After their discussion about Hester's choice of telling the minister about Chillingworth's true identity, Doctor Chillingworth and Hester part ways, the doctor resuming his task of gathering herbs for medicinal purposes, Hester staring at the leaving doctor. Hester wonders and surmise ill thoughts about and of the doctor " was the herbs he plucking dangerous in his purport, was there something amiss about his shadow, would he leave the earth as an ugly bat? As she thinks about this, she states that she hates the man and scolds herself for her remark, although she does not do anything to appeas...

• Word Count: 609
• Approx Pages: 2
• Grade Level: High School

... at her daughter and then fingers the scarlet letter which will remain a part of her from now on. At the thought of her future, she squeezes her daughter so hard that the child cries out in pain. Chapter Three: The Recognition Summary On the edge of the crowd Hester notices ... of hypocrisy as regards the scarlet letter are, "a venerable minister or magistrate," people who are viewed as models of "piety and justice." Chapter Six: Pearl Summary Hawthorne discusses the choice of the name Pearl. He indicates that Hester chose the name to represent something of great value- ... widely diffu...

• Word Count: 5572
• Approx Pages: 22
• Grade Level: High School

... . When viewed in a mirror no longer its Hester's beauty the first thing we notice, but rather Hester's "A" has now become the most noticeable part of not only her physical features, but her spiritual being. The reflection of Pearl Prynne in the mirror uncovers her hard shell and brings out the ... a smile, and never with malice in them." This quote shows that Hester sometimes regrets Pearl's birth. Nathaniel Hawthorne's use of mirrors plays a crucial part in portraying the hidden side of Pearl Prynne. Pearl is shown in a negative light, the town viewed her as a child of witchcraft and evi...

• Word Count: 2043
• Approx Pages: 8

... evil. The scaffold in The Scarlet Letter serves as an important symbol with many different purposes throughout the novel. The first scaffold scene occurs in chapter two where Hester has just exited the prison and is escorted to the scaffold, which is in the center of the town. The scaffold is ... person who stands on it. This was the Puritan ideology and this is where Hester separates herself from it. From this point Hester is not a part of the community. In this first scaffold scene, the scaffold has done two things: first, it has punished Hester through humiliation, and second it has...

• Word Count: 917
• Approx Pages: 4
• Grade Level: High School

... her punishment with dignity, grace, and ever-growing strength of character. From the moment Hester Prynne is introduced into the plot of The Scarlet Letter in chapter 2, "The Marketplace", the reader realizes she is very prideful and strong. As an adulteress, she is forced to endure ignominy from her peers and ... Scarlet Letter. The best example of this courage is her willingness to stay in Boston, the town where both the sin and punishment took place. In chapter 5, Hester arrives at a reason for her to continue to be a resident of New England, Here, she said to herself had been the sc...

• Word Count: 909
• Approx Pages: 4
• Grade Level: High School

... is quite frequently, Hawthorne conveys formal and proper language which assists the reader in understanding the Puritan culture and the ancestry of the Boston inhabitants. In chapter 23, Roger Chillingworth kneels down toward the dying Reverend Dimmesdale and says "Thou hast escaped me!" In response, the reverend says, "Thou, too, ... Man" when Hibbins says, "Will thou [Pearl] ride with me, some fine night, to see thy father?" The mistress is even "present" in chapter 12 when Dimmesdale appears on the scaffold. Although Hawthorne writes that "The minister beheld there the appearance of a...

• Word Count: 1296
• Approx Pages: 5
• Grade Level: High School

... her punishment with dignity, grace, and ever-growing strength of character. From the moment Hester Prynne is introduced into the plot of The Scarlet Letter in chapter 2, "The Marketplace", the reader realizes she is very prideful and strong. As an adulteress, she is forced to endure ignominy from her peers and ... Scarlet Letter. The best example of this courage is her willingness to stay in Boston, the town where both the sin and punishment took place. In chapter 5, Hester arrives at a reason for her to continue to be a resident of New England, Here, she said to herself had been the sc...

• Word Count: 912
• Approx Pages: 4
• Grade Level: High School

... scarlet letter as a symbol of her own experiences and character. Her past sin is a part of who she is, to pretend that it never happened would mean denying a part of herself. This is reinforced in chapter twelve in a conversation with pearl: Hester character represents the very few people in the society ... though their experiences whether a sin or not, they do not allow society to judge them, but learn from their experiences, knowing that it is a part of themselves. Like Hester it is the extraordinary circumstances which she is encounters that shape them, not society's rules and disillu...

• Word Count: 1049
• Approx Pages: 4

... , the novel opens after the sin has been committed and Pearl, the offspring of the sinful, but natural, union is three months old. As Hawthorne himself states in the opening chapter, the novel is about human weakness and its resulting sorrow. Hawthorne's focus of attention is the effect the sin has on Hester and Dimmesdale. They constantly suffer from shame and ... the fact that the most respected member of this Puritanical society, the Reverend Dimmesdale, is Hester's partner in sin. THE TITLE OF THE BOOK The title is significant to every chapter of the book, as the scarlet letter is di...

