literature review of the scarlet letter

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The Scarlet Letter

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• Lit2go - "The Scarlet Letter"
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• University of Liège - Open Repository and Bibliography - Roger Chillingworth: An Example of the Creative Process in 'The Scarlet Letter'
• Literary Devices - The Scarlet Letter
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The Scarlet Letter , novel by Nathaniel Hawthorne , published in 1850. It is considered a masterpiece of American literature and a classic moral study.

The novel is set in a village in Puritan New England . The main character is Hester Prynne , a young woman who has borne a child out of wedlock. Hester believes herself a widow, but her husband, Roger Chillingworth, arrives in New England very much alive and conceals his identity. He finds his wife forced to wear the scarlet letter A on her dress as punishment for her adultery . After Hester refuses to name her lover, Chillingworth becomes obsessed with finding his identity. When he learns that the man in question is Arthur Dimmesdale , a saintly young minister who is the leader of those exhorting her to name the child’s father, Chillingworth proceeds to torment him. Stricken by guilt, Dimmesdale becomes increasingly ill. Hester herself is revealed to be a self-reliant heroine who is never truly repentant for committing adultery with the minister; she feels that their act was consecrated by their deep love for each other. Although she is initially scorned, over time her compassion and dignity silence many of her critics.

In the end, Chillingworth is morally degraded by his monomaniacal pursuit of revenge. Dimmesdale is broken by his own sense of guilt, and he publicly confesses his adultery before dying in Hester’s arms. Only Hester can face the future bravely, as she prepares to begin a new life with her daughter, Pearl , in Europe. Years later Hester returns to New England, where she continues to wear the scarlet letter. After her death she is buried next to Dimmesdale, and their joint tombstone is inscribed with “ON A FIELD, SABLE, THE LETTER A, GULES.”

The scarlet letter A that Hester is forced to wear is finely embroidered with gold-coloured thread. As both a badge of shame and a beautifully wrought human artifact , it reflects the many oppositions in the novel, such as those between order and transgression, civilization and wilderness, and adulthood and childhood. The more society strives to keep out wayward passion, the more it reinforces the split between appearance and reality. The members of the community who are ostensibly the most respectable are often the most depraved, while the apparent sinners are often the most virtuous.

The novel also crafts intriguing symmetries between social oppression and psychological repression. Dimmesdale’s sense of torment at his guilty secret and the physical and mental manifestations of his malaise reflect the pathology of a society that needs to scapegoat and alienate its so-called sinners. Eventually, personal integrity is able to break free from social control. Perhaps more than any other novel, The Scarlet Letter effectively encapsulates the emergence of individualism and self-reliance from America’s Puritan and conformist roots.

The Scarlet Letter

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The Scarlet Letter

Home » Literature Explained – Literary Synopses and Book Summaries » The Scarlet Letter

The Scarlet Letter Introduction

Read a complete overview of The Scarlet Letter along with an outline of its literary elements.

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Character Descriptions

Who are the characters in The Scarlet Letter?

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Major Themes

What are the major themes in The Scarlet Letter?

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Major Symbols

What are the major symbols in The Scarlet Letter?

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The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne: A Comprehensive Review

03 Mar The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne: A Comprehensive Review

Introduction.

“The Scarlet Letter” is a historical fiction novel written by Nathaniel Hawthorne, first published in 1850. The novel is set in 17th-century Puritan Massachusetts and tells the story of Hester Prynne, a woman who is punished for committing adultery by being forced to wear a scarlet letter “A” on her chest. The novel explores themes of guilt, sin, and redemption, as well as the role of women in society.

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Thesis statement:

“The Scarlet Letter” is a classic work of American literature that offers a profound exploration of the human condition, with complex characters and a richly detailed historical setting

Suggested reading age: High school and above.

The novel begins with Hester Prynne being led out of the town prison, carrying her infant daughter Pearl, and being forced to stand on a scaffold in the town square, wearing the scarlet letter “A” on her chest. The townspeople gather to witness her punishment, and Hester’s husband, who has been absent for some time, appears in the crowd. He is a scholar and physician, and he adopts the name Roger Chillingworth.

Hester refuses to reveal the identity of her lover, and Chillingworth becomes obsessed with finding out who he is. He suspects the town’s young minister, Arthur Dimmesdale, and begins to torment him psychologically. Meanwhile, Hester lives on the outskirts of town, raising Pearl and doing charitable work for the community.

Over time, Dimmesdale’s guilt and Chillingworth’s torment take a toll on his health. Eventually, Dimmesdale publicly confesses his sin and dies in Hester’s arms. Chillingworth dies soon after, leaving Hester and Pearl to leave Boston and start a new life.

