-Scarlet
---Letter
-----Question
-------Answers
---------Can Be found at
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The Scarlet Letter
Study Guide
I “The Prison Door”
1.What two necessities, according to Hawthorne, must the founders of a new colony provide immediately?
2.Under whose footsteps was the rose-bush outside the prison supposed to have sprung up?
3.What is the meaning of the rose-bush growing out of the prison-door?
4.What parallels do you think Hawthorne could be making between Ann Hutchinson and Hester Prynne? (Keep in mind the idea of the prison, too.)
5.Hawthorne presents the flower to the reader as a symbol of….
6.What mood is Hawthorne setting for the novel?
7.To what themes do the two symbolic landmarks point? (the prison and the cemetery)
II. “The Market-Place”
8.What kind of spectacle have the townspeople of Boston gathered to witness?
9.What is the result of the Puritans’ fusion of “religion and law?” How does the fusion affect their views of the sinner and of the crimes?
10.How are the Puritan wives/women similar to early English citizens?
How are they different from present day women (according to Hawthorne)?
11.How do the women view Hester’s punishment?
NOTE: Hawthorne’s ancestor, a Major William Hathorne, saw to the whipping of one Hester Craford for fornication in 1688. Whipping was often administered for the crime of adultery.
12.What does the town-beadle represent?
13.What can be made of Hester’s action of repelling the town-beadle’s hand on her shoulder?
14.What is notable about the scarlet letter? What is its effect on the people?
15.What special point of view does Hester have from her position on the scaffold? Is there a special significance to
Hester’s viewing the crowd from the scaffold?
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16.How has Hester’s life changed forever?
17.How does the scarlet letter symbolize this change?
III.“The Recognition”
18.The stranger who appears at the outskirts of the crowd while Hester stands on the scaffold is slightly deformed. In what way?
19.What explanation does the stranger make to the townsman he speaks with that accounts for his combination of
“civilized and savage costume”?
20.The townsman tells the stranger that the judges have been lenient with Hester because of her youth and because she is probably a widow. What was the severest punishment for adultery in Massachusetts Colony?
21.Rev. Dimmesdale recognizes that Hester has a generous spirit because she
___________________________________________________________________________
22.The reader recognizes the character of Chillingworth to be (name a trait).
_________________________________________________________________________
With what animal is Chillingworth associated?
23.The reader recognizes the character of Dimmesdale to be (name a trait)
_______________________________________________________________________________With what is Dimmesdale associated?
24.How long does Hester have to stand on the scaffold? How long does she have to wear the scarlet letter?
IV. “The Interview”
25.Where is Roger Chillingworth, the stranger of Chapter III, to stay while the authorities work out his ransom with the Indians?
26.What two kinds of experience equip Chillingworth to be a physician?
27.Describe Chillingworth in the scene in which he visits Hester in jail.
28.Why does Hester at first resist Chillingworth’s attempt to give the baby medicine?
29.What promise does Chillingworth exact from Hester?
V.“Hester at Her Needle”
30.What does the sunshine’s purpose seem to be to Hester as she emerges from the prison?
31.What living symbol does she realize she has become for other women?
32.What reasons does Hawthorne give for Hester’s remaining in Boston, where she is an outcast?
 
33.Hawthorne mentions three main occasions for which the people of Boston made use of Hester’s sewing skill.
What are they?
33.What is the one occasion for which Hester is never asked to make clothing? Why?
34.List words that show that Hester’s needle-work is more than mere sewing or a house-hold chore. Name at least three whose connotations show Hester to be more than merely earning a living in her “work.”
35.Why do you suppose Hester’s handiwork became the fashion?
36.What does Hester do with any spare money that she might have?
37.What is Hawthorne’s explanation as to why she makes simple garments for the poor when she might have expressed her love of beauty in more elaborate needle work?
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38.How was she treated by the people of the village?
39.With what “new sense” does Hester imagine the scarlet letter has enveloped her?
