The Scarlet Letter - Chapters 1-6

Chapter 3: The Recognition What gesture does the man make to Hester that suggests he knows her?

Shushing gesture (finger to lips)

Chapter 5: Hester at Her Needle What is Hester's profession?

Needlework

Chapter 3: The Recognition Who asks Hester to confess the name of her fellow adulterer after some coaxing from John Wilson and the Governor?

Dimmesdale

Chapter 2: The Market Place What is Hester's punishment? What crime did she commit?

She has to wear a scarlet letter "A" on her clothes because she committed adultery.

Chapter 6: Pearl How did Pearl fit into society and how did she react to other Puritan children?

She knew that she was an outcast and showed a great deal of aggression to the Puritan children. If other children approached her, she would shriek and throw stones at them.

Chapter 6: Pearl What do the townspeople think of Pearl?

She might be the child of a demon.

Chapter 3: The Recognition Does Hester reveal her fellow sinner?

No, and she is led back to prison.

Chapter 1: The Prison-Door Describe the prison.

-The prison is in the vicinity of Cornhill, which is a burial ground on Isaac Johnson's land -The prison is darkened by water stains, has a rusted door, the grassy area out front is overgrown with weeds, and there is a rosebush on one side of the door

Chapter 5: Hester at Her Needle Give examples of how Hester was cast out in Puritan society.

1. She tried to help the sick and the poor, but even in their desperate need, they often mocked her or refused her help 2. If she was seen, ministers would often stop what they were doing to give speeches about her. When she would go to church, she often would become the subject of the sermon. 3. Children were taught to target her and people constantly would stare at her scarlet letter.

Chapter 2: The Market Place How old is Hester's child?

3 months old

Chapter 1: The Prison-Door According to the narrator, what are the two things founders of a new colony always seem to build first?

A cemetery and a prison

Chapter 3: The Recognition Describe the man who is standing with the Indian at the edge of the crowd.

A man dressed in a mix of English and Indian attire who has deformed shoulders and a wise face.

Chapter 4: The Interview What does the mysterious doctor offer Hester? How does Hester react?

A potion for her child, Pearl. Hester refuses to administer the medicine, so the doctor does it himself. The doctor offers Hester some medicine, but she doesn't trust him and thinks that he is trying to kill her. She eventually drinks it anyway.

Chapter 2: The Market Place Summarize this chapter.

As the crowd watches, Hester Prynne, a young woman holding an infant, emerges from the prison door and makes her way to a scaffold (a raised platform), where she is to be publicly condemned. The women in the crowd make disparaging comments about Hester; they particularly criticize her for the ornateness of the embroidered badge on her chest—a letter "A" stitched in gold and scarlet. From the women's conversation and Hester's reminiscences as she walks through the crowd, we can deduce that she has committed adultery and has borne an illegitimate child, and that the "A" on her dress stands for "Adulterer." The beadle calls Hester forth. Children taunt her and adults stare. Scenes from Hester's earlier life flash through her mind: she sees her parents standing before their home in rural England, then she sees a "misshapen" scholar, much older than herself, whom she married and followed to continental Europe. But now the present floods in upon her, and she inadvertently squeezes the infant in her arms, causing it to cry out. She regards her current fate with disbelief.

Chapter 6: Pearl Why wasn't Pearl allowed to play with the baptized children?

Because of the sinful way in which she was conceived

Chapter 1: The Prison-Door Summarize this chapter.

Dreary men and women stand outside, looking at a heavy prison door that was studded iron spikes. Although the scene is gloomy, the narrator draws the reader's attention to a wild rosebush that is said to have sprung up under the footsteps of Anne Hutchinson when she was imprisoned.

Chapter 2: The Market Place What are magistrates?

Elected officials

Chapter 5: Hester at Her Needle Hester was free to return to ______, but...

Europe, but she chose to stay in Boston

Chapter 2: The Market Place Who is Mistress Hibbins?

Governor Bellingham's sister who is later hung for being a witch

Chapter 4: The Interview What does Roger ask of Hester?

He asks who the father of Hester's child is, but she does not tell him. He then asks that Hester keep the secret from the public that he used to be her husband. He tells her to tell everyone that her husband is dead. Roger simply doesn't want to experience the dishonor that comes to the husband of a disloyal wife as well as (potentially) other undisclosed reasons. Hester agrees to his request.

Chapter 4: The Interview What does Roger say he is going to do to the man that committed adultery with Hester?

He is going to find him, but he is not going to hurt this man's reputation. He says that Hester's promise to keep his identity a secret won't cost Hester her soul, but it may cost someone else their's. This implies that Roger plans to psychologically torture the man who produced Hester's child to fulfill his desire for revenge.

Chapter 3: The Recognition Why does the mysterious man say he is in Boston?

He is in Boston because the Native Americans brought him there to ransom him from captivity.

Chapter 2: The Market Place What is the beadle's job?

He represents Puritan laws and his job is to deliver the punishments they required.

Chapter 4: The Interview Why does Chillingworth say that he was foolish?

He says he was foolish for believing that a woman as beautiful as Hester was capable of loving and being loyal to a scholarly misshapen man like him.

