The Scarlet Letter

by Nathaniel
Hawthorne

Notes
 Nathaniel Hawthorne
◼ Born July 4, 1804, in Salem, Mass.
◼ Wrote Twice-Told Tales, The House of
Seven Gables, The Scarlet Letter, etc.
◼ Died in 1864
◼ Buried in Concord, Massachusetts
◼ Great-great-great-great grandfather,
John Hathorne, was judge at Salem
witch trials
Nathaniel Hawthorne
 Background Information
◼ The novel is set in the mid 1600s in
Boston, Massachusetts.
◼ The plot encompasses a seven year
period.
◼ The plot involves the love triangle of
wife-lover-husband.
◼ The major theme of the novel is
developed in the context of good vs.
evil.
 What is Puritanism?
◼ Puritan beliefs:
– An emphasis on private study of the Bible
– A desire to see education and enlightenment for the masses
(especially so they could read the Bible for themselves)
– Simplicity in worship, the exclusion of vestments, images,
candles, etc.
– Did not celebrate traditional holidays which they believed to be
in violation of the regulative principle of worship.
– Believed the Sabbath was still obligatory for Christians, although
they believed the Sabbath had been changed to Sunday
– Some approved of the church’s involvement with the courts
 Point of View
◼ Third Person – Omniscient:
– There is no limit to what the reader knows.
– We hear the inner the thoughts of all the
characters.
 Characters
◼ Hester Prynne- wearer of the scarlet letter
◼ Pearl- child of Hester; living symbol of Hester’s
sin
◼ Roger Chillingworth- learned scholar; doctor
◼ Arthur Dimmesdale- admired young minister
◼ Governor Bellingham- governor and
magistrate of Massachusetts Bay Colony
◼ Rev. John Wilson- senior minister of colony
◼ Mistress Hibbins- Gov. Bellingham’s sister
 Major characters in The
Scarlet Letter
Roger
Arthur
Chillingworth
Dimmesdale

Hester Prynne

daughter
Pearl
 Symbolism
◼ The Scarlet Letter - The letter’s meaning shifts as time
passes. Originally intended to mark Hester as an
adulterer, the “A” eventually comes to stand for “Able.”

◼ Meteor - As Dimmesdale stands on the scaffold with

Hester and Pearl in Chapter XII, a meteor traces out an
“A” in the night sky. To Dimmesdale, the meteor implies
that he should wear a mark of shame just as Hester
does. The meteor is interpreted differently by the rest of
the community, which thinks that it stands for “Angel”
and marks Governor Winthrop’s entry into heaven.
 Symbolism
◼ Pearl - Although Pearl is a complex character,
her primary function within the novel is as a
symbol. Pearl is a sort of living version of her
mother’s scarlet letter. She is the physical
consequence of sexual sin.

◼ Rose Bush - The rosebush symbolizes the

ability of nature to endure and outlast man’s
activities.
 Introduction Information
The Custom House
◼ Narrator is nameless – resembles
Hawthorne
◼ Narrator is “chief executive officer” of
custom house in Salem
◼ “customs” – taxes paid on foreign
imports into Salem
◼ “custom house” – building where
people came to pay taxes
 Introduction Information
The Custom House
◼ Narrator is bored because few people
come to Salem now
◼ Finds a bundle with a scarlet and gold “A”
embroidered on it
◼ Holds it to his chest and it appears to burn
him
 Introduction Information
The Custom House
◼ Manuscript is written by John Pue about
an incident 100 years before his time as
surveyor of the custom house

◼ Narrator re-writes the tale which becomes

what the reader is reading
Chapter 1
Notes
 Chapter 1 - Summary
◼ This chapter sets the
scene (17th c Boston)
◼ Drably dressed Puritans
gathered in front of the
prison
◼ In front of the prison is
a growth of weeds, and
beside it grows a wild
rose bush.
 Chapter 1 – Analysis

