The The ScarletScarlet Letter Letter

Nathaniel Hawthorne

PuritansPuritans• Puritans believed nothing could save their souls but the

grace of God, and he decides everything ahead of time.

• Puritans lived by a strict code of ethics and literally interpreted the Bible.

• They did contribute many positive things to America: the first American college, printing press, elections, and public schools.

• Hawthorne wrote The Scarlet Letter two hundred years after his ancestors arrived in Salem. He acknowledges his “ancestral guilt” as a descendant of one of the judges in the Salem witchcraft trials.

Chapters 1-3Chapters 1-3• Characters: Hester Prynne

“The Stranger”

Pearl

Rev. Arthur Dimmesdale

Chapters 4-6Chapters 4-6

• Symbols:

“The Black Man”

Hester’s self-penance and elevation of Pearl

Pearl - the repercussions of secret sin

Chapters 7-9Chapters 7-9• Bellingham’s home and Mistress Hibbins

The importance and imagery of the scarlet A.

Dimmesdale with Pearl

Chillingworth and Dimmesdale’s soul

Chapters 10-12Chapters 10-12• Pearl – symbol of truth and disregard for

society and its methods.

Scaffold: scene 2

… The “electric chain.”

The “A” in the sky

Chapters 13-15Chapters 13-15• Hester’s new role and self-awareness seven

years after the act

The transformation of Chillingworth and Hester cutting ties of responsibility to him

The role of the Scarlet

Letter – who should

remove it and Pearl’s

understanding of it

Chapters 16-18Chapters 16-18• The source of sin is varied, starting with Hester’s

marriage. Sin versus evil.

• Hypocrisy in Mistress Hibbins.

• The forest reflecting mood, joy realized. Hester’s transformation and Pearl’s reaction.

Chapters 19-21Chapters 19-21• Hester and Dimmesdale making the same

mistakes made when the Puritans left for the New World, in reverse.

• Dimmesdale’s wandering thoughts, his soul torn.

• What is the purpose of chapter 21?

Chapters 22-24Chapters 22-24• The visiting sailors and Native

Americans and the Scarlet Letter

• Dimmesdale: judge, jury, and executioner

• Dimmesdale’s proclamation manipulated into allegory

• Pearl becomes human, Hester becomes a symbol