THE SCARLET LETTER

CHAPTER 1

• Set in Boston in the seventeenth century
• Crowd of people wait outside the prison door.
• First thing done in the colonies: plan for a prison & cemetery
• The rose bush growing beside the prison door was the only positive thing in this scene- "sweet moral blossom"

CHAPTER 2

• Crowd watches as Hester makes her way to the scaffold with a baby in her hands
• Hester is about to be publicly condemned and is being criticized for the embroidered "A" on her chest
• She has committed adultery and has birthed an "illegal" child.
• The "A" stands for Adulterer.
• Hester is stared at and made fun of by the people in the crowd.

CHAPTER 3

• Hester spots her husband in the crowd & is told not to tell people of him
• Hester's husband, Roger Chillingsworth, acts clueless about what's going on and asks about what she has done
• Dimmesdale, a great minister, demands Hester to reveal Pearl's father
• Hester says that her a daughter will never know her real father, only a Heavenly Father

CHAPTER 4

• Chillingsworth is brought in the Hester's cell to give her medical help
• Hester is afraid he will poison her; he assured her that won't happen because he wants revenge
• Chillingsworth says he will figure out who her lover is & asks that she not tell people he is her husband

CHAPTER 5

• Hester is released from prison & chooses to continue living in Boston
• Remains an outcast but supports herself by embroidering things for townspeople, including governors
• Embroiders things for every event in life except marriage

CHAPTER 6

• The only good thing in Hester's life right now is Pearl
• Named this because she was "purchased with all Hester had-her mother's only treasure"
• Hester worries about Pearl as she is an outcast and is believed to be a demon-child
• Hester avoids telling Pearl the meaning of the scarlet letter when she is asked

CHAPTER 7

• Hester goes to the gov. mansion to deliver a pair of gloves & to find out if Pearl will be taken from her
• People believe that Pearl is a demon-child. If this is true, Pearl will be taken for Hester's sake.
• If Pearl is a normal child, she will be given to a "better" parent than Hester.
• Mansion resembles those of the English aristocracy

CHAPTER 8

• Hester begs Dimmesdale to let her keep Pearl; Wilson and Bellingham agree
• Pearl seems to like Dimmesdale much more than the others
• Chillingworth asks that they keep investigating who Hester's lover is
• Hester is invited to a witches gathering but says no because of Pearl

CHAPTER 9

• Chillingworth changed his name to hide his past from everyone (excluding Hester)
• Chillingworth becomes Dimmesdale's doctor and begins living with him
• People were first very thankful for Chillingworth but then rumors of his past came up
• Townspeople believed Chillingworth was the Devil

CHAPTER 10

• Chillingworth can't quite figure out Dimmesdale because he will not confide in anyone
• Pearl calls Chillingworth the "Black Man"
• Dimmesdale refuses to tell Chillingworth anything that will reveal his identity as Hester's lover
• Chillingworth sneaks into Dimmesdale's room and sees something on Dimmesdale's chest

CHAPTER 11

• Dimmesdale continues to suffer because he hasn't confessed his sin
• Dimmesdale has a vision that Hester makes a connection between her A and his chest
• He begins to punish himself physically (fasting, hitting himself with a whip, etc.)
• The minister decides to hold a vigil on the scaffold in the town

CHAPTER 12

• Dimmesdale gets on the scaffold late at night & starts to worry what people will think if they see him
• Pearl and Hester arrive and join him on the scaffold; he rejects Pearl's invitation to stand with them the next day
• Dimmesdale sees a red A illuminate the night sky; townspeople do not associate it with Hester nor Dimmesdale
• Chillingworth makes an excuse for Dimmesdale being on the scaffold and takes him home
• The next day, Dimmesdale gives his best and most truthful sermon

CHAPTER 13

• Pearl is now 7 years old
• Hester's "A" is now considered to have the meaning "Able" instead of "Adulterer"
• Hester has changed as a person; no longer passionate, now a "bare & harsh outline of who she used to be"
• Hester now helps the society; gives food to the poor, helps the sick, and helps when there is trouble

CHAPTER 14

• Hester decides to ask Chillingworth to stop torturing the minister
• Hester and Pearl meet Chillingworth as he is gathering herbs and they are greeted with a very smart tone
• It is now clear to Chillingworth that Dimmesdale is Pearl's father
• It's now obvious to the reader that Chillingworth is evil; not because he is a demon but because he has lost his moral heart
• Chillingworth blames Hester for his way of life and the changes he has undergone

CHAPTER 15

• Hester realizes she hates her husband; she is not technically allowed to
• Chillingworth leaves; Hester goes and finds Pearl; Pearl is pretending to be a mermaid
• Pearl puts an A made of eelgrass on her chest; Hester contemplates telling Pearl what the A means
• Pearl connects Dimmesdale's chest pains to Hester's scarlet letter
• Hester decides that Pearl is too young so she will not tell her; Pearl continues to question it

