The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne

Photo of Old State House, 1870, from the Bostonian Society

What were the two purposes of Hawthorne’s essay “The Custom-

House”?• Depict his enemies as idiots• Be the prologue for The Scarlet Letter

The Scarlet Letter is America’s first…

• True psychological novel

Describe Hester Prynne.

• Beautiful• Loving• Loyal to love• True to herself

Describe Roger Chillingworth.

• Hester’s husband• Sends her ahead to the New World• Motivated by revenge• Using a fake name

Describe Arthur Dimmesdale.

• Hester’s lover• Loving• Guilt-ridden• Eventually finds courage to stand up for

love

Describe Pearl.

• Hester & Dimmesdale’s daughter• Name shows her as symbol of

overcoming adversity

What is Hester’s crime?

• adultery

What is Hester’s punishment (three parts)?

• Jail time• Stand on scaffold for a day• Wear scarlet (red) “A” on chest for ever

Who advocated mercy for Hester?

• Dimmesdale

Why hasn’t Hester seen her husband in a long time?

• Two years ago, he sent her alone to the new world

Explain the symbol of the rosebush outside the prison.

• The beautiful rosebush outside the ugly prison, a place of pain, symbolizes Hester who is a bit of goodness and beauty in this bleak Puritan society.

How do people treat Hester after her release from prison?

• They won’t talk to her• They still buy her beautiful

embroidered items.

Photo by Aimee Ray

What does Chillingworth want?

• To find out the name of Hester’s lover• To get revenge on Hester’s lover

What do Hester and Dimmesdale plan to do? How does Chillingworth

try to ruin their plans?

• They are going to take a boat to England.• Chillingworth books passage on the same

boat.

What is Dimmesdale’s triumph?

• He delivers the greatest sermon of his life

• He reveals that he was Hester’s lover• He shows his self-injury to the crowd

What happens to Chillingworth after the big revelation?

• He dies within the year

How does Hester redeem herself and change the symbolism of the

scarlet “A” she has worn?• She nurses the sick and helps the needy• She is always accepting of everyone• The “A” comes to be a symbol of mercy

Explain the difference between sins of passion and sins of

principle.• A sin of passion comes from strong

feelings, like love• A sin of principle is a coldly calculated

violation of someone else’s soul

What is a “romance” and how is it different from a novel?

• A romance is a prose narrative that deals with its subjects and characters in a symbolic, imaginative and non-realistic way

• A novel is realistic; a romance is not