◼ The rust, decay, and ugliness foreshadow

the gloom of the novel.
◼ Two landmarks ---the prison & cemetery–
point to themes of punishment & death.
◼ Although the rose is beautiful, it is a
striking contrast to everything else.
Chapter 2
Notes
 Chapter 2 - Summary
◼ Puritans are gathered in front of the
prison to witness a public punishment.
◼ Most of the women appear self-righteous
in discussing Hester Prynne’s sin.
◼ Proud & beautiful, Hester emerges from
the prison wearing an
elaborately embroidered
scarlet letter A on her dress.
◼ The A stands for adultery.
 Chapter 2 - Summary
◼ Hester is carrying a three-month old infant
in her arms.
◼ The crowd is unsympathetic as Hester
walks toward the scaffold of the pillory.
pillory_S
 Chapter 2 - Summary
◼ While standing on the pillory, Hester
dreams of her past life in England (with
her father) and on the Continent (with her
“misshapen scholar” husband).
◼ Stern faces watch Hester.
◼ Hester is painfully aware of her present
position of shame and punishment.
 Chapter 2 – Analysis
◼ Pearl is the symbol of Hester’s sin.
◼ Roger Chillingworth (the misshapen
scholar) is Hester’s legal husband.
◼ Hawthorne reveals his critical attitude
toward Puritan society (probably due to
his family background).
 Chapter 2 – Analysis
◼ The goodwives condemn Hester and
suggest more violent torture. Hawthorne
objected to this type of attitude in early
American Puritanism.
◼ Hawthorne avoids over-generalizing
Puritans by including one character who is
somewhat sympathetic toward Hester.
◼ This chapter is heavy in historical
narrative.
Chapter 3
Notes
 Chapter 3 - Summary
◼ In this chapter, Hawthorne reveals that
Hester was sent ahead from Europe by
her husband.
◼ Hester has been in Boston for two years
without any word from her husband.
◼ Because Hester was with child, she was
not executed for the sin of adultery.
◼ Hester’s punishment is standing on the
scaffold for three hours & wear the
symbolic letter for the rest of her life.
 Chapter 3 - Summary
◼ Hester’s husband encountered problems in
crossing the Atlantic Ocean. At some
point, he was held captive. These
problems delayed him from reaching
Hester.
◼ Hester’s husband is upset that the baby’s
father is not sharing in the public
punishment.
 Chapter 3 - Summary
◼ Hester dreads talking to her husband.
◼ The Reverend Mr. John Wilson is Boston’s
oldest and most famous minister.
◼ The young Reverend Mr. Arthur
Dimmesdale’s voice tone reveals a
kindness toward Hester.
◼ Hester refuses to name the father of her
child.
◼ Pearl cries and screams.
 Chapter 3 – Analysis
◼ Reverend Dimmesdale is the father of
Pearl. This fact makes his passionate
appeal one of the richest passages of
irony in the book (there is a strong
undercurrent of personal meaning in
Dimmesdale’s public remarks).
Chapter 4
Notes
 Chapter 4 - Summary
◼ Back in the prison cell, Pearl convulses in
pain.
◼ Hester’s husband poses as a physician by
the name of Roger Chillingworth, and
does not reveal that he is married to
Hester.
◼ Although fearful he will harm the baby,
Hester allows Chillingworth to give the
baby medicine.
◼ Still in fear, Hester accepts some sedative.
 Chapter 4 - Summary
◼ The sedative calms Hester.
◼ Hester and her husband talk intimately
and sympathetically---both accept a
measure of blame for the current
situation.
◼ Chillingworth does not want revenge
against Hester; however, he wants to
know who violated his marriage.
 Chapter 4 - Summary
◼ Since Hester is concealing the identity of
her lover, Chillingworth requests that
Hester also keep her husband’s identity
secret.
◼ Chillingworth promises not to take the life
or damage the reputation of her unknown
lover (if Hester doesn’t give the name of
her husband).
 Chapter 4 - Summary
◼ Chillingworth warns Hester if she fails to
keep his identity secret, then he will hurt
Pearl’s father.
 Chapter 4 – Analysis
◼ This is one of the more dramatic chapters
of the book.
◼ Regarding the development of
Chillingworth, we see both what he has
been and what he is to become.
◼ Chillingworth is a lonely, gentle scholar
who has been robbed of his wife;