• Hester Prynne:  The protagonist of the novel, Hester is a strong and independent woman who refuses to name her lover and accept shame for her actions. She is a complex character who is both a sinner and a saint, and her strength and resilience are admirable.
• Arthur Dimmesdale:  The young minister who is Hester’s lover, Dimmesdale is a weak and conflicted character who is unable to come to terms with his sin. He is tormented by Chillingworth and ultimately dies from his guilt.
• Roger Chillingworth:  Hester’s husband and the novel’s antagonist, Chillingworth is a cold and calculating man who seeks revenge on Dimmesdale. He is a complex character who is both a victim and a villain.
• Pearl:  Hester’s daughter, Pearl is a wild and unconventional child who represents the product of Hester’s sin. She is a symbol of both innocence and sin, and her relationship with Hester is one of the novel’s central themes.

“The Scarlet Letter” is a richly layered novel that explores a variety of themes and literary devices. Some of the most notable include:

• Symbolism:  The scarlet letter “A” is the novel’s most prominent symbol, representing both Hester’s sin and her identity as an outcast. Other symbols in the novel include the scaffold, the forest, and the rosebush.
• Imagery:  Hawthorne uses vivid imagery to create a richly detailed historical setting. He describes the town, the people, and the natural environment in great detail, creating a sense of immersion for the reader.
• Irony:  The novel is full of ironic twists, such as the fact that Dimmesdale, who is seen as a saintly figure by the townspeople, is actually a sinner, while Hester, who is seen as a sinner, is actually a saintly figure.
• Foreshadowing:  Hawthorne uses foreshadowing to build suspense and hint at future events. For example, he foreshadows Dimmesdale’s confession and death early in the novel.
• Point of view:  The novel is written in the third person, but it shifts between different characters’ perspectives, giving the reader a deeper understanding of their thoughts and feelings.

“The Scarlet Letter” is a classic work of American literature that has stood the test of time. It is a profound exploration of the human condition, with complex characters and a richly detailed historical setting. The novel’s themes of guilt, sin, and redemption are still relevant today, and its exploration of the role of women in society is particularly resonant.

The novel is not without its flaws, however. Some readers may find the pacing slow, and the language can be dense and difficult to understand at times. Additionally, some of the novel’s themes and ideas may be controversial or challenging for some readers.

Overall, “The Scarlet Letter” is a must-read for anyone interested in American literature or the human condition. It is a powerful and thought-provoking novel that will leave a lasting impression on the reader.

Possible questions for a high school test:

• What is the significance of the scarlet letter “A” in the novel?
• How does Hawthorne use imagery to create a sense of immersion in the historical setting?
• What is the relationship between Hester and Pearl, and what does it represent?
• How does Dimmesdale’s guilt manifest itself throughout the novel?
• What is the role of women in Puritan society, as depicted in the novel?
• The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne, Reviewed
• Nathaniel Hawthorne | Biography, Books, Short Stories, Writing Style, & Facts

Awards and accolades:

• “The Scarlet Letter” has been widely recognized as a classic work of American literature and has been included in numerous lists of the greatest novels of all time.
• The novel was a best-seller in its time and has remained popular ever since.

Functional, bibliographic details:

• ISBN: 978-0-06-135096-2
• Number of pages: 256
• Publisher Name: Modern Library
• First publish date: 1850
• Genre: Historical fiction
• BISAC Categories: Fiction / Classics, Fiction / Historical, Fiction / Literary
• Suggested Reading Age: High school and above

Spoilers/How Does It End

You were warned!

It is revealed that the novel concludes with a focus on redemption and the consequences of past actions. Dimmesdale dies after confessing his identity as Pearl’s father, believing that he has saved his soul. Pearl inherits Chillingworth’s fortune, which allows her to live a happy life and escape the stigma of her tainted origins. Hester returns to the New England community years later to live out her days quietly, still wearing the scarlet letter by choice. The ending shows how individuals can learn from past mistakes, even if they also have to live with the consequences of those actions. Hester’s identity will always be bound up with the fateful choice she made, as evidenced by the final image of the novel, which is a description of her tombstone emblazoned with the letter A. The novel does not have a strictly happy ending, but it does allow for redemption and peace

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The Scarlet Letter

By nathaniel hawthorne, the scarlet letter study guide.

