Study Guide The Scarlet Letter Chapters What point is the author making when he emphasizes the antiquity of the prison?

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1 Study Guide The Scarlet Letter Chapters 1 5 Chapter 1 The Prison Door 1. What point is the author making when he emphasizes the antiquity of the prison? 2. When Hawthorne calls the prison door the black flower of civilized society what does he mean? 3. What is the mood established in Chapter 1? Chapter 2 The Market Place 1. Do the women in the crowd agree or disagree with the severity of Hester s punishment? Explain you answer. 2. Explain the line saying that Hester decided one token of her shame would but poorly serve to hide another. 3. How does Hester act as she stands upon the platform compared to how she feels? Explain both actions and feelings. 4. What does she remember from her past as she stands there? (multiple things and be specific) Chapter 3 The Recognition 1. What about the man on the outskirts of the crowd which attracts Hester s attention? Koen Page 1 10/18/16

2 2. Does the man seem to recognize Hester? Explain. 3. Does Dimmesdale make a sincere effort to convince Hester to confess? Explain you answer. Chapter 4 The Interview 1. Whom does Chillingworth blame for Hester s sin and against whom does he plan to seek revenge? 2. What things does Chillingworth say he will not do to the father of Hester s child? 3. Who is the Black Man of which Hester speaks? Chapter 5 Hester at Her Needle 1. What kind of symbol does Hester believe she will become in the community as time passes? 2. How and why does Hester s usual clothing contrast with that of her child? 3. Why does Hester not pray for her enemies and what does this imply about her true feelings toward them? Koen Page 2 10/18/16

3 Study Guide The Scarlet Letter Chapters 6 8 Chapter 6 Pearl 1. Explain the significance of the name Pearl? 2. Why does the author emphasize the difference between what man does to Hester as a result of her sin and what God does? 3. Briefly give Pearl s outstanding qualities. What are her most obvious characteristics? 4. What possible explanation can Hester think of for Pearl s changeable and moody personality? Why is Hester fearful the child will not turn out well? 5. How does Hester handle the discipline? 6. Briefly describe the way Pearl entertains herself since she does not play with the other children. Koen Page 3 10/18/16

4 Chapter 7 The Governor s Hall 1. Give the two reasons Hester goes to the Governor s mansion. 2. Briefly describe the clothes Pearl wears on the day she and her mother go to see the governor. Why do you suppose Hester dresses her so? 3. How does Pearl react to the children who threaten to throw mud at her and Hester? Why doesn t Hester try to make Pearl stop this kind of behavior? 4. Why is the governor s house somewhat unsuitable for a Puritan? What does this seem to indicate about Puritans? 5. Why does Hester take Pearl out into the garden? Chapter 8 The Elf-Child and the Minister 1. What reason does the Governor give for removing Pearl from Hester s care? 2. What does Hester say she can teach the child? 3. Why does Reverend Wilson question Pearl? What answer does she give which greatly shocks the men? 4. How has Chillingworth changed physically? What does that signify about his character? 5. To whom does Hester turn for help in giving reasons why she should be allowed to keep Pearl? What four reasons does he give. Which one is the strongest and why? Koen Page 4 10/18/16

5 Study Guide The Scarlet Letter Chapters 9 11 Chapter 9 The Leech 1. Most people attribute Dimmesdale s declining health to what? 2. What is Dimmesdale in the habit of doing when anything happens to disturb him? 3. Why do people believe Providence is responsible for the arrival of Chillingworth? 4. As time passes, a part of the community begins to disapprove of Chillingworth. Why? Chapter 10 The Leech and His Patient 1. What was Chillingworth like before he discovered Hester s unfaithfulness? Why does the author bring up his former character? 2. Does Dimmesdale suspect Chillingworth is not as well-meaning as he seems? Explain your answer. 3. What do Chillingworth and Dimmesdale disagree? Give the arguments on both sides. Be thorough in your answer. 4. What is Chillingworth s diagnosis of the minister s illness? How does the minister react when the physician tells him about the illness? Koen Page 5 10/18/16

6 5. What does Chillingworth feel he has found out about Dimmesdale when the minister runs out of the room? 6. What does Chillingworth do while Dimmesdale is asleep? Chapter 11 The Interior of a Heart 1. What change occurs in the way Chillingworth treats Dimmesdale? 2. What kind of confession does he make in the pulpit? How do the people react? How does he feel about the confession? 3. What things does Dimmesdale do in an effort to purify his inner self? Does he succeed? Koen Page 6 10/18/16