Chapter 3: The Recognition The man asks a towns-person about Hester. What does this person tell the man?

He says that Hester was the wife of a learned Englishman who lived for a long time in Amsterdam. Hester's husband sent her ahead of him to Massachusetts while he stayed behind for 2 years and handled his business. Hester committed adultery and conceived a child within those two years. However, no one knows the identity of Hester's child because she won't reveal it to anyone. For her crimes, the magistrates sentenced her to stand on the platform of the pillory for three hours and wear a scarlet letter "A" on her bosom for the rest of her life.

Chapter 2: The Market Place As Hester reminisces, what does she think of?

Her family, her scholarly husband that she left behind in Europe, and the continental city.

Chapter 2: The Market Place What in particular angers the women when they look at Hester? Why?

Her scarlet badge because it is ornate. If she is to be shamed and have to wear a letter that represents shame for the rest of her life, it shouldn't be beautiful and look nice on her clothes.

Chapter 6: Pearl What was the first thing Pearl noticed about her mother as an infant?

Her scarlet letter

Chapter 4: The Interview Summarize this chapter.

Hester and her husband come face to face for the first time when he is called to her prison cell to provide medical assistance. Chillingworth has promised the jailer that he can make Hester more "amenable to just authority," and he now offers her a cup of medicine. Hester knows his true identity—his gaze makes her shudder—and she initially refuses to drink his potion. She thinks that Chillingworth might be poisoning her, but he assures her that he wants her to live so that he can have his revenge. In the candid conversation that follows, he chastises himself for thinking that he, a misshapen bookworm, could keep a beautiful wife like Hester happy. He urges her to reveal the identity of her lover, telling her that he will surely detect signs of sympathy that will lead him to the guilty party. When she refuses to tell her secret, he makes her promise that she will not reveal to anyone his own identity either. His demoniacal grin and obvious delight at her current tribulations lead Hester to burst out the speculation that he may be the "Black Man"—the Devil in disguise—come to lure her into a pact and damn her soul. Chillingworth replies that it is not the well-being of her soul that his presence jeopardizes, implying that he plans to seek out her unknown lover. He clearly has revenge on his mind.

Chapter 6: Pearl Summarize this chapter.

Hester's one consolation is her daughter, Pearl, who is described in great detail in this chapter. A beautiful flower growing out of sinful soil, Pearl is so named because she was "purchased with all [Hester] had—her mother's only treasure!" Because "in giving her existence a great law had been broken," Pearl's very being seems to be inherently at odds with the strict rules of Puritan society. Pearl has inherited all of Hester's moodiness, passion, and defiance, and she constantly makes mischief. Hester loves but worries about her child. When the narrator describes Pearl as an "outcast," he understates: Pearl is an "imp of evil, emblem and product of sin, she had no right among christened infants." Pearl herself is aware of her difference from others, and when Hester tries to teach her about God, Pearl says, "I have no Heavenly Father!" Because Pearl is her mother's constant companion, she, too, is subject to the cruelties of the townspeople. The other children are particularly cruel because they can sense that something is not quite right about Hester and her child. Knowing that she is alone in this world, Pearl creates casts of characters in her imagination to keep her company. Pearl is fascinated by the scarlet letter and at times seems to intentionally torture her mother by playing with it. Once, when Pearl is pelting the letter with wildflowers, Hester exclaims in frustration, "Child, what art thou?" Pearl turns the question back on her mother, insisting that Hester tell her of her origins. Surprised at the impudence of a child so young (Pearl is about three at the time), Hester wonders if Pearl might not be the demon-child that many of the townspeople believe her to be.

Chapter 6: Pearl Pearl did not need friends because she created skits with her _______.

Imagination

Chapter 3: The Recognition Summarize this chapter.

In the crowd that surrounds the scaffold, Hester suddenly spots her husband, who sent her to America but never fulfilled his promise to follow her. Though he is dressed in a strange combination of traditional European clothing and Native American dress, she is struck by his wise countenance and recognizes his slightly deformed shoulders. Hester's husband (whom we will learn, in the next chapters, is now calling himself Roger Chillingworth) gestures to Hester that she should not reveal his identity. He then turns to a stranger in the crowd and asks about Hester's crime and punishment, explaining that he has been held captive by Native Americans and has just arrived in Boston. The stranger tells him that Hester is the wife of a learned Englishman and had been living with him in Amsterdam when he decided to emigrate to America. The learned man sent Hester to America first and remained behind to settle his affairs, but he never joined Hester in Boston. Chillingworth remarks that Hester's husband must have been foolish to think he could keep a young wife happy, and he asks the stranger about the identity of the baby's father. The stranger tells him that Hester refuses to reveal her fellow sinner. As punishment, she has been sentenced to three hours on the scaffold and a lifetime of wearing the scarlet letter on her chest. The narrator then introduces us to the town fathers who sit in judgment of Hester: Governor Bellingham, Reverend Wilson, and Reverend Dimmesdale. Dimmesdale, a young minister who is renowned for his eloquence, religious fervor, and theological expertise, is delegated to demand that Hester reveal the name of her child's father. He tells her that she should not protect the man's identity out of pity or tenderness, but when she staunchly refuses he does not press her further. Hester says that her child will seek a heavenly father and will never know an earthly one. Reverend Wilson then steps in and delivers a condemnatory sermon on sin, frequently referring to Hester's scarlet letter, which seems to the crowd to glow and burn. Hester bears the sermon patiently, hushing Pearl when she begins to scream. At the conclusion of the sermon, Hester is led back into the prison.