• Word Count: 1285
• Approx Pages: 5
• Grade Level: High School

... over anyone, let alone himself. On the contrary to Stewart's statement, it appears that Dimmesdale is actually a hypocritical coward. Worse, he is a self-confessed hypocritical coward. Dimmesdale has only one part in the whole story. His role is centered on his self-torture that he inflicts on himself because he hasn't the guts or "power" to confess. This story would not ... , not only affects the plot, but also changes it from how she allowed it to progress previously. She not only established the plot, but also aided in its transformation from chapter to chapter. The definition of a pr...

• Word Count: 855
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: High School

... identity for herself as a woman, completely devoid of her past sins, and in turn is shown to be a positive and empowering role model. In the final chapter and scene of the novel, Hawthorne indicates that although life for Hester in the past was, at times, a struggle, Boston will always be her home. One ... on shaping her identity. Hester even continues to wear the scarlet letter, no longer because of its negative connotation, but because it played such a prominent part in her life that she does not wish to eliminate. Free will again comes into play in this aspect of the novel. Hester mak...

• Word Count: 1347
• Approx Pages: 5
• Grade Level: High School

... governed by the rules of Mother Nature, where things happen freely without boundaries of human control. However in the city, the rules are governed by Human themselves, which is not part of the natural order. But there was a more real life for Hester Prynne here, in New England, than in that unknown region where Pearl had found a home. Here had been ... the world's scorn and bitterness, and became a type of something to be sorrowed over, and looked upon with awe, and yet with reverence, too. This passage appears in the final chapter. It concludes with the book's theme of individual iden...

• Word Count: 720
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: High School

... to Chillingworth. This is disturbing as he has resorted to mutilation instead of confessing. The letter on his chest also represents that his sin will never leave because it is a part of his body rather than Hester's is only a piece of cloth. Before that, Chillingworth keeps digging into Dimmesdale's soul to try to "cure" him, when he is really trying to ... he does not have to suffer anymore. However other symbols show that he is not redeemed because the scarlet letter was engraved into him, showing that it will always be a part of him and also when he talks to Hester about how they wi...

• Word Count: 1619
• Approx Pages: 6
• Grade Level: High School

... a scientist, he found a way of going about getting this revenge. Chillingworth is the "man of science", characterized by pure intellect and reason with no concerns or feelings about others. In chapter 9, Hawthorne describes the scarcity of Chillingworth's scientific peers in the New World: "Skillful men, of the medical profession were of rare occurrence in the colony. " These men of science have ... out of shame. He was no longer capable of bearing the grief that infected him. It surprises me that Chillingworth never considered forgiving Arthur Dimmesdale for pursuing love- a perfectly ...

• Word Count: 429
• Approx Pages: 2

... joyless, but essentially evil. (Bloom 13-14, 97, 100) The person that is affected most by the scarlet letter is Hester Prynne, for many very obvious reasons. It is a large part of her daily life, and each of her actions is watched very closely by the community. Because of her public shame and constant ridicule, Hester becomes an outcast to society ... implies that he should wear the mask of shame like Hester does, even though the community interprets the "A" in the sky as angel, marking Governor Winthrop's entry to heaven. In Chapter 10 of the novel, Chillingworth discovers what is beli...

• Word Count: 1366
• Approx Pages: 5
• Grade Level: High School

... such a flashy manner. This seems to declare that Hester is proud, rather than ashamed, of her sin. In reality, Hester just learns to accept her sin as a part of herself, just like her child. Chapter five deals with one of the major questions of the book: why does Hester choose to stay in Boston when she is free to leave? The narrator ... ...

• Word Count: 295
• Approx Pages: 1
• Grade Level: High School

... ? (Ch. 20). Hester's character illustrates the positive effects of openness. Hester is, above all else, honest: she openly acknowledges her sin. In Chapter 17, she explains to Dimmesdale that she has been honest in all things except disclosing his part in her pregnancy.A lie is never good, even though death threaten on the other side!? She also explains to Chillingworth that, even ... ...

• Word Count: 1015
• Approx Pages: 4
• Grade Level: High School

... as almost a living saint to the people she helped. The "A- now became a badge of honor for her to wear and she inspired others to help others. This is evident in chapter 24 when Hester voluntarily wears the letter when she returns from England. This shows that Hester is no longer ashamed of her letter and it has become a big ... part of her life. Dimmesdale is as guilty as Hester, however he does not have to wear the "A- like she does, but it still effects him because he is always holding ... ...

• Word Count: 1455
• Approx Pages: 6
• Grade Level: High School