Study Guide—The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne
Chapters 1-4
1.How does the opening scene outside the prison prepare you for “a tale of human frailty and sorrow”? What mood does it create? The one bright spot is the rosebush. Why would it comfort the condemned criminal? What does the author hope it will symbolize for the reader?
2.What impression do you have about the appearance and attitudes of the people who awaited Hester'’ release from jail? In what ways was her appearance and attitude so different? Why did the scarlet letter have the effect of a spell on the staring crowd?
3.How did Hester’s reminiscences prepare you for meeting the stranger? Describe the effect of the recognition on each of them. What does the remark, “He will be known,” lead you to expect? Was your first impression of the stranger favorable? Why or why not?
4.What do you learn about Dimmesdale from Rev. Wilson’s remarks, from the author’s description, from Dimmesdale’s appeal to Hester, and from his reaction to her refusal? What kind of person would you say he was?
5.Why was Chillingworth allowed to see Hester? What did this meeting reveal about their past life together and their present feelings toward each other? Why did Hester say “thy acts are like mercy…but thy words interpret thee as a terror”? Why did she agree to keep his secret?
Chapters 5-8
1.Why didn’t Hester flee the condemnation of her village? What kind of life did she lead? How do you feel about the torture she endured and the attitude of the townspeople toward her acts of charity? What truth did she suspect about her condemners?
2.At times Hester wondered if Pearl was a human child. Why? What qualities of character and appearance set her apart from the village children? How did she respond to these children and to the “visionary throng” she created?
3.What effect did the scarlet letter have on Pearl and on her relationship with her mother? In your opinion, why did Hester ask Pearl what she was and who had sent her? Also, why did she dress Pearl in such a fanciful way?
4.Why did Hester seek an interview with Gov. Bellingham? What arguments did she use to persuade him? If she hadn’t appealed to Dimmesdale, do you think he would have come to her defense? Why did he recommend that Pearl be left with her mother? What part did Chillingworth play in this scene?
Chapters 9-12
1.Why did the townspeople see a “providential hand” in Chillingworth’s arrival? How did he manage to learn so much about the young minister? Why did some of the citizens conclude that the doctor was a “diabolical agent”?
2.What “terrible fascination” seized Chillingworth? Why didn’t Dimmesdale recognize him as an enemy? How do the two men differ in their views regarding the confession of his guilt? Why do you think that Chillingworth insisted that a guilty man cannot glorify God?
3.What meaning do you find in the scene in the burial-ground and the reaction of the two men to it? Why did Chillingworth insist that the minister reveal the sickness in his spirit? What happened while Dimmesdale was sleeping? What connection do you see between this event and the minister’s frequent gesture of placing his hand over his heart?
4.As Chillingworth became the chief actor in the minister’s interior world, how did the feelings and actions of the two men change? Why was the minister so venerated by the townspeople? Why did this cause him such agony? How did they interpret his self-condemning words?
5.How did Dimmesdale attempt to purify himself? What vision haunted him? What drove him to visit the scaffold? Why did he cry out? What wild thoughts and emotions made him wonder if he was going mad?
6.Can you explain why Dimmesdale wanted Hester and Pearl to join him on the scaffold—all three together? How did each of them react to the lights in the sky? How did Dimmesdale interpret it? Why did he shake with terror at the sight of Chillingworth?
7.Why did Dimmesdale beg to know Chillingworth’s identity? What effect did the meeting at the scaffold have on him that night and the next day? What interpretation did the sexton give of the glove and the red letter in the sky?
Chapters 13-16
1.How had Hester’s life changed in the seven years since her release from prison? What had the scarlet letter come to symbolize? How had it affected the way she looked and acted?
2.What prompted her to plead with her revengeful husband? Do you think she “acted a false part” toward Dimmesdale? Why did she say, “Better he had died at once”? How was her belief confirmed?
3.How do you explain Chillingworth’s statement that the minister had increased his debt rather than paid it off? Do you think that Hester and her husband had cause to pity each other?
4.On several occasions, Hester asked Pearl if she knew the meaning of the scarlet letter. What reasons can you give for this? Do you think Hester should have answered the child’s questions? Why couldn’t she?
5.What meaning did Chillingworth have for Pearl? What connection did Pearl see between him and the minister? Why was Hester impressed by the minister’s appearance?
Chapters 17-20
1.Why does Hester meet Dimmesdale in the forest? What plans does Hester suggest to Dimmesdale?
2.How is Dimmesdale’s sin different from Chillingworth’s? Why did Dimmesdale conceal his sin for seven years?
Chapters 21-24
1.How does Dimmesdale behave on the way back to his apartment after meeting Hester in the forest? What does Dimmesdale say to the community?
2.Why does Dimmesdale act so strangely upon his return from the forest?
3.Dimmesdale enters the church energetically and upright to give his sermon; he leaves it stooped and tottering. How would you account for each of these different ways he carried himself? What must we assume had happened to him during the course of the sermon?
4.Explain why Chillingworth desperately tries to stop Dimmesdale from confession his sins on the scaffold.
5.What do you think Dimmesdale means when he describes his and Hester’s sin a violation “our reverence for each other’s soul”?
6.Why doesn’t Hawthorne clearly explain what was on Dimmesdale’s chest?
7.How are people able to relieve themselves of guilt?