Chapter 4: The Interview What is the name of Hester's jailer? Who does the jailer call to handle Hester?

Master Brackett, Roger Chillingworth

Chapter 1: The Prison-Door What does the rosebush symbolize?

Moral blossom, hope, redemption, beauty/bright spot in a dark situation (Pearl for Hester) The rose is often seen as a symbol of Hester's passion which is a sin (the thorns) even though it results in something of value (the rose) in Pearl.

Chapter 2: The Market Place Who was Hester's pastor?

Reverend Master Dimmesdale

Chapter 4: The Interview What relation does the doctor have to Hester?

Roger was her husband.

Chapter 2: The Market Place What is a scaffold? What is a pillory?

Scaffold = Site of public humiliation (on it stood the pillory) Pillory = A device that held the person steady, exhibiting him or her to the public gaze

Chapter 6: Pearl Why did Hester name her child Pearl?

She cost Hester so much, nearly everything.

Chapter 2: The Market Place What does Hester wish the people staring at her would do?

She feels uncomfortable as the solemn, serious crowd gazes upon her. She wishes that they would just laugh and make fun of her so that she could return a bitter, disdainful smile. Solemnity to her was far worse than being made fun of.

Chapter 4: The Interview Did Hester really love Roger?

She says that she did not and never pretended to feel love for him.

Chapter 5: Hester at Her Needle Give two reasons why Hester stayed in the colony.

She wants her earthly punishment there and her true love, Dimmesdale, is there

Chapter 1: The Prison-Door Who is Anne Hutchinson?

She was exiled from Massachusetts and fled to Rhode Island because she disagreed with the Puritan Church. She became a symbol of the struggle for religious freedom.

Chapter 6: Pearl Why was Hester concerned about a bad trait emerging in Pearl?

She was worried that a bad trait would emerge in Pearl due to the evil way in which she was conceived.

Chapter 1: The Prison-Door What is the setting of The Scarlet Letter?

The Scarlet Letter takes place in the mid 17th century in a Puritan community of Boston, known back then as the Massachusetts Bay Colony.

Chapter 5: Hester at Her Needle Where is Hester arranged to live? Who arranges this?

The magistrates give her a license to settle in a small, lonesome cottage by the shore on the outskirts of town.

Chapter 5: Hester at Her Needle Summarize this chapter.

The narrator covers the events of several years. After a few months, Hester is released from prison. Although she is free to leave Boston, she chooses not to do so. She settles in an abandoned cabin on a patch of infertile land at the edge of town. Hester remains alienated from everyone, including the town fathers, respected women, beggars, children, and even strangers. She serves as a walking example of a fallen woman, a cautionary tale for everyone to see. Although she is an outcast, Hester remains able to support herself due to her uncommon talent in needlework. Her taste for the beautiful infuses her embroidery, rendering her work fit to be worn by the governor despite its shameful source. Although the ornate detail of her artistry defies Puritan codes of fashion, it is in demand for burial shrouds, christening gowns, and officials' robes. In fact, through her work, Hester touches all the major events of life except for marriage—it is deemed inappropriate for chaste brides to wear the product of Hester Prynne's hands. Despite her success, Hester feels lonely and is constantly aware of her alienation. As shame burns inside of her, she searches for companionship or sympathy, but to no avail. She devotes part of her time to charity work, but even this is more punishment than solace: those she helps frequently insult her, and making garments for the poor out of rough cloth insults her aesthetic sense.

Chapter 2: The Market Place Where is Hester being shamed?

The scaffold

Chapter 5: Hester at Her Needle What story did the townspeople make up about Hester's scarlet letter?

The scarlet letter was supposedly hot with hellfire, so it glowed when Hester walked at midnight.

Chapter 3: The Recognition What is attached to the meeting house? Who was there?

There is a balcony attached to the meeting house that hung over Hester's platform. On the balcony sat Governor Bellingham with four sergeants. John Wilson and Arthur Dimmesdale are also in the balcony.

Chapter 2: The Market Place How long does the beadle force Hester to show her letter in public?

Until 1 o'clock

Chapter 5: Hester at Her Needle Hester made garments for many occasions except for...

Weddings because people refused to wear a sinner's clothes on such a holy day of spiritual unity

Chapter 6: Pearl Describe the scene where Pearl throws wildflowers at her mother.

When Pearl had grown big enough to run around, she collected wildflowers and threw them at Hester's scarlet letter. Hester then questions the child's identity and asks who sent her (she thought the child was demonic), but Pearl says she is Hester's child but doesn't know who sent her. Hester says that her heavenly Father sent her, but Pearl does not agree and asks Hester who her father is.