The Scarlet letter

The End of the Novel & The Novel

as a Whole

Dimmesdale’s “revelation:” 4 options

• 1) Self-inflicted

• 2) Chillingworth

• 3) Imprint from God or Remorse

• 4) Nothing

Best option

• Imprint from God or Remorse

• First, the novel allows for the supernatural

• More importantly, as a psychological novel, we have already seen Hawthorne allow psychological truths to have an actual physical manifestation• Chillingworth’s deformity• Dimmesdale’s pain

• The mind and body are connected

• It best fits the symbolic and narrative pattern

Hester and dimmesdale

• Would it have been better if Dimmesdale and Hester actually ran away together?

Hester’s return

• Why does Hester return?

• Why doesn’t Pearl?

Hester’s occupation

• “And, as Hester Prynne had no selfish ends, nor lived in any measure for her own profit and enjoyment, people brought all their sorrows and perplexities, and besought her counsel, as one who had herself gone through a mighty trouble. Women, more especially -- in the continually recurring trials of wounded, wasted, wronged, misplaced, or erring and sinful passion -- or with the dreary burden of a heart unyielded, because unvalued and unsought came to Hester's cottage, demanding why they were so wretched, and what the remedy! Hester comforted and counseled them, as best she might” (232).

Chillingworth

• Quick transformation and demise?• Like a “leech”

without blood, Chillingworth cannot survive

• Hawthorne’s mercy?

• Why does Chillingworth leave his money to Pearl?

Dimmesdale’s decision and message

• "Hadst thou sought the whole earth over," said he looking darkly at the clergyman, "there was no one place so secret -- no high place nor lowly place, where thou couldst have escaped me -- save on this very scaffold!” (224)

• "Be true! Be true! Be true! Show freely to the world, if not your worst, yet some trait whereby the worst may be inferred!” (229)

Last line?

• "ON A FIELD, SABLE, THE LETTER A, GULES"

analysis

• It describe a coat of arms on a shield. The sable field is a black background; gules means red. Thus on this shield, the coat of arms is a red letter (letter gules) appearing against a black background (sable field).

• It is supposed to be somber, but also relieve the gloom

• It is to be a “motto” – for the novel?

• Is this the message – the “rose” – from chapter 1? If not, what is?

Setting up the significance of the setting

• The scaffold?

• The town?

• The forest?

• Europe?

Scaffold

• Public revelation of sin

• More importantly, an avenue for authenticity – “This is who I am.”

Town

• Lack of privacy

• Also, a system of law, morality, rules, and order

forest

• A lack of what the town is

• Nature is amoral

• Against Wordsworth:• “One impulse from

a vernal wood• May teach you

more of man,• Of moral evil and

of good,• Than all the sages

can”

Europe

• Law, system, and order – but not of the Puritan kind

Scaffold as the narrative linchpin

1. Beginning: Hester at the scaffold

2. Middle: Dimmesdale at the scaffold at night; Hester and Pearl join

3. End: All 3, once again, on the scaffold – but this time in public

• Frames the progression and thematic level of the novel

Hawthorne, Hester, gender and society

1. What is Hawthorne saying about gender and gender equality? (See “Another View”)

2. How does the final chapter connect to this conversation?

answers

1. 3 steps to a society of gender-equality: a) Society and its preconceptions need to radically changed; b) the nature of Man needs to modified; and c) then the same for Woman (see “Another View”)

2. Hester sees herself as the “prophetess” of this change, but decides she isn't worthy (see final chapter)

1. Hawthorne’s further point?

Different reactions to novel

• Hawthorne’s time: Praise for the novel’s support and exploration of morality; the novel shows the need to abide by a specific code of ethics

• Contemporary: Praise for the novel’s ability to criticize the social judgments of the time; more focus on the novel’s psychological, emotional, and narrative levels

Analyzing passages

• 3-step process1. Speaker and audience

2. Context: In 1-2 sentences, explain what is happening in the novel around this quotation

3. Significance: Analyze the importance of the quote

Options for a quotation’s significance

1. Does it reveal something significant about a character or a relationship?

2. Is is a significant turning point in the novel; is it important narratively?

3. Is it introducing or exploring a theme?

4. Is it introducing or exploring the symbolic level of the novel?

5. Is it expressing a psychological truth or idea?

6. Is there something in the language itself that is significant? (This can apply in addition to any of the other.)