Scarlet Letter Study Guide

Dimmesdale

"A good evening to you, venerable Father Wilson! Come up hither, I pray you, and pass a pleasant hour with me!"

Mistress Hobbins

"Hist, hist! Wilt thou go with us tonight? There will be a merry company in the forest; and I well-nigh promised the Black Man that comely Hester Prynne should make one."

Chillingworth

"I am stranger, and have been a wanderer, sorely against my will. I have met with grievous mishaps by sea and land, and have been long held in bonds among the heathen folk, to the southward."

Dimmesdale

"I charge thee to speak out the name of thy fellow-sinner and thy fellow-sufferer!"

Pearl

"I have no Heavenly Father!"

Chillingworth

"I pray you, good Sir. Who is this woman? - and wherefore is she here set up to public shame."

Mistress Hobbins

"I shall have thee there anon"

Governor Bellingham

"It is because of the stain which that letter indicates, that we would transfer thy child to other hands"

Reverend John Wilson

"Knowing your natural temper better than I, he could the better judge what arguments to use, whether of tenderness or terror, such as might prevail over your hardness and obstinacy."

Hester Prynne

"She is my happiness! She is my torture nonetheless."

Hester Prynne

"Speak thou for me! Thou wast my pastor, and hadst changed my soul, knowest me better than these men can."

Reverend John Wilson

"Speak to the woman, my brother. Exhort her to confess the truth!"

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 here, and let me run and catch it."

Pearl

Hester Prynne's illegitimate daughter with the Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale. A naughty, temperamental child, who nevertheless is quite beautiful.

Chillingworth

Hester Prynne's husband from Europe. A learned man of many skills who poses as a physician to get close to Arthur Dimmesdale . He is ugly, and his shoulder is slightly deformed.

Reverend John Wilson

A pastor in the Boston area; an old man who respects and is respected by Arthur Dimmesdale.

Dimmesdale

A well-respected and learned pastor in Boston. Hester Prynne's pastor and the father of her illegitimate child. A sickly man, he constantly appears as if he is in pain. He is pale and thin, and speaks in a tremulous voice.

Pathos

Appeal to emotion

Hester takes more of a mental struggle while Dimmesdale takes on more of a physical struggle. Hester is shunned while Dimmesdale tortures himself and he eventually becomes very sick due to that. Hester ends up eventually being loved by the townspeople and Dimmesdale starts to get better after Hester and him decide to run away together.

Compare and contrast the struggles for redemption that Hester and Dimmesdale endure throughout the course of The Scarlet Letter.

If Chillingworth had told everyone he was Hester's husband, Hester would be sentenced to death and he wanted revenge more than the truth

Describe Chillingworth's revenge. Why does he choose to torture Dimmesdale and Hester when he could simply reveal he is Hester's husband. What does this imply about justice? About evil?

1. Hester is being shunned 2. Dimmesdale, Hester, and Pearl have a family moment 3. Dimmesdale dies

Explain the significance of the three scaffold scenes in The Scarlet Letter. Describe what happens at each of them, and why the events are so important to the novel.

Mistress Hobbins

Governor Bellingham's widowed sister, who is executed as a witch during the Salem Witch trials during the time span of the book. A notorious and colorful character.

Bellingham

The Governor of Massachusetts during this period, and a well-respected leader of the community.

1. "I charge thee to speak out the name of thy fellow sufferer" (Dimmesdale saying this to Hester while he is the father) 2. The name Pearl (precious name, but acts like devil) 3. "I shall not interfere with Heaven's own method of retribution" (Chillingworth saying this to Hester even though he seeks revenge on Dimmesdale)

The Scarlet Letter is a novel filled with irony. In your essay, identify and analyze three ironies present in the novel. Be specific.

Master Brackett

The jailer and town officer who announces Hester's appearance from the prison, and who pushes Hester out the door of the jail when she first emerges.

Hester

The main character in the book. A young married woman from Europe who has come to Boston without her husband. She is beautiful - black hair, black eyes, and shining skin. She has an illegitimate child, Pearl, with Arthur Dimmesdale.

The Scarlet letter ("A") The Meteor Pearl

What are some major symbols in The Scarlet Letter?

1. Hester and Pearl are being shunned because of what Hester had done (committed adultery) 2. Dimmesdale, Hester, and Pearl are at the scaffold in the middle of the night because Dimmesdale feels guilty (meteor passes and represents family moment) 3. Dimmesdale dies on the scaffold after his Election day sermon

What are the three scaffold scenes and what do they represent?

Transcendentalist, more of a dark romanticist

What did Nathaniel Hawthorne consider himself?

At first, Hester wears the A because she committed adultery, towards the end, the townspeople changed the meaning to "Able"

What is the meaning of the Scarlet Letter ("A")

New England (Boston, Massachusetts) 1642-1649

Where does The Scarlet Letter take place in?

Sophia Hawthorne, transcendentalist

Who did Nathaniel Hawthorne marry? What did she consider herself?

Nathaniel Hawthorne, 1850

Who is the author of The Scarlet Letter? When was this book published?

Colloquy

a conversation; a gathering for discussion of theological questions

Deity

a god or goddess

Scaffold

a raised wooden platform used formerly for the public execution of criminals

Pillory

a wooden device with holes for head and hands, in which an offender was imprisoned and exposed to public abuse

Emaciated

abnormally thin or weak, because of illness

Imperious

commanding, domineering

Acrid

deeply or violently bitter

Sedulous

diligent in application or pursuit

Enmity

established hatred

Gesticulation

expressions through (hand) gestures

Ominous

foreboding, threatening; threaten evil or harm

Cabalistic

having a secret or hidden meaning

Malevolent

having or showing a wish to do evil to others

Inextricable

incapable of being disentangled, undone

Semblance

outward and often phony appearance or show

Leech

physician; one who clings to what they can

Demerits

punishments for wrongdoing

Ignominy

shameful or disgraceful action, conduct, or character

Eldritch

suggesting the operation of supernatural influences

Zenith

the highest point or state; the point in the sky directly above the observer

Scintillating

to be brilliant or keen, as in talent

Quaff

to drink a beverage, especially an intoxicating one, copiously and with hearty enjoyment

Usurp

to seize or hold a position by force or without a legal right

Uncongenial

unfriendly