however, he has an element of self-
destruction in his grim determination to
discover the man who has caused him
offense.
 Chapter 4 – Analysis
◼ Hester never pretended to love her
husband.
◼ Hester does deeply love Pearl’s father.
◼ It is Hester’s concern for Dimmesdale
(more than her sense of obliagation to
Chillingworth) that persuades her to swear
to keep her husband’s secret. *This
promise will make Hester and her lover
suffer later in the book.
Chapter 5
Notes
 Chapter 5 -
Summary
◼ After her imprisonment,
Hester is free to leave
Boston; however, she
moves into a small thatched
cottage on the outskirts of
town.
◼ Hester supports herself as a
seamstress. Her work is in
demand for everything but
wedding dresses.
◼ Hester remains a social
outcast. She patiently takes
abuse from the
townspeople.
 Chapter 5 – Analysis
◼ The primary function of this chapter is to show
Hester undergoing penance.
◼ Hester goes beyond the letter of the law–
staying in Boston (atmosphere of torture) when
she could leave.
◼ Hester dresses in the coarsest and most
somber attire when her natural taste is for the
rich and beautiful.
◼ Despite Hester’s apparent humility and her
refusal to strike back, she resents and inwardly
rebels against the viciousness of her Puritan
persecutors.
Chapter 6
Notes
Chapter 6 – Notes
◼ At age three, Pearl is a
physically beautiful,
vigorous, and graceful
little girl.
◼ Pearl has unusual depth
of mind but an
uncontrollable, fiery
passion (neither threats
or kindness of Hester
can control this side of
Pearl).
◼ Hester makes rich,
elaborate dresses for
Pearl.
 Chapter 6 – Notes
◼ Pearl’s mischief and disrespect for
authority remind Hester of her own sin of
the passions.
◼ Hester names her daughter “Pearl”
because she came at a “great price.”
 Chapter 6 – Notes
◼ Hester and Pearl rely on one another because
they are excluded from “respectable” society.
◼ Pearl does not try to make friends; rather, she
throws rocks and screams at the other children.
◼ Pearl’s only companion in play is her
imagination—but even in her games of make-
believe she never creates friends. Pearl does
create make-believe enemies (Puritans) she
plans to destroy.
 Chapter 6 – Notes
◼ The object that most captures Pearl’s
attention is the scarlet letter on her
mother’s dress.
◼ As an infant, Pearl grasped at the letter.
As a child, Pearl threw wild flowers at the
letter.
◼ Pearl denies having a Heavenly Father and
demands that Hester explain where Pearl
came from.
 Chapter 6 -- Analysis
◼ Hester’s interpretation of Pearl’s behavior
as almost supernatural or fiendish takes
place primarily in Hester’s mind.
◼ Hester deeply loves Pearl but cannot
understand her and somewhat fears Pearl.
Chapter 7
Notes
 Chapter 7 -- Summary
◼ Hearing that influential citizens are going to
take Pearl away from her, Hester goes to
Governor Bellingham’s mansion.
◼ Under the pretext of taking him gloves, Hester
plans to plead for the right to keep her
daughter.
◼ When she is taunted by a group of Puritan
children, Pearl screams and threatens the
children.
 Chapter 7 – Summary
◼ Leech is an archaic term for a physician.
◼ Hester attempts to quiet Pearl who is
crying and screaming for one of the red
roses from the garden.
 Chapter 7 -- Analysis
◼ The scarlet A is strengthen by two striking
variations: the magnified A in the
breastplate, and Pearl as a living version
of the scarlet symbol.
Chapter 8
Notes
 Chapter 8 -- Summary
◼ The Governor is shocked by Pearl’s vain and
immodest costume. He doubts Hester’s fitness
to raise Pearl in a Christian way.
◼ The Governor instructs Reverend Wilson to test
Pearl’s knowledge of religious items.
◼ Although Hester has taught Pearl much more
about religion than most
three year olds, Pearl
deliberately pretends
ignorance.
 Chapter 8 -- Summary
◼ After a plea from Hester, Dimmesdale
persuades the Governor and Wilson to let
Pearl remain with her mother (as a
blessing from God & as a reminder of sin).
◼ Leaving the mansion, Mistress Hibbins
(the governor’s sister) invites Hester to a
midnight meeting of witches in the forest.
Hester declines.
 Chapter 8 Analysis

