The Scarlet Letter and Hester

A CHAPTER-BY-CHAPTER READING GUIDE FOR THE carmine LETTER A 1636 Plym defecate forwardh Colony jurisprudence requi release some(prenominal)(prenominal)(prenominal) superstar convicted of criminal conversation to enter cardinal Capital earn viz AD sleep with aside in cloth and sowed on theire uppermost Garments on their arme or venturee and if att any time they sh everybee runn with disclose the vocalise earns whiles they atomic number 18 in the Govrment soewarn to bee frontwardwith taken and realitykly whipt. 1 Other momma colonies had their own versions of this righteousness.In fact, The Capit solely Lawes of New-England, as they hurt now in array in the Common-wealth, by the Court, in the long time 1641, 1642, established within the jurisdiction of Massachusetts, communicate that if any some iodine committeth adultery with a married or espo employ wife, the Adulterer, and the Adulteresse, shall for certainly be regularise to demolition. Chapter 1The Prison limen Paragraph ii beg offs the typical ap mes nefariousnessg of land in a prude town. What three establishments argon early computeed for on Isaac Johnsons lot? What does this poopva perditiong tell us astir(predicate) Puritan values?How does Hawthorne spot the prison? Identify a profound metaphor in the second split. A pathetic fallacy is a literary device in which Nature appears to empathize gentlemans gentleman scenting and do accordingly. An exemplar is believing that the sun is shining because you be happy, or that a twenty-four hour period is dogged and rainy because you are savor depressed. Hawthorne employs a signifi sackt pathetic fallacy in this collapseing description. Can you locate it? What grows climb up the prison? What does Hawthorne say it symbolizes? Chapter 2The securities industry Place 1. When does the story take billet? . For what purposes did bang somemultiplication gather in front of the prison door? 3. Who attends in position interested in the punishment that is close to take place? 4. Pay tutelage to conversation among the women. What is their attitude toward Hester? argon they self- pretensioned? 5. nock the description Of Hester, the apologues heroine. What drawm to be her outstanding compositors caseistics? What is unusual solely astir(predicate) her? What do people nonice maiden when reveal her (the usher which drew all eyeball)? 6. broadsheet once again the womens conversation. What appears to be their credit of Hester now? 7.The beadles quarrel, A blessing on the righteous colony of the Massachusetts, w present iniquity is dragged out into the sunshine, aptitude engender some idea nearly values. Does it reckon to you that exposing iniquity is desirable of a blessing? Do we follow outm to feel it proper today to prolong word personal behavior, p prowessicularly wrongdoing, to public mate? 8. What is Hesters punishment that day? What does Hawthorne say mo st this good- natured of punishment, the kindly that does not take on the culprit to hide his or her bewilder? 9. What is purpose of contrasting Hester and her baby to the expo reliable of Divine Maternity? 0. Pay circumstance forethought to the description of the man headspring stricken in long time. Who do you judge he is? Chapter 3The Recognition empathise carefully the second split. Who is the man at the Indians side? Imagine that you are this man. What in cultivateation do you, a former(a)r to crestital of Massachusetts, learn from the townsman with whom you talk? The townsman says that the magistrates of Boston piss, in their mercy and tenderness of write out acrosst, dense Hesters punishment. What do you ideate of this mercy? For what reasonableness do Goernor Bellingham and the pastors speak to Hester? w here(predicate)fore does Mr. Wilson weigh Mr.Dimmesdale should speak to Hester? What is Dimmesdales tint well-nigh this job? Note with care the sta rting signal description of Dimmesdale. 5. What effect do Dimmesdale swords admit on Hester? On the baby? 6. What kind of father does Hester say her baby lead eat? 7. Contrast the cardinal ministers diametrical reactions to Hesters refusal to ring her fellow s versed. Chapter 4The question 1. wherefore did the jailer send for a doctor for Hester? 2. You ought to know for certain, by the one- septetth or eighth split of this chapter, just who this man is. What clues (in previous chapters) has Hawthorne given you as to his identity?why, do you mean, does Chillingworth want to victuals his identity a secret? 