40.Turn back to the end of Chapter II. R.C. is described as having a “sight penetrating power, when it was their owner’s purpose to read the human heart.” A. D. is described in the next chapter as having a “sweet, rich, deep’ voice which causes the listeners to feel that it “vibrates within all hearts, and [brings] the listeners into one accord of sympathy.”
41.With all of this in mind, what is the significance of describing Hester’s scarlet letter as giving a “sympathetic throb” for others? What parallel can you see or what emerging theme?
VI. “Pearl”
42.Pearl is said to have “sprung by the inscrutable decree of Providence, a lovely and immortal flower, out of the rank luxuriance of a guilty passion.”
Find comparisons between this statement and the opening paragraphs of the novel in which the rose- bush, the prison, the prison-door, and Ann Hutchinson are discussed.
43.What two Biblical allusions in the first two paragraphs illuminate the reason Hester chose the name “Pearl” and the reason for the nature of the child’s innocence?
44.How does the name “Pearl” show Hester’s conflicting feelings about her daughter?
45.What does Hester see as lacking in Pearl’s nature?
 
46.How does Hester account for the aspects of Pearl’s character that trouble her?
47.What does Pearl first notice as a baby?
48.How does Hawthorne characterize the disciplining of children in the early days of Boston Colony?
49.Cite some examples of the grim games played by the Puritan children.
50.Does Hawthorne think Hester’s crime is unforgivable by God? How does that view contrast with the Puritans’ view?
VII. “The Governor’s Hall”
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51.What two contrasting reasons did the church members put forth that would ensure Hester’s losing custody of
Pearl?
52.Hawthorne says that the suit of armor hanging in Gov. Bellingham’s hall was not meant for “mere idle show.”
What does he mean by that?
53.Why does Hester visit Governor Bellingham’s mansion?
54.What is meant by the idea that Hester had carefully created “an analogy between the object of her affection and the emblem of her guilt and torture?” (The section that describes how Hester dresses Pearl.)
55.What does Pearl do to the little persecuting Puritans?
56.After reading about Pearl’s battle with the little Puritans, can you see a connection to the visit to the Big Puritans and the armor in the Governor’s house? (Yes is not enough here.)
57.The armor in the mansion represents the Puritans’ past and heritage. Hester is there to do battle with them over Pearl. What does the enlarged letter reflected in the armor that obscures Hester suggest about the way the Puritans see Hester or in the way we should see them? What does Pearl say that summarizes what the Puritans might see?
58.Twist – What do you make of the scarlet letter being on their breastplates?
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VIII. “The Elf-Child and the Minister”
59.What answer does Pearl give when asked who made her?
60.How is Pearl’s answer ironic?
61.Hester is startled at the change in Chillingworth’s appearance since she last saw him. How has he changed?
62.What reason does Hester give for her need to keep Pearl?
63.What character trait does Hester point out that A. Dimmesdale possesses which the other Puritan leaders do not?
64.Who supports Hester in her pleas to keep Pearl and by what argument?
65.What do you make of the fact that the “hollow armour rang” with the “sweet, tremulous, but powerful” tones of A.D.’s voice? (Think about the previous chapter with the armour and what it might represent.)
66.How does Pearl behave toward Dimmesdale in the Governor’s mansion?
67.The scene takes place in and out of a window with characters alternately behind a curtain and half in shadow and/or sunlight. What point or theme do you think is being made?
68.What does Roger Chillingworth suggest they discover by studying Pearl’s character?
69.What dramatic purpose do you think Mistress Hibbons serves at the close of the chapter?
 (Pretend this is a leech)
IX. “The Leech”
70.What two meanings does the word “leach” have?
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How are they both appropriate for Roger Chillingworth?
71.Why didn’t R.C. claim Hester as his wife when he first arrived in Salem?
72.Why, according to Hawthorne, was it that few physicians came to the colonies? (Why didn’t they “partake of the religious zeal” that the other Puritans felt?)