◼ For the first time in three years (since the

scaffold) the four main characters are together.
◼ This chapter contains the first hints as to
Dimmesdale being the father.
◼ Dimmesdale has been suffering with his
concealed guilt.
◼ Chillingworth physically appears more ugly,
dark, and misshapen.
Chapter 9
Notes
 Chapter 9 Summary
◼ Some Puritans believe that it is as special act of
Providence that Chillingworth has arrived and
can take care of Dimmesdale.
◼ Dimmesdale and Chillingworth have separate
apartments in the same house.
◼ Gradually, the townspeople become suspicious
of Chillingworth; however, they have faith that
Dimmesdale is strong enough to overcome his
tormentor.
 Chapter 9 – Analysis
◼ For Dimmesdale, the relationship with
Chillingworth is dangerous.
◼ There is a Satanic turn in Chillingworth’s
character
Chapter 10
Notes
 Chapter 10 -- Summary
◼ Chillingworth is obsessed with discovering
the truth.
◼ Chillingworth asks Dimmesdale why a man
should be willing to carry secret sins to
the grave rather than confessing them
during his lifetime.
◼ Dimmesdale replies that most men do
confess but that some men do not
because they would no longer be able to
do God’s work on earth.
 Chapter 10 -- Summary
◼ Chillingworth finds Dimmesdale asleep in a
chair. He pulls aside the minister’s
vestment (ceremonial robe) and finds a
letter A carved into the skin.
◼ Chillingworth experiences feelings of
wonder, joy, and horror.
 Chapter 10 Analysis
◼ Chillingworth has become diabolical in his
determination. As seen in chapter ten, this is
the most vicious side of Chillingworth; however,
Hawthorne reminds the reader that C had once
been kindly, pure, and upright. C did not
choose a path of evil.
◼ C is a victim of his need to seek the truth.
◼ D is a victim of his own weakness.
◼ Dimmesdale is consumed with painful inner
suffering. He is wasting away from the
struggle with his soul.
Chapter 11
Notes
 Chapter 11 -- Summary
◼ Knowing the secret, Chillingworth begins his
unrelenting torture of Dimmesdale.
◼ Dimmesdale begins to abhor Chillingworth
Dimmesdale tolerates Chillingworth because he
feels the dislike stems from an impurity in his
own heart.
◼ Dimmesdale becomes more popular among the
congregation. D’s suffering allows him to
sympathize with the sin and suffering of others.
 Chapter 11 -- Summary
◼ The misplaced adoration (from the
congregation) tortures Dimmesdale and he
wants to confess.
◼ Incapable of the one act necessary for his
salvation, Dimmesdale substitutes self-
punishment (often by beating himself with a
bloody scourge) &
walks the house at
night.
 Chapter 11 -- Analysis
◼ Hawthorne’s irony shows up again in the
clever paradox of Dimmesdale’s futile
attempts at public confession.
◼ The more D asserts his own sinfulness,
the holier the congregation believe him to
be.
Chapter 12
Notes
 Chapter 12 -- Summary
◼ Realizing the mockery of his standing safe
and unseen where he should have stood
seven years earlier before the
townspeople, Dimmesdale is overcome by
a self-abhorrence which leads him to
shriek aloud.
◼ Dimmesdale tells Pearl he cannot stand
with them on the scaffold the next day but
that he will stand with them on judgement
day.
◼ Hester refuses to reveal Chillingworth’s
identity to Dimmesdale.
 Chapter 12 -- Analysis
◼ One of the most powerful chapters (due to
the symbolism)
◼ Hawthorne was a master at psychological
realism (D’s sudden mood changes, self-
condemnation, near insanity, subconscious
expression of suppressed desires).
◼ D’s first two refusals to acknowledge
publicly Hester and Pearl may suggest
Peter’s first two denials of Christ. (But
perhaps Dimmesdale, like Peter, will have
a third opportunity.)
Chapter 13
Notes
 Chapter 13—Summary
◼ Hester’s untiring services to the sick, the
poor, and the troubled have won her
much respect among the townspeople
who once condemned her.
◼ Some people attribute to the embroidered
letter a supernatural power to protect its
wearer.
◼ Hester’s warmth, charm, and passion have