3. It would be so easy for Chillingworth to kill Hester. why does he want her to live? 4. Upon whom does Chillingworth put the blame for Hesters sin? How much is her pause? How much is his own? 5. How much retaliation does Chillingworth programme to get on Hester? (A occurrence line in their conversation tells us exactly. ) Who is the real object of Chillingworths r level offge? 6. The separate beginning Never, sayest thou? if occupy well, send away reveal exactly what kind of person Chillingworth is.Read it with a touch of villainy in thy utterance and thou essential necessarily quake with fearfulness at the plan this mis-shapen scholar. (Do you see how easy it is to get carried a mien? ) 7. Hester says something interesting or so how a persons words may lead to one interlingual rendition of his character and his actions may lead to some separate(a). How do Chillingworths words present him? His actions? 8. What require does Chillingworth energize of Hester? What is his reason? Chapter 5Hester at Her needle How does Hester feel upon leaving prison? What does the succeeding(a) shake in store for her?You major power wonder why Hester doesnt leave Boston, since it is except in Boston that she must prevail the blood-red letter. What are her reasons? Be trustworthy not to all oerlook the most outstanding of them. What feature s of Hesters home seem most becharm? How does Hester demonstrate a living? In what ironic way does she advertise her skills? 5. Who were the save ones who make no use of Hesters run? wherefore? 6. What does Hester do with the extra notes she earns (her superfluous means)? What does this tell us nearly her character? 7. Hawthorne compares Hesters vermilion letter with the mark on Cains forehead.If you dont know about Cains mark, you can read about it in the Bible in Genesis 41-16. Biblical allusions are not erratic in literature, so a wise(p) person is familiar with the major stories of the Bible. This familiarity has vigour to do with a persons religious doctrines. 8. What particularised tortures (the innumerable throbs of anguish) does Hester endure? 9. In the penultimate (that is, the next to the last) paragraph of the chapter, Hawthorne begins to advert that at that place top executive be some positive feature of Hesters wearing the vermilion letter.What is it? 1 0. Observe how Hawthorne uses one of his favorite devices, learned ambiguity, in the last paragraph. Chapter 6 driblet wherefore does Hester come across her baby fall? drop is a significant character in this fable, so pay attention to the detailed description of her. Isnt it a puzzle that dip, the product of sin, is worthy to puzzle been brought forth in Eden? In the tail paragraph, the Scriptural originatority is Proverbs 1324, which reads, He that spareth his rod hateth his son besides he that loveth him chasteneth him betimes. (In modern English, parents who withhold punishment rattling hate their children, but those that love them make up their behavior early. ) What is Hawthorne saying about the way parents raised their children in Puritan times? How does Hester raise off-white? why does garner seem not to be a human child? why is driblet an outcast of the infantile world? What kind of games did the Puritan nurture permit children to play? Do they seem like enjoyment to you? What is the attitude of the Puritan children toward gather? 9. What does beadwork use for playthings? Hawthorne calls them the puppets of drop curtains witchcraft, a good wording. ) 10. The credit to genus Dracos teeth (in the homogeneous paragraph) is an allusion to a Hellenic myth in which Cadmus kills a dragon and plants his teeth. The teeth grow into warriors who fight all(prenominal) other until only few are left alive. This myth, incidentally, is the beginning of the story that ultimately comes to concern Oedipus Rex, but there is no association to be do amidst that story and this one. 11. What was the source thing free fall noticed in her mother? 12. What egests when Hester sees her censure in cliffs look?This is still another(prenominal) example of intentional ambiguity. 13. Who do the gossiping neighbors claim is Pearls father? Chapter 7The Governors hall 1. What two reasons does Hester set about for visiting the governor? 2. In what w ay does Pearl inspire Hester of the scarlet letter? 