Part I: Chapters 1-5
The novel begins in Boston in the seventeenth century with a large crowd of Puritans standing outside a worn prison door. The mood is dark, gray, and solemn, except for a single red rosebush whose color and smell seem to take one’s mind past the otherwise dismal atmosphere. A group of women surrounding the door seem upset by the circumstances of the situation. A crime of adultery had been committed in the community and the women were dissatisfied with the consequences the woman was to face for her punishment. Hester Prune, the guilty woman, was to wear an embroidered “A” on her gown. Many felt the punishment should have been harsher. Hester, more beautiful than ever, emerges from the jail with her baby girl, Pearl, in her arms. Hester is filed with shame and guilt as she is forced to stand on a scaffold in front of mocking onlookers and listen to Reverend Wilson’s sermon preaching the evils of her sin. While facing this humiliation, Hester recognizes a slightly deformed man in the crowd who evidently recognizes her as well. Hester is urged by both Reverend Wilson and Reverend Dimmesdale to reveal her accomplice, the man with whom she had her affair, but she refuses to do so. When Hester returns to her cell, she is visited by a physician named Roger Chillingworth, the same man whom she had recognized in the crowd earlier that day. It is then understood that he is Hester’s husband. Chillingworth partially blames himself for Hester’s adultery due to the fact that he, an old man, married such a young beautiful woman. At the same time, he warns Hester he will find Pearl’s father and makes her promise not to reveal his identity. Instead of fleeing the Puritan community when she is released from prison, Hester moves into a small cottage, supporting herself and Pearl through her talent for needlework. The demand for her garments does not keep the townspeople from treating Hester as a social outcast that is to frowned upon. Hester feels the scarlet letter allows her to sense the sins of those around her, and to see beyond the common upstanding morality that society has always taught her.
The novel begins in Boston in the seventeenth century with a large crowd of Puritans standing outside a worn prison door. The mood is dark, gray, and solemn, except for a single red rosebush whose color and smell seem to take one’s mind past the otherwise dismal atmosphere. A group of women surrounding the door seem upset by the circumstances of the situation. A crime of adultery had been committed in the community and the women were dissatisfied with the consequences the woman was to face for her punishment. Hester Prune, the guilty woman, was to wear an embroidered “A” on her gown. Many felt the punishment should have been harsher. Hester, more beautiful than ever, emerges from the jail with her baby girl, Pearl, in her arms. Hester is filed with shame and guilt as she is forced to stand on a scaffold in front of mocking onlookers and listen to Reverend Wilson’s sermon preaching the evils of her sin. While facing this humiliation, Hester recognizes a slightly deformed man in the crowd who evidently recognizes her as well. Hester is urged by both Reverend Wilson and Reverend Dimmesdale to reveal her accomplice, the man with whom she had her affair, but she refuses to do so. When Hester returns to her cell, she is visited by a physician named Roger Chillingworth, the same man whom she had recognized in the crowd earlier that day. It is then understood that he is Hester’s husband. Chillingworth partially blames himself for Hester’s adultery due to the fact that he, an old man, married such a young beautiful woman. At the same time, he warns Hester he will find Pearl’s father and makes her promise not to reveal his identity. Instead of fleeing the Puritan community when she is released from prison, Hester moves into a small cottage, supporting herself and Pearl through her talent for needlework. The demand for her garments does not keep the townspeople from treating Hester as a social outcast that is to frowned upon. Hester feels the scarlet letter allows her to sense the sins of those around her, and to see beyond the common upstanding morality that society has always taught her.
posted by Alexandra W. | 7:28 PM
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Plot Questions
1. Why are the women of the town upset with the sentence? Why is Hester’s punishment not more severe?
2. What grows outside the prison door? What is its historical and symbolic value?
3. Who is the man that Hester recognizes in the crowd? What is his purpose in coming to see Hester?
4. What are the curses and gifts that the letter has given to Hester?
5. Why is the letter made with such beauty and care?
Part I Discussion Questions:
1. The rosebush mentioned in the first chapter is often seen as a symbol of Anne Hutchinson, a Puritan woman who stood up against some of the beliefs of the Puritan faith. How is the rosebush a symbol of Anne Hutchinson? Is there also a relationship between Hester, Anne Hutchinson, and the rosebush? Explain.
2. Why does Hester stay in her Puritan community?
3. Is the scarlet letter magical in any way? Is it acting as Hester’s shield or is it hurting Hester by exposing her to the public?
4. Why do the people avoid Hester when they see her in public? Are they avoiding her because she is an outcast or are there other reasons?
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