been replaced with coldness, severity, and
drabness.
 Chapter 13—Summary
◼ Only in the care and education of Pearl
does Hester demonstrate warmth and
enthusiasm (but Pearl’s abnormal nature
baffles and saddens Hester).
◼ Hester wonders whether it would be
better if she and Pearl were dead. The
fact that she can contemplate suicide
indicates that the letter has not done its
job.
 Chapter 13—Analysis
◼ This chapter helps the reader understand
Hester.
Chapter 14
Notes
 Chapter 14--Summary
◼ Chillingworth tells Hester that there is talk that
she may be allowed to remove the letter.
◼ Hester denies the right of the magistrates to
remove the letter saying if she were worthy to
not have the letter that it would naturally fall
away.
◼ Hester believes Chillingworth has been
transformed into a devil. Chillingworth blames
Dimmesdale for his transformation and says
that D has made his purpose in life evil.
 Chapter 14--Summary
◼ Chillingworth tells Hester that she can
reveal his identity to Dimmesdale.
◼ Hester is not really sinful or fiend-like.
Fate has created the tragic situation.
 Chapter 14--Analysis
◼ Hester’s misery (as she senses her
responsibility for Dimmesdale’s suffering & for
Chillingworth’s moral deterioration) evokes the
physician’s sympathy.
◼ The suggestion that Chillingworth is powerless
to resist the dictates of fate does not in
Hawthorne’s view, excuse the physician from
responsibility for his actions --- but it does
make it possible for the reader to sympathize,
while condemning him.
Chapter 15
Notes
 Chapter 15 -- Summary
◼ After Pearl arranges eel-grass (in the form
of a letter A) on her dress, Hester tells
Pearl that the green letter has no
meaning.
◼ Pearl says Hester’s letter means the same
thing as when the minister puts his hand
over his heart.
◼ Hester says she knows nothing of the
minister’s heart.
 Chapter 15 -- Analysis
◼ Despite their moment of mutual pity in the
preceding chapter, Hester hates
Chillingworth. By involving her in the
unnatural marriage, Chillingworth set off
the chain of events leading to her present
suffering, and Dimmesdale’s.
◼ Despite Hester going beyond the letter of
the law in accepting punishment, she is
not at heart truly repentant.
 Chapter 15 -- Analysis
◼ The pathetic loneliness of Hester’s position
becomes vivid as Hawthorne shows her
wondering whether she might not make of
Pearl a real friend and confide to her at
least part of the truth about the letter A.
◼ Only two adults besides Hester know the
full story and neither is convenient or
pleasant to talk with about the issue.
◼ Hester has no one to talk to.
 Chapter 15 -- Analysis
◼ It is natural that Hester is tempted to take
Pearl into her confidence, and it is sad
that, instead, she slams the door on her
daughter’s curiosity. In so doing, Hester
finds it necessary to lie about the reason
for her scarlet letter. As Hawthorne points
out, this is the first time in seven years
that she has been false to the symbol she
wears.
Chapter 16
Notes
 Chapter 16 -- Summary
◼ While in the forest, Pearl suggests that the
sunshine is running from Hester because
of the letter she wears.
◼ Hester tells Pearl that the Black Man of the
forest put the mark on Hester.
 Chapter 16 -- Analysis
◼ The chilly gloom of the forest almost
perfectly reflects Hester’s state of mind.
◼ The narrow footpath through the dense
forest is suggestive of the path which
Hester has been forced to follow for the
past seven years.
◼ Hester sees the forest itself as the “moral
wilderness in which she had so long been
wandering.”
 Chapter 16 -- Analysis
◼ The obvious significance of the sunshine fleeing
from Hester is complicated by the irony of the
ever-vivacious Pearl’s appearing to absorb the
sunshine.
◼ The story of the Black Man and his mark is
described as common superstition; yet for
Hester, it has a special and personal meaning.
◼ The brook is suggestive of Pearl “inasmuch as
the current of her life gushed from a well-
spring as mysterious, and had flowed through
scenes shadowed as heavily with gloom.”