3. Contemplate the horrific significance of Hesters looking into the armour, which reflects the scarlet letter disproportionately and hides Hester behind it. 4. The description of the tend recalls the Garden of Eden, an appropriate redeion since we throw off already seen references to the Garden of Eden earlier in the clean.Pearls crying for a red rose may propose the confide for forbidden fruit, and the refusal by Hester (I hear voices in the garden) may check out to Genesis 216-17 and 36-8 (the voice of the Lord God walking in the Garden). A comment here about allusions, Biblical and otherwise it can be frustrating to the student to encounter several(prenominal) allusions and need to seduce all of them pointed out. A common reaction is then to balk them or to express doubt that the author intended the allusion. Students need to be reminded that they are relatively in populated in reading literature intended for liter ate and meliorate readers.Instead of being defensive about it, they pass on find it much more than than copious to accept whatever assistance is offered. The more they read the better they will run low at recognizing references to other literature and history. In the meantime, they do best to keep their eyes and minds open. Biblical allusions present a particular problem among people who are gauzy about the presence of the Bible in the school. While that sensitivity is catchable, it is all important(p) for t distributivelyers, e extraly teachers of challenging academic programs, to remember and remind others of the enormous influence the Bible has had on western culture.If we eliminate the Bible as literature, we eliminate a huge portion of mature literature, art, music, curvehitecture, theatre, and all the other humanities as well. Chapter 8The Elf-Child and the Minister 1. Who arc Bellinghams guests? Which is not in good health? wherefore? Which is the checkup adviso r to the swan one? 2. All of the descriptions of Pearl by Bellingham and his guests remind the reader of what important visual fact? 3. What matter were Bellingham and his guests discussing before Hesters reach? 4. Be sure you understand both sides of the argument betwixt Hester and Bellingham. 5. How does Wilson test Pearl?How does she do on this test? 6. Specifically, what is Pearls settle? How did she get such a strange idea? What else do you know about the prison rosebush? prize back to chapter 1, where Hawthorne verbalise it was a symbol, and see if you cant work out the symbolic significance of this incident. 7. How has Chillingworth changed over the years? 8. To whom does Hester turn for assistance in her onrush to keep Pearl? Why does she feel he can aid? 9. Dimmesdale says that Pearl is both a blessing and a torture for Hester. How is this true? 10. Pay special attention to Dimmesdales words beginning, his boon was meant. 11. As Hester and Pearl leave, it is ave rred that something happened. Hawthorne likes to include indirect, gossip, dish the dirt, legend, and so on in his story. Where micturate we seen it already in this novel? Keep an eye open for other instances as we read on. 12. Who dinero Hester as she departs? For what purpose? Chapter 9The treat When you look up leech in the dictionary, you will find several definitions. Which of the galore(postnominal) possibilities seems most appropriate here? The initiative three paragraphs explain how Chillingworth sets up his medical practice in Boston. Who becomes Chillingworths prime patient?What is his illness? What is Dimmesdales most characteristic apparent movement? Why do you suppose he makes this communicate? 5. Observe how typically the people of Boston, when they are unable to explain Chillingworths stretch out of the blue, create a rumor about him. 6. So Roger Chillingworth begins a very important section, describing the relationship that develops between Chillingworth and Dimmesdale. 7. What happens later on a time, at a shadow from Roger Chillingworth? 8. The penultimate paragraph (you had that word in chapter 5, question 9) compares or consorts Chillingworth with whom?Chapter 10The sponge and His Patient 1. Dimmesdale develops a characteristic comparable to Hesters in that he was suspicious of all mankind. The conversation between Chillingworth and Dimmesdale concerning confession of sin is worth special attention. Apparently Dimmesdale is cover some sin. What might that sin be? Really? What occurrence interrupts this conversation? What is unusual about Pearls behavior? Do you see any symbolic meat in Pearls placing the prickly burdock on Hesters scarlet letter? If not, venture some more until you do. When Dimmesdale refuses to open he wound or trouble in his embrace to Chillingworth, to whom does he say he will plunder his soul? Hawthorne makes a joke It doesnt happen often, so lets not let this one get by. Dimmesdale falls asleep over a book which must obligate been a work of vast mogul in the somniferous school of literature. (The brainpower depends on your knowing what somniferous means. ) The last two paragraphs are exceptionally important. Hawthorne does not say what Chillingworth aphorism, but maybe you can imagine. Anyhow, you might wonder what could have made Chillingworth so happy. Can you think of a fairy tale character that Chillingworth resembles here?Chapter 11The Interior of a emotional conjure 1. What has become of Dimmesdales attitude toward Chillingworth? 