73.What is the principal occupation of the only surgeon in Boston Colony?
74.How does R.C. become A.D.’s personal physician?
75.How does the Biblical allusion (of the story on the tapestry) to David, Bathsheba, and Nathan parallel or apply to A.D., Hester, and R.C.?
76.How has R.C. changed since Hester first knew him?
77.What does R.C. suggest as the cause of A.D.’s suffering?
78.“When an uninstructed multitude attempts to see with its eyes, it is exceedingly apt to be deceived. When, however, it forms its judgment, as it usually does, on the intuitions of its great and warm heart, the conclusions thus attained are often so profound and so unerring, as to possess, the character of truths supernaturally revealed.”
What does the “heart” of the village see about R.C. and A.D.’s relationship?
What does this quote tell us about N. Hawthorne’s belief in the community’s judgment? How does
Hawthorne, according to the quote, represent the Romantics?
X.“The Leech and His Patient”
79.Whose suggestion is it that Chillingworth and Dimmesdale lodge in the same house?
80.What exactly has caused R.C. to change from the “pure and upright man” he used to be to the devilish creature he is now? (How does he lose his soul?)
81.Why isn’t A.D. capable of seeing R.C.’s true character?
82.Where did R.C. find the weeds (herbs) he was using for medicine? How does he use that idea to try to get A.D. to confess?
83.What reason does A.D. give for not confessing (in his hypothetical discussion with R.C.)?
84.What significance is there in Pearl’s dancing on an old Puritan’s grave?
85.How does Pearl’s behavior in the cemetery express a link between A.D. and Hester?
86.What significance is there in Pearl’s statement that the “Black Man” has “got hold of the minister already?”
87.What is A.D.’s reaction when R.C. suggests that his physical ailment is caused by a spiritual problem?
88.What do you suppose R.C. sees on A.D.’s chest?
89.How does R.C. act afterward? What does that tell you about R.C. and his soul?
90.Is R.C. a victim of anything or is he choosing his evil path? Is A.D. a victim or is he choosing?
 
XI.
“The Interior of a Heart”
(Okay, I know this heart doesn’t fit, but it was funny.)
91.How do the minister’s guilty feelings make him a better minister?
92.How does that parallel Hester’s experience?
93.How is he able to sympathize more with his parishioners than the other pastors with theirs?
94.What effect does public veneration (look it up) have upon the Reverend Dimmesdale?
95.What is ironic about his public confessions from the pulpit?
96.How does he seek penitence? (look it up)
97.Describe clearly why Hawthorne has named these characters “Dimmesdale” and “Chillingworth?”
XII. “The Minister’s Vigil”
98.Where have Hester and Pearl been before they arrive at the scaffold on their way home?
99.What is A.D.’s purpose in standing on the scaffold?
100.Complete the chart below about the characters that appear at Dimmesdale’s scaffold scene. Each represents certain ideas and institutions. Some answers are done for you.
Social Institution________Comparative idea/symbol Governor Bellingham_______________________________________________________________
Mistress Hibbons___________________________________________________________________
Reverend Wilson___________________________________________________________________
Roger Chillingworth________________________________________________________________
101.Why does Hawthorne choose to represent these institutions at the scene?
102.Why does A.D. suddenly feel new life when he and Hester and Pearl hold hands?
 
103.What question does Pearl ask? What is A.D.’s answer?
Note: The question is asked and answered twice – a possible parallel with Peter’s denial of Christ.
104.Chillingworth’s face is lit up by the “meteor” streak. What can be seen about him that he has been able to hide before?
105.A.D. sees a red “A” in the sky. How does he interpret its meaning?
106.Hawthorne suggests a meaning for it in connection with Roger Chillingworth. What is it?
107. How do the people of Boston interpret its meaning?
108.What is the significance of A.D.’s glove being found on the scaffold?