7 Study Guide The Scarlet Letter Chapters Chapter 12 The Minister s Vigil 1. Give a brief summary of the major events at the beginning of chapter 12 leading up to Hester and Pearl on the scaffold with Dimmesdale. 2. Name the two sisters Dimmesdale carries everywhere with him. 3. What does Dimmesdale promise Pearl? 4. What does Dimmesdale imagine about the light from the meteor? How do the townspeople interpret it? Chapter 13 Another View of Hester 1. What is the horrible machinery which Hester perceives has been brought to bear on Dimmesdale? 2. What does she decide to do for Dimmesdale? Why? 3. What has kept Hester from becoming very evil? 4. How does Hester now feel about having kept her lover s identity secret? Chapter 14 Hester and the Physician Koen Page 7 10/18/16

8 1. Chillingworth says he has become a fiend. He asks, Who made me so? Who did make him so? 2. In what way does Hester suggest Chillingworth alone might benefit from the terrible maze in which they all seem to be caught? What answer does he give her? 3. What is the black flower of which Chillingworth speaks? When was the black flower used before as a symbol? Chapter15 Hester and Pearl 1. How does the author show Hester s feelings toward Chillingworth in the first paragraph of this chapter? 2. In what way does Hester feel Chillingworth has done her a worse wrong that she has done him? 3. What do Hester s sentiments toward Chillingworth tell us about the effectiveness of the scarlet letter? Chapter 16 A Forest Walk 1. How does the author use the sunshine in this chapter? Where has it been used before? 2. What does Hester feel Pearl needs to make her more human and capable of sympathy? Koen Page 8 10/18/16

9 3. What feeling does the brook in the forest give Hester and Pearl? In what way is the brook like Pearl? Different from Pearl? 4. What impresses Pearl most about Dimmesdale? 5. How does Dimmesdale look as he approaches Hester? Chapter 17 The Paster and His Parishioner 1. Dimmesdale and Hester disagree in that she believes he has repented of his sin and he believes he has not. If he had truly repented, what does he say he would have done? 2. Hester now realizes what revenge Chillingworth plans? What is it? 3. Dimmesdale feels he cannot live near Chillingworth. What is the only solution he sees to this problem? What does Hester suggest? What does this show about their character? Study Guide The Scarlet Letter Chapters Chapter 18 A Flood of Sunshine 1. Contrast the strength of character of Dimmesdale and Hester. Koen Page 9 10/18/16

10 2. What is indicated by the fact that Pearl walks slowly back to them? Chapter 19 The Child at the Brook-side 1. What has Dimmesdale feared about Pearl s features? Do you think he needs to fear this? 2. Why does Pearl refuse to cross the brook? 3. What are the two worlds separated by the brook? 4. What is indicated about Dimmesdale s character by his insisting that Hester put the scarlet letter back on? 5. What is the significance of Pearl s washing off Dimmesdale s kiss? Chapter 20 The Minister in a Maze 1. What does the minister think to himself that indicates the extent of the destruction of his character? 2. How does Dimmesdale treat Chillingworth when he sees him next? 3. What does Dimmesdale do that night? Koen Page 10 10/18/16

11 Study Guide The Scarlet Letter Chapters Chapter 21 The New England Holiday 1. Why do the Puritans allow sailors to break their laws (such as smoking) when any of the Puritans would have been punished for doing the same thing? 2. What disturbing news does the shipmaster give Hester? Chapter 22 The Procession 1. Why is Pearl unsure if Dimmesdale is the same man who met them in the woods? 2. What does Mistress Hibbins say to Hester about Dimmesdale? 3. What depressing news does Hester receive from the shipmaster through Pearl? 4. What other trial does she have to endure at this time? Chapter 23 The Revelation of the Scarlet Letter 1. How are the people affected upon hearing Dimmesdale s Election sermon? 2. How does Dimmesdale look to the crowd as he comes out of the church? 3. Why does Chillingworth not want Dimmesdale to go to the scaffold? 4. How does Pearl now treat Dimmesdale? 5. What does Dimmesdale mean when he says he dies a death of triumphant ignominy? (look up the words!) Koen Page 11 10/18/16

12 6. What does Dimmesdale answer when Hester asks him if they will meet again after death? Chapter 24 Conclusion 1. What are the stories told about what was seen on Dimmesdale s breast during this last scaffold scene? 2. There were certain people who say Dimmesdale never really confessed to adultery. How do they explain his choosing to die in Hester s arms? 3. Does the author agree with this last group of people? How do you know? 4. What moral lesson from Dimmesdale s experience does the author put into one sentence? 5. To what extent does the author blame Chillingworth for his evil actions? 6. What evidence is there that Pearl marries well after she grows up? 7. Why does Hester return to New England? Koen Page 12 10/18/16