Novel Insights Guide To

The Scarlet Letter

by Nathaniel Hawthorne


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TABLE OF CONTENTS


Author Biography ..................................... 1
Chapter 01 - 03 ..................................... 3
Chapter 04 - 06 ................................... 12
Chapter 07 - 08 ................................... 20
Chapter 09 - 11 ................................... 27
Chapter 12 ................................... 34
Chapter 13 - 14 ................................... 38
Chapter 15 - 16 ................................... 45
Chapter 17 - 19 ................................... 52
Chapter 20 - 24 ................................... 60
Test Questions ................................... 70
Vocabulary Tests .................................. 111
Vocabulary Crossword Puzzle .................................. 117
Selected Bibliography .................................. 158


Chapters 01 - 03

Chapter one simply describes the somber scene of the prison in early 18th century Boston. There is a crowd gathered about this dark and sinister doorway, giving an air of anticipation. Just as Hawthorne is about to leave the scene, he lingers on a solitary rosebush, symbolic of love and hope in this otherwise hopeless panorama. As the matrons of the city stand around gossiping, remonstrating with each other over the leniency of a sentence given and received, the subject of their conjecture is quickly apparent. The prison door opens, and a beautiful young woman exits, with a three month old baby in her arms, and a fantastic scarlet A embroidered on the bust of her dress. The baby has obviously not previously been exposed to the light of day, and blinks at the unaccustomed light. The woman is led to the pillory, where she stands with her child. The woman, Hester Prynne, has committed adultery, and it has been decided that, rather than giving her the usual death penalty, she will be made to stand for three hours on the scaffold, and afterward will be required to wear the scarlet letter for the rest of her life. As she stands on the scaffold, Hester thinks about her childhood, removing herself mentally and insulating herself from the insults and judgmental attitudes of her neighbors. She displays an air of almost haughty defiance, refusing to crumble under their scrutiny. However, as she surveys the crowd, she suddenly spies a figure on the edge of the crowd, a small, hump-shouldered man who is accompanied by an Indian, and she is obviously disturbed. Their eyes meet, and he raises his finger to his lips, indicating that she should remain silent. The man asks someone in the crowd what is happening, and is told the story - how Hester was sent ahead to Boston by her husband, who has not been heard from in two years. It is believed that her husband has been lost at sea. Because Hester is a beautiful young woman, her sin is considered inevitable, and she has been given a lighter than usual sentence. However, she has not revealed the father of the child. The stranger states that this irks him, and states, "But he will be known! He will be known! He will be known!" Sitting with the governor of the colony is Rev. John Wilson, an elder clergyman of the colony. He speaks to Hester and tries to persuade her to reveal the father's name. Next he appeals to Arthur Dimmesdale, Hester's pastor, to try and convince her that revealing the father's name and repenting will allow her to remove the scarlet letter. She still refuses. Dimmesdale, a young man with a constant nervous tremor, finds her strength and resolve to be "wondrous." By this time her three hours has ended, the child is screaming, and Hester is led back into the darkness of the prison interior.


Suggested Activities - Chapters 01 - 03

  1. Draw a picture of the prison, showing the building, the scaffold and the rosebush.
  2. Conduct research into the history of the period. Hawthorne uses the death of Gov. Winthrop, which occurred in 1649, as an event which happens when Pearl is seven. Therefore, the story takes place from 1642-1649. What did Boston look like during those years? How large was it? How did people make their living? How did the laws of the Puritans in Massachusetts differ from those of the rest of the colonies?
  3. Have a discussion about some of the sins represented in the first couple of chapters. Hester had to wear a Scarlet A to represent her "besetting sin" what about some of the other characters that have been introduced, like the women gossiping ? What letter should they be wearing?
  4. Having a child out of wedlock no longer carries the stigma it did at the time of this story. Single parenthood is still not an easy position, especially for young teens. Have students collect formula, diapers, etc. to donate to a shelter for teen moms.

Review Questions - Chapters 01 - 03

  1. What is the symbol that Hawthorne uses for love and hope?
  2. What three institutions does Hawthorne say are necessary due to human nature? Use Rom. 10:13-14; Rom. 5:12; Rom. 6:23; and Rom. 1:28-32 to show why this is true.
  3. What is the tone of the story? How does Hawthorne set the tone?
  4. Which character is considered to be a witch and will be hanged in the future because of that identification?
  5. The protagonist of the story, who is brought out of the prison door to stand on the scaffold, is named what? How old is her child?
  6. What is the normal punishment for adultery at that time? What is the punishment Hester has received? What has Hester done to embellish the letter? What does this say about her character?
  7. Describe Hester's physical appearance.
  8. What representative of the civil government is present as she stands on the scaffold?
  9. How does Hester endure her time on the scaffold?
  10. As she looks over the people gathered, what does she see?
  11. What response does the man have when he sees that she has recognized him?
  12. How long has Hester lived in Boston? Where has her husband been?
  13. Why has she not been given the usual penalty for adultery?
  14. How long does she have to stand on the scaffold?
  15. Who is the elder clergyman who speaks to her?
  16. Who is Rev. Dimmesdale?
  17. Compare and contrast the two clergymen.
  18. How is Hester told she could save her soul?
  19. Does this meet with what the Bible says about salvation? Give Scripture to support your answer.
  20. What is Hester's response? According to Rev. Dimmesdale, what admirable trait is shown by her response?
  21. What is the attitude Hester adopts in order to protect herself from the shame she is forced to endure?
  22. The setting for The Scarlet Letter is in what New England city? What is the century?
  23. Imagery is the use of words which appeal to our senses. Find an example of imagery in the first three chapters.
  24. A simile is a type of figurative language in which a comparison is made between two objects using like or as. Find an example of a simile.
  25. A metaphor is a type of figurative language in which a comparison is made between two objects without using like or as. Find an example of a metaphor.