XIII. “Another View of Hester”
109.What effect does the midnight vigil have on Hester?
110. How much time has passed since Hester first stood with the infant Pearl on the scaffold?
111.What is the link that binds Hester to Dimmesdale?
112.What has Hester’s “A” come to mean to many of the townspeople?
113.Describe the changes in Hester’s appearance and temperament wrought by the scarlet token.
114.In what way has the ”A” freed Hester?
115.How has Hester come to view womanhood?
XIV. “Hester and the Physician”
116.What change in Chillingworth’s appearance does Hester notice when she stops to speak to him?
117.What do the townspeople now wish to do in regards to the scarlet letter? 118.What is Hester’s surprising reply?
119.Hester and Chillingworth each pity the other. For what does he pity her and for what does she pity him?
 
120.At the beginning of the chapter, Pearl sees herself as she looks at her reflection in the pools of water. The incident foreshadows what introspective realization in the adults? What other reflection might it parallel near the beginning of the story?
121.What does that parallel (Pearl’s activities and the adults’) suggest about the effect of the scarlet letter on the lives surrounding it? (Think about Pearl being the living scarlet letter, and about how the novel focuses on changes within the characters.)
120. . When Hester asks if Dimmesdale has suffered enough, Chillingworth replies, “He has but
___________________ ____ _____________________” showing that Chillingworth’s lust for vengeance is insatiable.
(Look it up.)
121.Hester pleads with Chillingworth to forgive Dimmesdale and herself thus freeing Chillingworth to be human.
What is R.C.’s response to her pleas?
122.Do you agree with his assessment that fate, not choice, controls our lives? Why or why not?
Do you think Hawthorne agrees? Why or why not?
Does Chillingworth try to persuade Hester not to reveal his identity to Dimmesdale? Why?
123.. Does Hawthorne’s sympathetic portrayal of Chillingworth in any way make you sympathize with R.C.? Why do you think Hawthorne goes to the trouble of making R.C. a little more human and less vilified?
XV. “Hester and Pearl”
124.What does Hester discover after her interview with Chillingworth?
125.How does Hester respond when Pearl makes an “A” for herself of eel-grass?
126.What can we surmise about Pearl’s statement that Hester wears the scarlet letter for the for the same reason that the minister keeps his hand over his heart?
127.When asked what the “A” truly means, what does Hester say?
128.Why do you think she lies about it for the first time in seven years?
XVI. “A Forest Walk”
129.Why does Hester wish to meet A.D. in the outdoors in order to tell him about Chillingworth? Why doesn’t she want to meet him in his study?
130.What does Pearl say is the reason the sunshine seems to run from Hester?
131.What story does Pearl want Hester to tell?
132.Who is the Black Man?
133.When asked whether she has met the Black Man and received his mark, Hester tells Pearl that she has and that the ___________________ _______________________ is his mark.
134.What human characteristics are ascribed to the brook?
135.Whose arrival does the sadness of the brook foreshadow?
136.How does Pearl resemble the brook? How does she differ?
137.Why is Dimmesdale associated with the Black Man?
138.Where does Pearl declare that the Black man has written his mark on Dimmesdale?
XVII. “The Pastor and His Parishoner”
139.Until they touch, A.D. and H. P. seem to be in a strange, dim world. What exactly is happening to them, to their realizations, to their consciousness?
140.Why does A.D. think that the good which he does for people is a delusion?
141.What difference does A.D. make between penance and penitence? Why is it important?
142.How does A.D. react to the revelation that Chillingworth is her husband and his enemy?
143.Who, according to A.D., is the worst sinner in the world and why?
144.Why does Hester think that Chillingworth won’t reveal A.D.’s secret to the world?
145.What does Hester suggest they should do to get away from Chillingworth and the Puritans?
146.What does A.D. ask her to do and how does she respond?
147.How are the positions of pastor and parishioner reversed in this chapter?