2. Even though his health is failing, how are Dimmesdales fortunes as a minister? 3. Interestingly, Dimmesdale is annoyed by the amply regard his parishioners have for him (the agony with which this public veneration tortured him). here(predicate) is another example of intentional ambiguity, a form of irony. Dimmesdale is not what the people think he is. 4. Its almost humorous how the congregation mistakes Dimmesdales statements of his sinfulness. (Almost, but not quite. ) 5.Compare the visions Dimmesdale has in his lengthened vigils with Hesters retrospection in chapter 2. Why does Hester appear in Dimmesdales vision? What is important about her gesture? Chapter 12The Ministers Vigil Where does Dimmesdale go? believably its not just accidental that its been seven years since Hester stood on the chopine. Seven has been a magical number since ancient times. Why does Hawthorne say that many culprits have ascended the platform? With what is he asking us to associate it? In other words, what is he devising the platform a symbol of? Do you know by now why Dimmesdale is climbing it?No one comes when Dimmesdale screams. Why? What does Dimmesdale see from the sustain? Where has Wilson been that night? Where have Hester and Pearl been? Do you think it is a fitting place for a seven-year-old young woman to be? Maybe she had to come along because her mother couldnt get a babysitter. What does Dimmesdale prayer He ster and Pearl to do? How does Dimmesdale feel as he touches Pearls hand? Why do you suppose he feels this way? The paragraph beginning But before Mr. Dimmesdale had make speaking is very important. Read it carefully. most of the novels important symbols are brought together at this moment.What is the smartness in the sky? What does this touched featherbrained reveal? How is Pearl a connecting link between Hester and Dimmesdale? (You might have two answers, one literal, one figurative. ) Why does Dimmesdale have his hand over his heart? 10. Who is standing across the way notice the scene? How does Dimmesdale feel about him? Are you surprised to hear him say so? 11. What does the sexton give to Dimmesdale? How does the sexton describe for Dimmesdales loss of this item? 12. How does the sexton (speaking for the township) view the light in the sky? 13. This chapter is the bosom(a) point in the novel.Because of the novels rigorous construction, the center of attention is the climax. From this point on, we are heading toward the resolution. Chapter 13Another View of Hester 1. Can you explain why Hester feels an obligation toward Dimmesdale? 2. Hawthorne writes in the middle of the second paragraph that It is to the credit of human nature, that it loves more readily than it hates. Do you think hes right? Has he illustrated this beginning anywhere in the novel? 3. This chapter, which discusses Hesters life, explains why the townspeople change their views of Hester. Although it is mostly descriptive, be sure you understand why they do. 4.The judgment of conviction Had she move among thieves, the scarlet letter would have kept her impregnable is an allusion to the parable of the Good Samaritan, told in Luke 1030-37. Its worth reading. 5. What is the sad faulting that has come over Hester? 6. placard that Hawthorne says of Pearl that her nature had something wrong in it, which continually betokened that she had been born(p) amiss. What other charact ers outward demeanors suggest their inner natures? This is a significant feature of romantic literature, one that continues through our own time, oddly in the movies. 7. This chapter is typical of Hawthornes circular style.He begins by discussing Hesters attitude toward Dimmesdale, and then wanders into related matters until he eventually returns (Now, however, her interview with the Reverend Mr. Dimmesdale) to the first thought. He did this before when Hester stood on the sustain in chapter 2. Hawthorne builds entire chapters, as this one, some this device or, more often, he constructs his prolonged paragraphs this way. This observation might help you to read the longer paragraphs with more comprehension. 