, due from me to
him, whose bane and ruin I have been, shall at length be paid. So far as
concerns the overthrow or preservation of his fair fame and his earthly state,
and perchance his life, he is in thy hands. Nor do I,—whom the scarlet letter
has disciplined to truth, though it be the truth of red-hot iron, entering into
the soul,—nor do I perceive such advantage in his living any longer a life of
ghastly emptiness, that I shall stoop to implore thy mercy.” Pg 161
7. Hester’s
plea to tell Dimmesdale who Chillingworth is aroused sympathy and admiration in
Chillingworth because she begged to be able to tell him the truth, which is one
thing she had learned from the scarlet letter. He realized that Hester was
becoming such a pure soul since the scarlet letter, and admired that of her. “Nor
do I,—whom the scarlet letter has disciplined to truth, though it be the truth
of red-hot iron, entering into the soul,—nor do I perceive such advantage in
his living any longer a life of ghastly emptiness, that I shall stoop to implore
thy mercy.” Pg 161
Chapter 15
1. Hester
came to realize that the worst sin she committed was allowing herself to marry
Chillingworth and hold his hand and let their smiles melt together. She
considered this worse than her sin with Dimmesdale because she didn’t love
Chillingworth and she had faked her emotions. “She marvelled how she could ever
have been wrought upon to marry him! She deemed it her crime most to be
repented of, that she had ever endured, and reciprocated, the lukewarm grasp of
his hand, and had suffered the smile of her lips and eyes to mingle and melt
into his own.” Pg 165
2. Hester
realized that her “repentance” wasn’t actually genuine, and even after her
seven years of suffering, she never really repented. “Had seven long years,
under the torture of the scarlet letter, inflicted so much of misery, and
wrought out no repentance?” pg 165
3. Hester
hates Chillingworth because he betrayed her, which she believes is worse than
what she had done to him. ““Yes, I hate him!” repeated Hester, more bitterly
than before. “He betrayed me! He has done me worse wrong than I did him!”” pg
165
4. Hester
refused to answer Pearl’s question about the meaning of the “A” because Pearl
has been compared to a living symbol of the A. Hester doesn’t want to
acknowledge that it’s true, and she doesn’t believe that Pearl would understand
the situation even if she did explain it to her. “In all the seven bygone
years, Hester Prynne had never before been false to the symbol on her bosom. It
may be that it was the talisman of a stern and severe, but yet a guardian
spirit, who now forsook her; as recognizing that, in spite of his strict watch
over her heart, some new evil had crept into it, or some old one had never been
expelled. As for little Pearl, the earnestness soon passed out of her face.” Pg
170
5. Pearl is
portrayed as such a wild child because she represents the scarlet letter and
Hester’s sin which was considered crazy in puritan society. She had broken a
big rule, which is represented in Pearl’s crazy personality. “One little gray
bird, with a white breast, Pearl was almost sure, had been hit by a pebble and
fluttered away with a broken wing. But then the elf-child sighed, and gave up
her sport; because it grieved her to have done harm to a little being that was
as wild as the sea-breeze, or as wild as Pearl herself.” Pg 166
6. Talking
to Chillingworth and Pearl has changed her attitude toward herself and her sin.
She realized how ashamed of her sin she was, so much that she was angered when
Pearl kept asking her to explain what the A meant, but also she realized how
much she hates Chillingworth and regrets marrying him more than her infidelity.