CHAPTER 16

• Hester waits for Dimmesdale in the forest because he is said to be making his way back to town
• Pearl is with her; the sun seems to shine freely on Pearl but shuns Hester
• Pearls asks about the "Black Man" and how he relates to the scarlet letter; asks if it is Dimmesdale, Hester says no
• Pearl wonders if the "Black Man" left a mark on Dimmesdale's chest just as he did to Hester

CHAPTER 17

• Hester and Dimmesdale join hands in the forest, away from all the townspeople
• Hester tells Dimmesdale that Chillingworth is her husband; Dimmesdale blames her for his suffering
• Dimmesdale forgives her and is now scared that Chillingworth will tell the people who he is
• Dimmesdale and Hester decide to leave on a ship to Europe with Pearl and be a family there

CHAPTER 18

• Happy about their plans to move, Dimmesdale is now able to feel joy; Hester removes the scarlet letter
• Hester regains the beauty she lost when she first put on the scarlet letter
• Hester decides to tell Pearl that Dimmesdale is her father

CHAPTER 19

• Pearl refuses to come to her mother when she is called because her mother is not wearing the scarlet letter
• Pearl doesn't know that Dimmesdale is her father but is asked by her mother to embrace him
• Pearl asks if the three of them will go back into town, hand in hand; Dimmesdale will not
• Pearl runs away and runs to the brook to wash off the kiss he gave her

CHAPTER 20

• Hester knows the crew of a ship that's leaving for Europe in a matter of days
• Dimmesdale tells Chillingworth that he no longer needs his drugs or help.
• Chillingworth is concerned that Dimmesdale may know his identity
• Begins to rewrite the sermon he plans to give the day before he leaves for Europe

CHAPTER 21

• There is another town gathering, similar to the beginning of the book, but to install the new governor
• Pearl asks her mother if the minister will embrace them like he did the day before at the brook
• Hester is excited to start a new life and leave her past behind
• She is unhappy to find out that Chillingworth will be accompanying them on the ship to Europe as the doctor

CHAPTER 22

• Dimmesdale looks obviously healthier and happier
• Pearl wants to give Dimmesdale a kiss but is scolded by her mother
• Mistress Hibbins, a soon to be executed witch, suggests that Dimmesdale is the Devil
• Chillingworth tells Hester that he will make sure Dimmesdale gets on the ship; she should only worry about herself and Pearl

CHAPTER 23

• People say that this was the minister's best and most truthful sermon ever
• Dimmesdale invites Hester and Pearl to the scaffold; he confesses his sin
• Dimmesdale removes his clothes and reveals the marking on his chest
• Dimmesdale states that God will decide if they will spend their afterlife together
• Dimmesdale dies😵

CHAPTER 24

• Most of the people said they saw a scarlet letter on Dimmesdale's chest, just like Hester's
• Other people said they saw nothing; narrator believes these are Dimmesdale's friends
• Chillingworth dies a year later and leaves his things to Pearl
• Hester and Pearl disappear; Hester returns years later and lives alone
• Hester is buried beside Dimmesdale; they share a headstone but are not too close together

HESTER PRYNNE

• Hester is the main character in this novel; has a child, as a result of an affair, named Pearl
• She commits adultery and is forced to wear an embroidered A on her wardrobe
• Throughout the book she changes from an "adulterer" to an "abler" (helps her society)

PEARL

• Hester's only treasure; functions as a symbol
• Believed to be a demon-child by the town; also think her unknown father is the Devil
• Very smart and very good at putting things together to figure things out
• Very curious about the scarlet letter

REVEREND DIMMESDALE

• Well known minister in the town; also Hester's lover
• Doesn't want to reveal himself as Pearl's father
• He is so guilty that he begins torturing himself and as a result, develops a heart condition
• His biggest conflict is wanting to confess his sin but also not wanting to let down his congregation

THEMES

• The theme of sin develops throughout the book by starting off as the main theme that causes Hester to wear the scarlet letter...
• and continues to develop as Dimmesdale cannot come to confess his sin of being her lover. Near the end of the book, Hester's sin starts to fade away..
• and she is no longer looked down upon for her sins but is loved for her help within their community.
• Another them, of the two different types of guilt, develops throughout this story. Hester is the prime example of public guilt because she confesses her sin..
• and wears the A so the whole town knows. Dimmesdale, the prime example of private guilt, does not confess his sin..

SOURCES

• "The Scarlet Letter" by Nathaniel Hawthorne
• Alyssa Brockman and Afton Tillman