The Scarlet Letter Questions, Chapters 1-7

Please respond to the following questions below.

  1. In chapter two, what is Hawthorne trying to say about the Puritan women of the New World?
  2. For what sin is Hester condemned?
  3. What is the public view of Hester’s sin as expressed by the women outside the prison? What do their comments suggest about this society?
  4. In chapter three, what purpose do you believe the conversation between the townsman and the stranger serves?
  5. Why hasn’t Hester been sentenced to death for her adultery?
  6. Why does Hester fear Chillingworth?
  7. In chapter five, how is Hester’s emergence from the prison at the end of her confinement different from her emergence on the day she stood in public humiliation?
  8. What traditional dichotomy does Hawthorne begin to establish with the location of Hester’s cottage?
  9. Describe the difference between Hester’s clothing and her child’s?
  10. Where do Hawthorne’s sympathies lie? How do you know?
  11. In chapter six, what according to the narrator is ironic about Pearl’s existence?
  12. What is the significance of Pearl’s name?
  13. Hester believes that while society punishes her for her sins, God has a different reaction. How does Hester explain Pearl’s existence?
  14. In chapter seven, compare the Governor’s garden with gardens in Old England. What is significant about the difference?
  15. What is significant about the rose bush in chapter seven?