8. How do you explain, in the first fourth dimension of the final paragraph, the phrase her former husband? How did he get to be her former husband?Did I miss a divorce someplace? Or is there another accounting? Chapter 14Hester and the Physician 1. Hawthorne says again t hat a corking transformation has come over Chillingworth. He has changed himself into a devil. We have seen before how Chillingworth has been compared to Satan. 2. The conversation between Hester and Chillingworth should be self-explanatory. remonstrate Hesters request Forgive, and leave his further retribution to the Power that claims it. Perhaps this is a theme of the novel. 3. Chillingworth says, Let the subdued flower point as it may. Do you remember what the black flower is? What does he mean here?Chapter 15Hester and Pearl 1. Hester declares that she hates Chillingworth. Do you think she has good reason? 2. How has Pearl been singular herself? 3. Pearl makes a letter to wear herself. You might make do what significance the two colors of the two earn have scarlet for Hester and honey oil for Pearl. What might green symbolize in connection with Pearl? 4. Why is Pearls response to her mothers questions concerning why she wears the scarlet letter ironic? 5. For what re asons does Hester consider utter Pearl why she wears the letter? 6. You can see how Pearl is getting on her mothers nerves. How would you have answered Pearl?Do you believe, as Hester does, that There are many things in this world that a child must not ask about? neb that Hester, at the end of the chapter, answers Pearl with an large(p)ship that she had neer permitted to herself before. Chapter 16A timberland Walk This chapter begins what is for many readers the most memorable part of the novel. Remember that Hawthorne has called his novel a tale of human frailty and sorrow. In chapters 16-19 you will be expected to respond to this sorrow. Watch in particular how every hypothesis for blessedness is eliminated. Watch also how Hawthorne uses images of light and dark in the woodwind.If you are a romantic, you will find this scene especially moving. 1. Why wont Hester visit Dimmesdale in his admit? 2. note how the sun withdraws as Hester approaches it. What does the sunli ght symbolize here? Why is there none for Hester? If you have forgotten about the pathetic fallacy, return to chapter 1, question 3 for a reminder. 3. What stories has Pearl heard? What does Pearl think Hesters letter has to do with the non-white Man? 4. posting how Hawthorne compares Pearl to the b learn. masking people and Nature as one was a favorite technique of sentimentalist writers. 5. Observe, too, how sorrowfully Dimmesdale approaches.Chapter 17The Pastor and His Parishioner How do Hester and Dimmesdale approach each other? Notice the things they speak ofthe weather, their health. Why is it so stern for them really to communicate with each other? Just before Hester tells Dimmesdale that Chillingworth was her husband (again she uses the retiring(a) tense), she stresses the value of truth. Of what significance should this speech be to Dimmesdale? Hester asks Dimmesdale to forgive her and let God take care of her punishmentthe same request she made of Chillingworth. Why does Dimmesdale consider Chillingworth to be the worst sinner of the three?Hester speaks here one of the most important lines of the novel What we did had a consecration of its own. Be sure you understand all the implications of this censure. She (and Dimmesdale) considered their sin to be virtuously acceptable (it was consecrated) in a organisation of laws higher than those of the church. Hester is trying to justify herself by saying that in some cases state laws are imperfect and do not, or should not, apply in all cases to all people. But she cannot think that she was following Gods laws, because adultery is forbidden by the Ten Commandments. and then is she placing her individual law above even Gods law?Can she do this? Does Hester consider her love for Dimmesdale to be more important or holier than the Ten Commandments? This is a arenathe conflict between personal law and public law that appears in a great number of important literary works, such as Antigone, Crime and Pun ishment, and The Crucible, to name just a few. What courses of action does Hester suggest to Dimmesdale so that he can liberate himself of Chillingworths menace? Why is none of them qualified to him? Chapter 18A Flood of sun 1. Again Hawthorne gives a positive gist of the scarlet letterit was Hesters passport into regions where other women dared not tread. 2. Was Dimmesdales sin a sin of passion or of principle? 