 Chapter 16 -- Analysis
◼ The difference between the song of the
brook and the song of the girl is also
symbolic. Unlike the brook and Hester,
Pearl has not known sorrow which leads to
melancholy.
Chapter 17
Notes
 Chapter 17 -- Summary
◼ Neither Dimmesdale nor Hester have found
peace.
◼ Dimmesdale and Hester have both worked to
atone for their sins; however, D suffers more
because his sin is concealed.
◼ Hester tells Dimmesdale that Chillingworth is
her husband and that he is an enemy to D. D
forgives Hester for not telling him earlier.
◼ D says Chillingworth’s sin is greater than their
sin.
◼ Hester and D vow to leave Boston together.
 Chapter 17 -- Analysis
◼ This chapter is key to the development of the
love story. After seven years, Hester and
Dimmesdale are able to be alone to talk.
◼ Hester realizes that she must be a source of
strength for D.
◼ Dimmesdale is seen as a man (rather than just
a minister) whose passions are not always
under perfect control.
◼ D’s cry of despair and appeal for help from
Hester tend to humanize him and make him a
more believable character.
Chapter 18
Notes
 Chapter 18 -- Summary
◼ Hester is a woman of independent mind and
strong passions, who has never been a Puritan
and who for seven years has not even been a
member of society. Hester’s strength and
assurance convince Dimmesdale that they can
start a new life together.
◼ Feeling a surge of joy, Hester removes her
letter and cap. As her rich, dark hair falls about
her shoulders, Hester youth, passion and
beauty seem to return. The sunshine breaks
through the forest.
 Chapter 18 -- Summary
◼ Dimmesdale is afraid that Pearl may not like
him. Hester is sure that having a father will
help to straighten out Pearl.
◼ Pearl seems so wild in the village; however, in
the forest she is in her proper element. The
forest, as though recognizing her nature, takes
her in as one of its own. The animals do not
run from Pearl and the wild flowers seem
pleased when she gathers them to decorate her
hair and dress.
 Chapter 18 -- Analysis
◼ In the forest, nature’s principles operate
rather than the laws of man. Hester and
Dimmesdale have given in to natural
impulses, and Nature symbolically
indicates its approval in a sudden burst of
sunshine.
◼ Mistakenly thinking that he can change his
entire nature and turn his back on the
past, the minister becomes exuberant at
the thought of escaping with Hester.
 Chapter 18 -- Analysis
◼ The obvious symbolism of the forest’s
accepting Pearl is that she was born of a
natural, rather than a socially-sanctioned,
union.
◼ With all three of the family group now molding
their conduct to the laws of nature (rather than
the laws of man) it almost appears they can
find happiness. The discouraging omens are
that D fears that Pearl may not accept him and
the slowness in which Pearl approaches him.
Chapter 19
Notes
 Chapter 19 – Summary & Analysis
◼ Dimmesdale admitted fear that someone might have
noticed the resemblance Pearl had to her father.
◼ Upon seeing her mother without the letter, Pearl goes
into a fit of rage.
◼ In Chapter 2, Hester was tempted to hold Pearl up so
as to cover the letter – but realized that “one token of
shame would poorly serve to hide another.”
◼ Here the living symbol (although she did so
unknowingly) of Hester’s sin actually forces her to
accept again the cloth token (letter.)
◼ Pearl kisses her mother but washes away
Dimmesdale’s kiss because he has not publically
acknowledged his part.
Chapter 20
Notes
 Chapter 20 – Summary
◼ Hester is to secretly book passage for two
adults and one child on a Bristol-bound
ship. They are leaving for Europe in four
days – one day after Dimmesdale is to
preach the Election Sermon. D is so
happy that he seems physically stronger.
◼ Back in town, D encounters irrational
temptations. He wonders whether he has
really sold his soul to the devil.
◼ D burns his old sermon and writes a new
one.
 Chapter 20 – Analysis
◼ In the change in Dimmesdale, and in his series of
temptations toward some wild and wicked action,
