The A and the Shame
Hester’s profession used to earn a living.
What is a seamstress?
Who is Roger Chillingworth?
Hester’s long-lost husband, who first appears as a physician.
The stern, dark structure next to the jail that represents the rigid Puritan Law.
What is the prison or the prison door?
The primary object that Pearl interacts with and fixates upon as a child.
What is the scarlet letter 'A'?
The character who passionately urges the unknown father to confess to save his soul from 'hidden wickedness.'
Who is Reverend Dimmesdale?
The material used to embroider the scarlet letter.
What is gold thread?
The current Governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, who hosts the meeting about Pearl.
Who is Governor Bellingham?
The wild plant outside the prison door that represents Nature's pity.
What is the rosebush?
Pearl’s specific response when asked about her creator.
What is she was plucked by her mother off the rosebush?
The promise Chillingworth extracts from Hester in the prison.
What is to conceal his true identity as her husband from the public?
The specific occasion for which Hester is never asked to sew garments.
What is a wedding?
The elder minister who asks Pearl, "Who made thee?"
Who is Reverend John Wilson?
The reflection in the suit of armor at the Governor's hall that exaggerates the scarlet letter.
What is that the community sees her entire identity as defined by her sin?
The fear Hester admits to regarding Pearl, which stems from the child's unnatural behavior.
What is that Pearl may be an "elf-child" or "demon offspring"
The reason Dimmesdale gives to argue that Pearl is actually necessary for Hester's salvation.
What is Pearl serves as both a blessing and a torment to keep Hester from falling further into sin?
The "new sense" Hester gains that allows her to perceive the hidden sin of others.
What is the ability to perceive the hidden sin or sorrow of others?
The emotion that Dimmesdale is suffering from, which is causing his physical decline.
What is anguish, guilt, or melancholy?
The reason Hester chooses to remain in Boston after she is legally free to leave.
What is the feeling that her soul is tied to the place where her sin was committed and where the father still lives?
The Puritan belief about Pearl's spiritual status that motivates them to try and take her from Hester.
What is they believe she is a stubborn child who needs a more positive influence?
The reason Chillingworth moves in with Dimmesdale, and what the town thinks of this arrangement.
What is Chillingworth is a physician sent by Providence to save the Reverend's life?
The ironic comparison the narrator makes between the rich and the poor regarding Hester’s treatment.
What is the poor are often crueler to Hester because they feel morally superior while accepting her charity?
The name Chillingworth uses to describe the man he seeks, implying he is a problem to be solved.
What is an intellectual riddle or puzzle?
The literary term for the contrast between the ugly prison and the beautiful rosebush.
What is Antithesis or Juxtaposition?
The specific reason Dimmesdale says Pearl is given to Hester.
What is the constant reminder and penance for her sin?
The specific vice Dimmesdale commits by urging the father to confess, while refusing to do so himself.
What is hypocrisy?