Review Question Answers - Chapters 01 - 03

  1. The rose
  2. The church, cemetery and prison. Rom. 10:13-14 says, "whoever calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. How then shall they call upon Him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in Him whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher?" This indicates the necessity for a church to preach the Gospel to those who need to know about salvation. Rom. 5:12 says, "Therefore, just as through one man sin entered into the world, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men, because all sinned - " Rom. 6:23 says, "The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life." These verses indicate the need for a cemetery. Rom. 1:28-32 says, "And just as they did not see fit to acknowledge God any longer, God gave them over to a depraved mind, to do those things which are not proper, being filled with all unrighteousness, wickedness, greed, evil; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, malice, they are gossips, slanderers, haters of God, insolent, arrogant, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, without understanding, untrustworthy, unloving, unmerciful, and, although they know the ordinance of God, that those who practice such things are worthy of death, they not only do the same, but also give hearty approval to those who practice them." This would indicate the need for prisons.
  3. The tone of the story is sad and gloomy. Hawthorne accomplishes this through the use of the dark, gloomy setting: the old, dark, weather-stained jail, the old church, the "bettle-browed, gloomy front" of the church, which was the cemetery.
  4. Mistress Hibbins, the governor's sister, was considered to be a witch.
  5. The protagonist is Hester Prynne, and her daughter is three months old.
  6. The normal punishment for adultery is death, but Hester has to wear a scarlet A for the rest of her life. Hester has embellished the letter with a flourish of gold thread, indicating that she is an individualist, and is not willing to submit to the ruling of the magistrates without making some personal protest.
  7. Hester was very tall, with an elegant figure, thick, dark, glossy hair that gleams in the sunshine; a beautiful complexion, dark brow and dark eyes. She is very graceful and dignified.
  8. Governor Bellingham
  9. Hester brings up memories from her childhood, rather than dwell on the people who are gawking at her from the audience gathered around the scaffold.
  10. She sees an old man, on the edge of the crowd, standing with an Indian. The man is dressed in a rather strange manner and is a stranger in town. One of his shoulders is higher than the other, and his description corresponds to one of her memories from her past.
  11. He lays his finger on his lips, indicating that she should remain silent, not giving away her recognition of him.
  12. Hester has been in Boston for two years. Her husband had sent her on ahead of him, while he stayed in Europe to settle his business matters. It is believed that he has drowned on the passage from Europe.
  13. Because Hester is young and exceptionally beautiful, it is believed that she cannot be held entirely responsible for her fall into temptation.
  14. three hours.
  15. John Wilson
  16. Rev. Dimmesdale is Hester Prynne's pastor
  17. Both Rev. Dimmesdale and Wilson are scholarly and intellectual, men who are held in high esteem by their communities as godly leaders. Rev. Wilson is the eldest clergyman in the colony, described as having "gizzled locks" and a kindly manner, although he has spent more time developing his studious side than his pastoral, kindly side. When he deals with Hester, he defers to Rev. Dimmesdale, nevertheless chastising him for being "oversoft." Rev. Dimmesdale is very young, unsure of himself, uncomfortable with the public attention and perpetually displaying a frightened, anxious demeanor.
  18. Rev. Wilson tells her to repent and reveal the name of the baby's father.
  19. This view of salvation does not correspond with the biblical view of salvation as a free gift of God. The salvation offered to Hester is a salvation of works. Rom. 6:23 says, "the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life." Eph. 2:8-9 says, "For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the give of God; not as a result of works that no one should boast." This is exactly the opposite of what was offered to Hester.
  20. Hester refuses to reveal the father's name: "I will not speak," she says that her child will have to know a heavenly Father, because "she shall never know an earthly one!" Rev. Dimmesdale feels she should be admired for her strength and generosity.
  21. Hester adopts an attitude of indifference, verging on haughtiness.
  22. The Scarlet Letter is set in Boston, MS in the 17th century (1642-1649).
  23. Examples of imagery: "A throng of bearded men, in sad-colored garments and gray, steepled-crowned hats;" "heavily timbered with oak and studded with iron spikes;" "beetle-browed and gloomy front;" "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."
  24. Examples of similes: "like a black shadow emerging into the sunshine;" "as if her heart had been flung into the street for them all to spurn and trample upon;" "like a mass of imperfectly shaped and spectral images;" "like a tuft of green moss on a crumbling wall;" "like a man chiefly accustomed to look inward;" "like a snake gliding swiftly over them;" "like the darkly engraved portraits which we see prefixed to old volumes of sermons;" "as of a being who felt himself quite astray and at a loss in the pathway of human existence;" "pale as death."
  25. Examples of metaphors: "the black flower of civilized society;" "the naughty baggage;" "the image of Divine Maternity;" "that sacred image of sinless motherhood;" "the entire track along which she had been treading since her happy infancy;" "The Daniel who shall expound it is yet a-wanting;" "She will be a living sermon against sin."