Characters
Who is accused, tried, and jailed for committing adultery?
Hester Prynne
"... I betrayed thy budding youth into a false and unnatural relation with my decay."
Since Chillingworth uses "decay" to describe himself, we can assume he is...
incredibly old / much older than her
to thoroughly overwhelm and reduce to submission or passivity
quell
"... the little Puritans, being of the most intolerant brood that ever lived... scorned [Hester and Pearl] in their hearts, and not unfrequently reviled them with their tongues."
This clearly shows the author's tone as...
Vindicative, harsh, cruel
Hester wears this in order to serve as a symbol for her guilt for all to see
Who is the Magistrate who maybe (definitely) has something to do with Hester and her crime/punishment?
Mister Dimmesdale
"Lifting the iron hammer that hung at the portal, Hester Prynne have a summons..."
By using "portal" instead of 'door', the author makes us feel like this door is...
incredibly important / about to change Hester's life
deep personal humiliation and disgrace; disgraceful or dishonorable conduct, quality, or action
ignominy
"It seemed to argue so wide a diffusion of her shame, that all nature knew of it... the leaves of the trees whispered the dark story among themselves,--had the summer breeze murmered about it--had the wintry blast shrieked it aloud!"
The mood created here is..
Eerie, Haunting, nerve-wracking, tense
Hester is living proof of love the art, not the artist since she does this for the townspeople
sews / embroiders
Hester's husband who is now going by this name in order to not be associated with her (shhh, keep it a secret)
Roger Chillingsworth
"...compels human beings to linger and haunt."
by comparing Hester's decision to stay in the colony to a ghost haunting something, the author is trying to tell us that Hester feels ______.
Like she's died / like she's no longer the same as the others and cannot interact with them
gross injustice; a wicked act or thing
iniquity
"Shouldst thou fail me in this, beware! His fame, his position, his life, will be in my hands. Beware!"
Based on this, the reader is meant to feel (mood)...
fearful, foreboding, scared
This represents the uncivilized, unknown, but also a strange kind of freedom
the forest
The baby who is growing up right before our eyes - as is the shame and guilt Hester has for her conception
Pearl
"Vanity, it may be, chose to mortify itself, by putting on... the garments that had been wrought by her sinful hands."
Using the word "vanity" to describe the Puritans' want for nice clothing reinforces the idea that Puritans...
were plain & strict
formal or ceremonious observance of an occasion or event
solemnity
"... the child stood still and gazed at Hester, with that little, laughing image of a fiend peeping out--whether it peeped out or no, her mother so imagined it--from the unsearchable abyss of her black eyes."
This quote shows how the author feels ______ towards Hester.
doubtful, unsympathetic
This represents restriction, suppression, and shamming of human nature
the town / colony
Someone we have yet to know the name of, but he shares one half of the blame for all of this!
The father
"But sometimes... she felt an eye... upon the ignominious brand, that seemed to give a momentary relief, as if half of her agony were shared. The next instant, back it all rushed again... for... she had sinned anew."
Describing the look of another as sharing her "agony", and then her relief being described as sinning, tells us the person who looked at her must have been...
The father of Pearl
calling forth respect through age, character, and attainments
venerable
"... the children of the Puritans looked up from their play, or what passed for play with those sombre little urchins,--had spake gravely one to another:--"
We can see the tone here is...
disgust, judgement
The real reason Hester doesn't move far, far away isn't because she needs to feel and repent for her sin, but because of...
Pearl's father