3. In paragraph 4, Hawthorne gives a very summary statement concerning Dimmesdales predicament between fleeing as an avowed criminal, and remaining as a hypocrite, conscience might find it hard to strike the balance . This is an example of a dilemma, a choice between two equally unpleasant alternatives. To be in such a situation we say is to be on the horns of a dilemma. If you yield the metaphor to suggest being tossed by a bull, you see immediately how galled that can be. 4. What does Dimmesdale, subsequently a struggle, declaration to do? What are his reasons? . What does Hester do to make it as though the past had never been? (Dont let this question go unanswered. Weve been waiting seven years ) 6. How does she feel after she has done this significant thing? Note the line, She had not known the weight until she tangle the freedom. 7. The paragraph beginning, The stigma gone is important. Hester removes her cap and her letter, and lets her copper fall down. Look back to chapter 13, where the letter, cap, and hair had been mentioned as symbols of Hesters sad transformation from beauty to plainness. These same symbols are used here to reveal Hesters natural beauty.Notice that this chapter is called A Flood of Sunshine, a title involving a metaphor, Hesters hair is another such flood. What happens, concerning the sunshine, when Hesters hair falls down? This is one the great pathetic fallacies in all of literature. 8. Notice how Nature reacts to the love between Hester and Dimmesdale. much(prenominal) was the sympathy of Nature Hawth orne uses the word sympathy in its more general intellect of feeling the same (sym meaning the same and pathos meaning feeling) rather than feeling sorry for someone. 9. Pearl is standing in a beam of sunshine, of course.The flickering light makes her look now like a real child, now like a childs spirit. How Hawthorne loves visual ambiguity How do the animals of the forest treat Pearl? Note the hearsay A wolf, it is said but here the tale has surely lapsed into the improbable. Why does Pearl approach slowly when she is called? Chapter 19The Child at the 15 rook side 1. Hester and Dimmesdale talk very lovingly of their child. 2. What is the effect of the reflection of Pearl in the pool? 3. What does Dimmesdale do when Pearl looks at him? Then, how does Pearl respond to this gesture? 4. Why wont Pearl come to Hester? 5.Does Pearls command come along thou and take it up seem to you as though she were reminding her mother of her fault? 6. What happens as Hester puts up her hair? Wh y? 7. Remember that in the second hold up scene Pearl asks if Dimmesdale will stand with Hester and her in broad daylight. What similar request does Pearl make of Dimmesdale now? 8. What does Pearl do when Dimmesdale kisses her? Chapter 20The Minister in a Maze What arrangement has Hester made for Dimmesdale, Pearl, and herself? Why does Hawthorne consider Dimmesdale so pathetically weak? Note the final time of this paragraph (the deuce-ace), which makes use of ambiguity.What strange feeling does Dimmesdale have as he returns to the town? Be sure to know the meaning of the word mutability. What three people does Dimmesdale meet? What does he want to do to each of these people? Why? In the paragraph about the old woman, Hawthorne writes that she might have dropped dead when she heard Dimmesdales words, as by the effect of an intensely poisonous infusion. You might be interested to know that in the 1600s it was common belief that a person could be killed if poison were poured, or infused, into his ear. Shakespeare, piece of music in the early 1600s, used this belief as a method of death in Hamlet.What is the importance of the episode between Dimmesdale and Mistress Hibbins? Chapter 21The New England spend 1. The day in the first sentence is three years after the forest scene. The rest of the novels action takes place on this day. 2. How does Hester feel on this particular day? To what does she look forward? 3. Notice that Pearls garnish is all of one idea with her nature, suggesting again the relationship between her outer appearance and her inner nature. 4. Why is Pearl impoverished as she and Hester reach town? 5. Notice the forms of entertainment popular in England that are not to be found in Massachusetts. . Hawthorne writes, the generation which came after the first Puritans wore the blackest make out of Puritanism, and so darkened the national mugful with it, that all the subsequent years have not sufficed to clear it up. We have only to learn again the forgotten art of gayety. Do you agree? 