Could there be any other explanation for the chapter’s title?
 
XVIII. “A Flood of Sunshine”
148.How has the scarlet letter set Hester free?
149.How is Dimmesdale’s experience different from Hester’s as far as societal laws are concerned?
Why is Hester better prepared to make the decision to go away than Dimmesdale is?
150.What reasons does A.D. have for leaving Salem with Hester and starting a new life? (Look at the paragraph beginning “Thus, we seem to see […]”
151.What does he call Hester after he decides to go, then feels joy again?
152.By casting off societal laws and institutions, Hester and Arthur have begun to feel joy. Hester claims that “the past is gone” and, by throwing away the scarlet letter, they will “make it as it had never been.” Do you think they will be able to do that? Why or why not?
153.When Hester throws away the letter and removes her cap, what changes doe Hawthorne describe as taking place in her physical appearance?
154.What is Nature’s response to A.D. and H.P’s reawakened love?
Explain how this makes Hawthorne a Romantic writer. (Remember that list of characteristics for Classicism and Romanticism? Look for the answer there!)
155. Why has the forest “treated” Pearl kindly while Hester and Arthur talked? Why do the wild animals play” with her?
XIX. “The Child at the Brookside” (Okay, I couldn’t find a child by a brook, so I got one on a book. What symbolic meaning can you get from it?)
155.How does Pearl act when she sees her mother without the “A”?
 
156.What boundary does the brook represent which they cannot cross?
157.When Pearl demands that Hester put the scarlet letter on her dress again, does she pick it up and take it to her mother? How do you account for Pearl’s actions?
158.When Hester has replaced the scarlet letter, Pearl kisses her. Immediately thereafter, Pearl does something that causes Hester to say, “That was not kind!” To what action is Hester referring?
159.What do you think all of these actions symbolize?
XX. “The Minister in a Maze”
160.Where have Hester and Dimmesdale decided to go when they leave Boston?
Why do they choose to go to Europe rather than remain in the New World?
161. How does it happen that Hester is acquainted with the captain of the ship now in the harbor?
162.Why does Dimmesdale consider it fortunate that the ship is not to sail for four days?
163.How is Dimmesdale affected by his interview with Hester?
164.What connection can you find between Dimmesdale’s wild behavior and Young Goodman Brown?
165.When Mistress Hibbins offers to introduce Dimmesdale to “yonder potentate you wot of,” to whom is she referring?
166.How does Dimmesdale treat Chillingworth when they meet?
XXI. “The New England Holiday”
167.What have the crowds of people gathered in the market-place to witness?
168.Of what ceremony in England was the Election day pageantry a pale imitation?
169.What piece of unwelcome news does the master of the ship on which she, Pearl, and Dimmesdale are to sail have for her? Why does that fact imply about their plans for the future?
 
XXII. “The Procession”
170.What is particularly noticeable about Dimmesdale’s manner as he walks in the procession? 171.What does Mistress Hibbins say about A.D.’s change?
172.Where does Hester stand during the procession and during Dimmesdale’s sermon in the church? Why is this important?
A
XXIII. “The Revelation of the Scarlet Letter”
Dimmesdale’s
173.How does Dimmesdale appear as he leaves the church after his triumphant sermon?
174.What does R.C. do when he sees A.D.’s transformation?
175.How does Pearl react when Dimmesdale calls Hester and herself to mount the scaffold with him?
176.Where, according to Chillingworth, is the one place where Dimmesdale could have successfully escaped him?
177.How does A.D. finally escape R.C.? (What does he do or say?)
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XXIV. “Conclusion”
178.What were some of the conjectures made by parishioners as to the origin of the minister’s scarlet letter?
179.What explanation for the events of Election Day is made by the minister’s friends to make him seem blameless?
180.What becomes of R.C. after A.D.’s death?
181.What becomes of Hester and Pearl?
182. Why would Hester choose to live where she has chosen to live, according to Hawthorne?