Hawthorne shows the deep subconscious effects of
Dimmesdale’s conscious commitment to sin.
◼ Until his agreement with Hester, D’s strong Puritan
conscious had struggled constantly with his weak
will. But now, he has made the deliberate choice
for the first time to do what he wants (although it
be a sin).
◼ D’s subconscious tries to make his guilt known.
Hawthorne had tremendous psychological insight.
Chapter 21
Notes
 Chapter 21 – Summary & Analysis
◼ Hester tells Pearl that the minister will be
a the market place but that they must not
greet each other.
◼ Hester learns that Chillingworth has
planned to take Dimmesdale on the ship
to Europe. Escaping Chillingworth will not
be an easy task for Hester, Pearl, and D.
◼ Puritans were forbidden to act as freely as
the sailors
Chapter 22
Notes
Chapter 22 -- Summary & Analysis
◼ As he passes, Dimmesdale fails to look at
Hester. It upsets and depresses Hester
that D ignored her in passing.
◼ Dimmesdale’s strength is only temporary.
◼ The strings of tension are drawn tighter as
Hawthorne brings in each of the major
characters. The point of crisis has arrived,
and the problem is entirely Dimmesdale’s.
Chapter 23
Notes
 Chapter 23 -- Summary & Analysis
◼ Dimmesdale inspires the crowd with his speech.
◼ Standing with Hester and Pearl, Dimmesdale
tells Hester that he is dying and must
acknowledge his shame – he turns to the crowd
and discloses his guilt.
◼ As D dies, Chillingworth cries out (because D is
escaping his grasp).
◼ D asks God to forgive Chillingworth, asks for a
kiss from Pearl (which he receives), and tells
Hester farewell.
 Chapter 23 -- Summary & Analysis
◼ Dimmesdale symbolically rejects the help of
Reverend Wilson (representing the church) and
Governor Bellingham (representing the state).
He turns only to Hester for support in a
moment of crisis – even she cannot help him at
this point. He must expose the letter on his
chest.
◼ When the climactic action drains D of his
strength and he collapses, it is again Hester on
whom he leans. But she cannot assure him
that his public act of repentance was better
than their plan to escape from Boston.
 Chapter 23 -- Summary & Analysis
◼ D’s recognition of Pearl takes place in the form
of a highly symbolic kiss. It symbolizes Pearl’s
acceptance and forgiveness of him. Also, it
converts her from a cold, unreal, imp-like
creature into a human being, one who weeps
human tears for the first time in the book.
Pearl becomes a person --- “A spell was
broken.”
◼ D has made his place with God, but unlike
Hester, he is too much the Puritan to be
optimistic about the future.
Chapter 24
Notes
 Chapter 24 -- Summary & Analysis
◼ Some people in the market place say the mark
on Dimmesdale was the result of
Chillingworth’s magic drugs --- while others say
it was the result of a suffering spirit, the result
of D’s own hand, or that there was no mark at
all.
◼ Though he finds Chillingworth’s sin the most
grievous in the book, Hawthorne is not Puritan
enough to view the man coldly and vindictively.
 Chapter 24 -- Summary & Analysis
◼ Hawthorne gives strong hints that Pearl lived
on in happiness and wealth, married well, had
a child, and remained an affectionate and
dutiful daughter to Hester.
◼ While Hester, Dimmesdale, and Chillingworth
were all involved in the tragedy through their
own sins, Pearl was a helpless victim.
◼ The end of the novel focuses on Hester. After
inheriting property (incredible wealth) from
Chillingworth, Hester went to Europe with
Pearl. After a number of years Hester returned
to her cottage in Boston.
 Chapter 24 -- Summary & Analysis
◼ Although Hester had done her penitence (and
not the sternest Puritan would have forced
Hester to wear the letter again), she put it on
voluntarily and wore it the rest of her life.
◼ Hester gained a kind of wisdom through her
suffering. After many years, Hester died and
was buried in the cemetery near Dimmesdale.
One tombstone served both graves and read –
“On a black background, the scarlet letter A.”