Published in 1850, The Scarlet Letter is considered Nathaniel Hawthorne 's most famous novel--and the first quintessentially American novel in style, theme, and language. Set in seventeenth-century Puritan Massachusetts, the novel centers around the travails of Hester Prynne , who gives birth to a daughter Pearl after an adulterous affair. Hawthorne's novel is concerned with the effects of the affair rather than the affair itself, using Hester's public shaming as a springboard to explore the lingering taboos of Puritan New England in contemporary society.

The Scarlet Letter was an immediate success for a number of reasons. First and foremost, the United States was still a relatively new society, less than one hundred years old at the time of the novel’s publication. Indeed, still tied to Britain in its cultural formation, Hawthorne's novel offered a uniquely American style, language, set of characters, and--most importantly--a uniquely American central dilemma. Besides entertainment, then, Hawthorne's novel had the possibility of goading change, since it addressed a topic that was still relatively controversial, even taboo. Certainly Puritan values had eased somewhat by 1850, but not enough to make the novel completely welcome. It was to some degree a career-threatening decision to center his novel around an adulterous affair (but compare the plot of Fielding's Tom Jones ).

But Hawthorne was not concerned with a prurient affair here, though the novel’s characters are. Hawthorne chose to leave out the details of the adulterous rendezvous between Hester and Dimmesdale entirely. Instead, he was concerned with the aftermath of the affair--the shaming of Hester, the raising of a child borne of sin, and the values of a society that would allow a sin to continue to be punished long after it would seem reasonable. Hawthorne takes advantage of his greatest assets as a writer--the interiority of his writing, his exploration of thoughts and emotions--and uses them to humanize all the parties involved in the affair, as well as to demonize the thoughts that become consumed by it. Chillingworth, notably, becomes the embodiment of Puritan values, which led people to lynch and destroy in the name of God but motivated in large measure by the people’s own repressed sins of lust, greed, and envy.

The Scarlet Letter also became intensely popular upon publication because it had the good fortune of becoming one of America's first mass-published books. Before The Scarlet Letter, books in America usually were handmade, sold one by one in small numbers. But Hawthorne's novel benefited from a machine press, and its first run of 2,500 copies sold out immediately. As a result, then, The Scarlet Letter benefited not only from its implicit controversial subject matter but also from an unusually large available readership. Readers who agreed or disagreed with the book's choices, however subtly, could spread the word. The novel became the equivalent of a seminal political tract--and the subject of endless discussion and debate, no doubt influencing social change. The novel also benefited because of Hawthorne’s support and respect among New England's literary establishment (he would soon become good friends with Herman Melville). Thus, the novel became popular not only with the masses. It was heralded as “appropriate” reading despite its attention to adulterous love.

The Scarlet Letter has been adapted many times on film, on television, and on the stage. The first film was a 1917 black-and-white silent film, while the most recent--and much maligned--film version opened in 1995 starring Demi Moore and Gary Oldman.

The Scarlet Letter Questions and Answers

The Question and Answer section for The Scarlet Letter is a great resource to ask questions, find answers, and discuss the novel.

Scarlet Letter Quotes Please

Her breast, with its badge of shame , was but the softer pillow for the head that needed one. ch 13

Why does Dimmesdale decide to flee with Hester?

Dimmesdale looks beyong his place in the community and embraces his role as a father. He wants his family, so he decides to leave.

who is the elder clergyman who speaks to hester

The elder minister is John Wilson.

Study Guide for The Scarlet Letter

The Scarlet Letter study guide contains a biography of Nathaniel Hawthorne, literature essays, a complete e-text, quiz questions, major themes, characters, and a full summary and analysis.

• About The Scarlet Letter
• The Scarlet Letter Summary
• The Scarlet Letter Video
• Character List

Essays for The Scarlet Letter

The Scarlet Letter essays are academic essays for citation. These papers were written primarily by students and provide critical analysis of The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne.

• The Little Human A Incarnate
• Perception Blanketed by Passion
• Original Sin
• Hawthorne's "Witch-Baby" in The Scarlet Letter
• Hester's Role as Both the Sinner and Saint

Lesson Plan for The Scarlet Letter

• About the Author
• Study Objectives
• Common Core Standards
• Introduction to The Scarlet Letter
• Relationship to Other Books
• Bringing in Technology
• Notes to the Teacher
• Related Links
• The Scarlet Letter Bibliography

E-Text of The Scarlet Letter

The Scarlet Letter e-text contains the full text of The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne.

• INTRODUCTORY. THE CUSTOM-HOUSE
• CHAPTER I. THE PRISON-DOOR
• CHAPTER II. THE MARKET-PLACE
• CHAPTER III. THE RECOGNITION
• CHAPTER IV. THE INTERVIEW

Wikipedia Entries for The Scarlet Letter

• Introduction

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Themes and Analysis

The scarlet letter, by nathaniel hawthorne.

