The Scarlet Letter Chapters 1-4
What is the setting of The Scarlet Letter?
Boston
What item is Hester delivering to the governor when she visits in ch. 7?
gloves
Why is Chillingworth able to monitor all of Dimmesdale's movements?
They live in the same boarding house.
How has the meaning of the scarlet letter Hester wears changed in Ch. 13?
The villagers now claim that it means ABLE.
Who does Hester say is responsible for her scarlet letter?
The Black Man or the Devil
What promise does Chillingworth ask Hester to make?
To keep his identity a secret.
Who is described as the physical manifestation of the Scarlet Letter?
Pearl
In the Scarlet Letter who is described as the "leech"?
Chillingworth
What is Hester's reaction to hearing that the magistrates are considering allowing her to remove the scarlet letter?
She says that the magistrates do not have the power to remove the badge. She claims that if she was worthy enough for it to be removed, the letter would fall off of its own accord.
What makes Pearl refuse to approach her mother?
Hester has briefly removed the scarlet letter as she sits by the brook.
When Hester is standing on the scaffold, what religious figure does Hawthorne compare her to?
He compares her to Divine Maternity.
Governer Bellingham has a sister who is a witch. What is her name?
Mistress Hibbens
She whispers gibberish in his ear.
In ch. 15 Hester reflects on her marriage. What behavior of Chillingworth's does Hester feel was a greater wrong than her adultery?
Chillingworth convinced Hester that she was happy with him.
What prevents Dimmesdale from making peace with their adultery?
He is a very religious man and finds his own falseness painful.
Chillingworth says he understands why his marriage with Hester wasn't going to work out. What TWO reasons does he give?
He describes himself as "a man of thought...having already given my best years to feed the hungry dream of knowledge" meaning he is much older than her (Hawthorne 77). He also says he has a "physical deformity" which makes him unattractive to her (77).
What are the two reasons Hester chooses not to leave the colony?
She wants to repent for her sin and she wants to stay close to the father of her baby.
What is ironic about Dimmesdale's immense success as a minister?
The more he claims to be a vile and corrupted minister, the more his congregation praises him, thinking that he is just being modest.
What is the "sad transformation" that has happened to Hester in ch. 13?
She has lost much of her beauty and vibrant personality. All the life has been drained out of her.
Finish the quote.
Death was too definite an object to be wished for or ______.
avoided
Finish the quote.
Hester: My child must seek a ______ _______ ; she shall never know an earthly one.
My child must seek a heavenly Father; she shall never know an earthly one!
What reason does Dimmesdale give for allowing Hester to raise her child?
He says that raising Pearl will keep Hester from falling into "blacker depths of sin."
Chillingworth gathers black weeds growing on a man's grave. What do they represent?
They represent the guilt and shame of unconfessed sin.
Finish the quote.
Let men tremble to win the hand of woman, unless they win along with it the utmost ________ of her heart.
passion
How does Hawthorne describe the forest through Pearl's eyes? What role does it play in her life?