She is not even sure if she has genuinely repented of her sin because she
really loved Dimmesdale. “Had seven long years, under the torture of the
scarlet letter, inflicted so much of misery, and wrought out no repentance?” pg
165
Chapter 16
1. The significance
of the sunlight imagery is that sunlight represents goodness and purity, but
since Hester’s life is full of sin and evil, the light evades her. ““Mother,” said little Pearl, “the sunshine
does not love you. It runs away and hides itself, because it is afraid of
something on your bosom. Now, see! There it is, playing, a good way off. Stand
you here, and let me run and catch it. I am but a child. It will not flee from
me; for I wear nothing on my bosom yet!”” pg 172
2. Their
meeting had to take place in the forest because the darkness represented
Hester’s moral wilderness which means the way her morals had gone astray. They
couldn’t meet in the light because they were hiding a great sin, and the forest
represented sin. “This hemmed it in so narrowly, and stood so black and dense
on either side, and disclosed such imperfect glimpses of the sky above, that,
to Hester’s mind, it imaged not amiss the moral wilderness in which she had so
long been wandering.” Page 172
*3. I think
(I’m not really sure) that needing the whole world to breathe in while they
talked together meant that Hester and Dimmesdale couldn’t just talk anywhere,
but they needed to go somewhere out in the open of nature, somewhere there was
space to breathe, where they would be away from puritan society. “But, partly
that she dreaded the secret or undisguised interference of old Roger
Chillingworth, and partly that her conscious heart imputed suspicion where none
could have been felt, and partly that both the minister and she would need the whole
wide world to breathe in, while they talked together,—for all these reasons,
Hester never thought of meeting him in any narrower privacy than beneath the
open sky.” Pg 171
4. The
positive significance that the forest begins to take on is hope for Pearl. She
was able to stand in the sunlight, and almost absorb it according to Hester,
where Hester couldn’t even stick her hand into it before it went away. This
showed that although there was sin in Hester’s life, Pearl was still pure and
had a whole optimistic life ahead of her. “Pearl set forth, at a great pace,
and, as Hester smiled to perceive, did actually catch the sunshine, and stood
laughing in the midst of it, all brightened by its splendor, and scintillating
with the vivacity excited by rapid motion. The light lingered about the lonely
child, as if glad of such a playmate, until her mother had drawn almost nigh
enough to step into the magic circle too.” Pg 172
5. The
forest took on a negative significance when Hester attempted to reach out and
stick her hand into the light. Everywhere she went, the light avoided her, and
when she tried this it went away. It shows that her terrible sin had taken all
the light and joy out of her life, and she didn’t even deserve to stand in the
sunlight. “As she attempted to do so, the sunshine vanished.” Pg 172
6. Hester
acknowledged her sin to Pearl by telling her that “Once in my life I met the
Black Man!” and that “This scarlet letter is his mark!” pg 174
Chapter 17
1. Hawthorne
advances on his theme of revealed and secret sin by contrasting the two in this
chapter. Dimmesdale has had a hard time coping with his secret sin. He thinks
Hester is lucky that she has the scarlet letter on her chest because her sin
was revealed for everyone to see, so she doesn’t have a guilty conscience. His
on the other hand, is burning into his soul, and the hidden sin is destroying
him. “Happy are you, Hester, that wear the scarlet letter openly upon your
bosom! Mine burns in secret!” pg 180
2.
Dimmesdale makes a distinction between penance and penitence in this chapter.
He states that he has had enough penance, which is repentance and confession on
sin, but he hasn’t had any penitence, which is the actual feeling of sorrow for
one’s sin. He has confessed his sin, but he doesn’t feel bad for committing it.
“Of penance I have had enough! Of penitence there has been none!” pg 180
3. Hester
and Dimmesdale still love each other. This is significant to the developing
theme because it shows that even when people try to be “good” and repent for
their sins, no matter how much they want to feel remorse for their sins, if the
reason behind the sin is true love, there is no way to make a person feel bad.
It is also important to know that they are still in love because the two lovers
later plan on eloping to be a family together. “Such was the ruin to which she
had brought the man, once,—nay, why should we not speak it?—still so
passionately loved!” pg 182
4. I do not
believe that Hester was the reason for Dimmesdale’s suffering. He was the one
who chose to keep his affair a secret from everyone, but as for the secret
about her real husband, Hester did cause Dimmesdale some suffering—that part
was her fault. “Why did I not understand? O Hester Prynne, thou little, little
knowest all the horror of this thing! And the shame!—the indelicacy!—the
horrible ugliness of this exposure of a sick and guilty heart to the very eye
that would gloat over it! Woman, woman, thou art accountable for this! I cannot
forgive thee!” pg 183
5. The theme
about nature of sin that begins to emerge is that everyone sins. It might feel
as though you are the only sinner, and there is no other sin as bad as yours,
but if you look around, you will find others with worse sin like Chillingworth.
“There is one worse than even the polluted priest! That old man’s revenge has
been blacker than my sin. He has violated, in cold blood, the sanctity of a
human heart. Thou and I, Hester, never did so!” pg 183
6. A
polluted soul can do good for others. This book demonstrates that because Reverend
Dimmesdale is a polluted soul, but because of his pollution he had started
delivering moving sermons that were known to change people’s lives. Even though
his life wasn’t perfect, he still helped others out. “What can a ruined soul,
like mine, effect towards the redemption of other souls?—or a polluted soul,
towards their purification?” pg 180
7. Hester
mentions heartless people with laws of iron, and she is referring to the
puritans in the community. They are heartless because they don’t care about people
as much as they should have, because they are too focused on their important
laws that must be followed. “And what hast thou to do with all these iron men,
and their opinions? They have kept thy better part in bondage too long already!”
pg 186
8. The
chapter ends on an optimistic note because Hester told Dimmesdale that the best
thing to do would to be moving out from living with Chillingworth, and she told
he he wouldn’t have to go alone, which implies that she would be running away
with him. This gave him hope for a better life. ““Thou shalt not go alone!”
answered she, in a deep whisper.” Pg 187
