The Scarlet Letter:Study Guide

Chapters I-VI

Chapters I and II

  1. What two necessities, according to Hawthorne, must the founders of a new colony provide immediately?
  2. Under whose footsteps was the rose-bush outside the prison supposed to have sprung up?
  3. What kind of spectacle have the townspeople of Boston gathered to witness?
  4. What is the significance of the scarlet letter A which is embroidered on Hester’s gown?

Chapter III

  1. The stranger who appears at the outskirts of the crowd while Hester stands on the scaffold is slightly deformed. In which way?
  2. What explanation does the stranger make to the townsman he speaks with that accounts for his combination of “civilized and savage costume”?
  3. The townsman tells the stranger that the judges have been lenient with Hester because of her youth and because she is probably a widow. What was the severest possible penalty for adultery in the Massachusetts Colony? How long does Hester have to stand on the scaffold? How long must she wear the scarlet letter?
  4. What seems to particularly disturb the stranger after he has learned of the sentence imposed on Hester?

Chapter IV

  1. Where is Roger Chillingworth, the stranger of Chapter III, to lodge while the authorities work out his ransom with the Indians?
  2. What two kinds of experience equip Chillingworth to be a physician?
  3. Why does Hester at first resist Chillingworth’s attempts to give the baby medicine?
  4. What promise does Chillingworth exact from Hester?

Chapter V

  1. What reasons does Hawthorne give for Hester’s remaining in Boston, where she is an outcast?
  2. Hawthorne mentions three main occasions for which the people of Boston made use of Hester’s sewing skill. What are they? What is one occasion for which Hester is never asked to make clothing?
  3. What does Hester do with any spare money that she might have?

Chapter VI

  1. How does Hester account for the aspects of Pearl’s character that trouble her?
  2. How does Hawthorne characterize the disciplining of children in the early days of the Boston Colony?
  3. Cite some examples of the grim games played by the Puritan children.
  4. What was the first object Pearl seemed to be aware of as an infant?

The Scarlet Letter:Study Guide

Chapters VII-XV

Chapters VII and VIII

  1. What two contrasting reasons did the church members put forth that would ensure Hester’s losing custody of Pearl?
  2. Hawthorne says that the suit of armor hanging in Governor Bellingham’s hall was not meant “for mere idle show.” What does he mean by that?
  3. When Governor Bellingham demands to know what Hester can teach Pearl concerning the “truths of heaven and earth,” what does Hester reply?
  4. Hester is startled at the change in Chillingworth’s appearance since she last saw him. How has he changed?

Chapters IX and X

  1. Why, according to Hawthorne, were there few physicians in Boston?
  2. What is the principal occupation of the only surgeon in the Boston Colony?
  3. When does the Reverend Dimmesdale’s health begin to fail?
  4. Whose suggestion is it that Chillingworth and Dimmesdale lodge in the same house?

Chapters XI and XII

  1. What is the result when the Reverend Dimmesdale tells his congregation that he is the worst of sinners?
  2. What measures does Dimmesdale take in an attempt to penance for his sins?
  3. Where have Hester and Pearl been before they arrive at the scaffold on their way home?
  4. What does the minister reply when Pearl asks him if he will stand on the scaffold with them in broad daylight?
  5. How do the other townspeople who see the red A in the sky interpret it?

Chapter XIII

  1. What is the link that binds Hester to Dimmesdale?
  2. How much time has passed since Hester first stood with the infant Pearl on the scaffold?
  3. After a time, because of Hester’s charity and good works, many refuse to interpret the scarlet A by its original meaning. What do these people say the A stands for?

Chapters XIV and XV

  1. What change in Chillingworth’s appearance does Hester notice when she stops to speak to him?
  2. Hester and Chillingworth each pity the other. For what does she say he pities Hester and for what does Hester pity him?
  3. For what reason does Chillingworth try to persuade Hester not to reveal his identity to Dimmesdale?
  4. What gesture of the Reverend Dimmesdale’s does Pearl repeatedly associate with her mother’s scarlet letter?

The Scarlet Letter:Study Guide

Chapters XVI-XXIV

Chapters XVI and XVII

  1. What are Hester’s reasons for not wanting to visit Dimmesdale in his own study?
  2. Why does Pearl tell Hester “the sunshine does not love you”?
  3. What is Dimmesdale’s initial reaction when Hester reveals Chillingworth’s true identity?
  4. Hester urges Dimmesdale to leave Boston and begin a new life. What possibilities does she suggest for his future career?

Chapters XVIII and XIX

  1. Where have Hester and Dimmesdale decided to go when they leave Boston? Why do they choose to go to Europe rather than remain in the New World?
  2. How does it happen that Hester is acquainted with the captain of the ship now in the harbor?
  3. Why does Dimmesdale consider it fortunate that the ship is not to sail for four days?
  4. When Mistress Hibbins offers to introduce Dimmesdale to “yonder potentate you wot of,” to whom is she referring?

Chapters XXI and XXII

  1. What have the crowds of people gathered in the market-place to witness?
  2. Of what ceremony in England was the Election Day pageantry a pale imitation?
  3. What piece of unwelcome news does the master of the ship on which she, Pearl, and Dimmesdale are to sail have for Hester?
  4. What is particularly noticeable about Dimmesdale’s manner as he walks in the procession?
  5. Where does Hester stand during the procession and during Dimmesdale’s sermon in the church?

Chapters XXIII and XXIV

  1. How does Dimmesdale appear as he leaves the church after his triumphant sermon?
  2. How does Pearl react when Dimmesdale calls Hester and herself to mount the scaffold with him?
  3. Where, according to Chillingworth, is the one place where Dimmesdale could have successfully escaped him?
  4. What were some of the conjectures made by parishioners as to the origin of the minister’s scarlet letter?
  5. What explanation for the events of Election Day is made by the minister’s friends to make him seem blameless?