Nathaniel Hawthorne’s ‘The Scarlet Letter’ is stuffed with themes that border around aspects of religion and human morality such as sinning, confessing, and being penalized for such sin - much to the author’s intention of sending some strong moral lessons to his readership.

Article written by Victor Onuorah

Degree in Journalism from University of Nigeria, Nsukka.

Hawthorne’s move to go by such name as ‘ The Scarlet Letter ’ for the book’s title is symbolic in itself and already hints at the themes of penitence and punishment for the crime of adultery committed by two of the book’s major characters in Hester Prynne and the priest – Arthur Dimmesdale. There are some foundational themes as there are other subsets that still carry a vital message in them. The most important ones will be analyzed in this article.

Sin and Punishment

These are probably the two most obvious themes of Nathaniel Hawthorne’s ‘ The Scarlet Letter ’ and they are very clearly executed throughout the pages of the book – beginning from the first chapter. 

Hester Prynne, who is the heroine of the book, is one of the characters who bear such guilts of sin and punishment. The sin for which she is being punished is that of adultery – which she commits with a Christian preacher, Arthur Dimmesdale.

Being she lives in the era of a Christian-inspired puritan society, her punishment becomes one of massive social shaming and disgrace – whereby she has to wear a dress with a large inscription of the letter ‘A’ appearing on her chest in blood red color. 

Contrition and Penitence

Hester and Dimmesdale – two prominent characters harboring the most damnable sin of their era – appear to have had a contrite heart after the act, particularly with Hester, who is publicly announced and disgraced. 

Readers could feel the genuineness of Hester’s contrite heart, having been legally married to Roger Chillingworth, her long lost husband – even though she would never regret the love she feels for Dimmesdale and the product of such love being her child, Pearl. 

Gender and Status Inequality Before the Law

Nathaniel Hawthorne, through ‘ The Scarlet Letter ,’ may have tried to point out the sheer inequality of the purity society before the rule of law. Hawthorne’s time is critical of several aspects of Puritanism, and here questions why preacher Arthur Dimmesdale doesn’t get served the same amount of humiliation as Hester gets. 

Though an argument can be raised that the executors of the puritan laws don’t punish Dimmesdale because they do not know for sure if he committed the crime – especially with Hester refusing to give that information out. Still, one can easily sense that they don’t do enough to get the man who’s responsible. 

Two hypotheses here are one; their interest in not punishing men but the women in such crimes. Two, Dimmesdale’s religious status makes him a very important person, so the executors would be tricky with handling a case of such a class. 

Necromancy and witchcraft

There is a massive dose of talks and meetings about and with witches, and even the devil – who is referred to in the book as ‘ The Black Man .’ These subjects are part of what gives the book its dark, spooky ambiance characteristic of gothic fiction. 

Mistress Hibbins is a high-profile suspect whose behavior is, by a puritan society’s standards, termed diabolic and hellish. Hibbins goes about negatively influencing people – like Hester and Pearl – instilling strange, anti puritan mentality in them, conducting and attending meetings and conventions where they invoke and commune with ‘The Black Man’ or devil himself. 