7. Notice that Chillingworth is talk with the captain of the ship. Why do you suppose that he is doing that? 8. What news does the captain bewilder Hester? How does she respond to it? Chapter 22The Procession The first part of this chapter is a lavish description of the groups performing in the parade.Note the description of Dimmesdale as he marches. What does Mistress Hibbins know that Hester wishes she didnt? The paragraph beginning This vocal organ is a description of Dimmesdales sermon. What message does the ships captain give to Pearl? It is sad to read in the penultimate paragraph the sentence beginning, Hester saw and recognized. Chapter 23The Revelation of the Scarlet letter 1. What is the townspeoples reaction to Dimmesdales sermon? 2. How does Dimmesdale feel about his career as a minister at this time? (Look in the third paragraph. ) 3. afterwards he gives his sermon, what change comes over Dimmesdale? . Why does Chil lingworth try to stop Dimmesdale? After all, hadnt he wanted Dimmesdales guilt to be known? 5. Where is the only place that Dimmesdale could have escaped Chillingworth? What does this mean? 6. What does the crowd see as Dimmesdale tears away his ministerial band? Are you sure? 7. Does Dimmesdale think he and Hester will meet again in Heaven? Why? 8. By giving me this burning torture to extradite upon my breastis this line meant to be taken literally or figuratively? Note how the alliteration, which makes the line quite poetic, provides emphasis. 9. What happens as Dimmesdale dies?Chapter 24Conclusion As might be expected, there was more than one account of what had been witnessed on the scaffold. What explanations are offered for what had happened? How does Hawthorne feel about those who say that Dimmesdale never said that he was Pearls father? Does the moral beginning Be true Be true Be true seem like a theme to you? Compare it to what Pearl said to Dimmesdale on the scaffold in chapter 12. What happened to Chillingworth? Why might love and hate be really the same thing at bottom? Who is Chillingworths beneficiary? Be sure you know what happens to Hester and Pearl.Who discovers that Hester has returned? 10. What, according to rumor, has become of Pearl? 11. What role does Hester play in the residential area? What is Hesters firm belief of which she assures unhappy women? For a novel written in 1850 this is a remarkably contemporary idea, Beside whom is Hester buried? Gules is the color red. Sable is black. The final sentence, which summarizes the whole novel in a remarkably aphoristic and symbolic way, is the description of Hesters tombstone. Before the days of colored printing, people had to find a way to instruct engravers who were oing to produce coats of arms, banners, flags, and the like. This sentence says that Hesters tombstone, which has a black background (a field sable), will be engraved the letter A in red (gules). Think of all the other thing s in the novel that can be described with that sentencethe midnight sky in the second scaffold scene Hesters blouse Hesters life, which seems to have been very fatal with only one moment of happiness even the Puritan period of American history, which was a dark period, as Hawthorne tells it, jutting only by one ever-glowing point of light. Let us remember that the name Hesteran archaic form of Esthermeans star. You might remember that Chillingworth said that Hester will be a living sermon against sin, until the pitch-black letter be engraved upon her tombstone. to that degree the letter can represent something other than Adultery. We have already come to see it represent Able, Art, and Angel. What else might the A have meant to Hester? Remember that in some Massachusetts communities, Plymouth among them, the punishment for adultery was to wear the letters AD.What could AD have represented to Hester? Congratulations. By reading this novel you have polished something noteworthy and gained a great dealyou have increased your reading skills, grow your vocabulary, considered value systems that might be different from your own, investigated human psychology, and, it is to be hoped, undergone an emotional experience that will never leave you. 1 Here is an opportunity for the teacher to point out that English spelling and usage were not firmly fixed in the ordinal century. Their and theire appear in the same sentence, sowed in modern English would be sewn, and other word forms, while recognizable, have changed in the last three and a half(a) centuries. NOTE This is only to function as a reading guide to help you better understand the novel. We highly suggest that you use this to check for