Key Moments in The Scarlet Letter

• After losing his job with the Salem Custom House, a man puts together a piece of the manuscript that he had discovered littering in the attic of his former job. On the cover is an inscription, ‘Scarlet Letter A .’ 
• The story which he has assembled from it narratives the story of a young woman called Hester Prynne who lives in a 1600s puritan society. 
• She appears to have been imprisoned for a heinous crime and is processioned out and made to stand over a public platform wearing a dress with the scarlet letter ‘A’ written boldly on her breast, on which she also carries her baby. 
• The crime for which she is paraded is adultery, and under a typical puritan leadership, social shaming and scorning are the repercussions for such acts. 
• While she faces the worse moment of her life, a man stands a stone’s throw away in the crowd observing the whole event. His name is Roger Chillingworth, the long-lost husband of the woman being punished at the platform. 
• On the platform with Hester is a popular preacher of the town, rev. Arthur Dimmesdale publicly pressures her to say who’s responsible for her baby, but Hester wouldn’t tell and is thrust back into her cell.
• With a keen interest in the matter, Chillingworth lies that he is a doctor to get access to his wife, and when he gets past security into the cell, he threatens her not to let anyone know she is married to him and that if she does, he would search out the man responsible and hurt him very badly.
• Following her release, Hester moves away from town and tries to survive as a dressmaker with young Pearl. Chillingworth is still in town posing as a doctor as he tries to unearth the father of his wife’s baby. And by now, Dimmesdale, the popular town people’s preacher, has failing health and is being tended to by Chillingworth. 
• Pearl grows fond of the scarlet ‘A’ on her mother’s breast, but Hester wouldn’t tell her the truth about it. 
• With Chillingworth now spending so much time with Dimmesdale, he starts to notice an unusually strange correlation between Hester’s case and the preacher’s health history. 
• One faithful day during Dimmesdale’s medical examination, Chillingworth finds that his patient has a similar scarlet letter ‘A’ etched inside his chest. He is convinced Dimmesdale is Hester’s lover and father of the illegitimate child, Pearl. 
• With this knowledge, Chillingworth decides to exert revenge on Dimmesdale by giving him the wrong meds and treating him so much so that his health deteriorates further by the day. 
• For Dimmesdale, it seems that his inability to confess publicly is eating him up and causing him constant emotional trauma and heartache. And on several occasions, he doesn’t eat and chastises and whips himself for his mistake. 
• On a faithful day, just after twilight, troubled by his guilt, Dimmesdale climbs up the platform and is joined by Hester and her daughter shortly, while Chillingworth skulks by the shadows observing them before a shooting star shimmers through the night sky to reveal his presence. 
• What follows next is an exchange of emotions. Hester begs Chillingworth to stop torturing Dimmesdale, but he argues he’s lenient to him. 
• Hester then plans a rendezvous with Dimmesdale in the wilderness, where she exposes Chillingworth’s real identity and begs Dimmesdale to elope with her across the Atlantic to start afresh in a new, distant town. He agrees to go with her after he has delivered a scheduled sermon. 
• On the day of the sermon, Dimmesdale is moved by his preaching that he decides to confess publicly that he is Hester’s lover and the father to Pearl (both of who had joined him on the platform). Opening his chest, he exposes a scarlet cut he had been carrying in his chest and dies as soon as Pearl kisses him.
• Chillingworth’s revenge is taken from him, and he dies a few months later. Hester leaves town with her daughter – explores Europe and marries a wealthy home, and seldom writes her mother. 
• When Hester dies, she is laid to rest beside Dimmesdale, and the later ‘A’ is erected in their resting place.

Style and Tone 

Nathaniel Hawthorne’s writing style is typically one that deploys a lot of metaphors and symbolism to execute his works – with the end goal often having a ton of morals to impact on the reader.

Hawthorne’s works are mostly mysterious, somber, and morose in terms of their themes and storylines. ‘ The Scarlet Letter ’ is no different from his typical style and follows his trademark standard for novel writing. 

The tone in ‘ The Scarlet Letter ’ is mostly sad and contrite, but also critical and disenchantment about puritan cultures, their leaders, and their tendency for being highly hypocritical.

Figurative Languages

Hawthorne brings the pages of ‘The Scarlet Letter’ to life with his heavy use of figurative expressions. Among the figurative language used include metaphor – which seems to appear pervasively throughout the book.

The author also uses tools like irony and personification to highlight his critiques of the purity legacy and traditions. 

Analysis of Symbols in The Scarlet Letter 

This is perhaps the foremost symbolism in Nathaniel Hawthorne’s book and represents a variety of things. One such thing is that it serves as an identity for the transgressor or sinner of adultery – as is the case with the protagonist, Hester Prynne. 

Hester’s daughter’s character also has an allegorical attachment to its overall essence. Pearl is a direct repercussion of Hester’s son of adultery, but also a symbol of hope for a better life, in the latter part of the book.

Chillingworth

In the book’s reality, he is the husband of Hester, but in terms of the motif to which he represents, Chillingworth proves to be as his name appears; cold. He’s a cold and means man towards the people around him, and this is perhaps one of the reasons Hester could never find love with him. 

What is the main theme in ‘The Scarlet Letter’ by Nathaniel Hawthorne?

Sin and punishment are probably the two most discussed themes in ‘ The Scarlet Letter ,’ and these subjects are pervasive and heavily indulged in by the author throughout the book. 

What does the color red represent in ‘The Scarlet Letter’?

The color red represents sin, and in the book’s case, the sin of adultery – which Hester, the protagonist, is indicted of from the onset of the book. 

What narrative style is deployed by Nathaniel Hawthorne in ‘The Scarlet Letter’?

Nathaniel Hawthorne utilizes the third person narrative technique in his book, ‘ The Scarlet Letter, ’ as this allows the narrator to tell his story subjectively – but from a rounded, three-dimensional standpoint on the characters. 

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Victor is as much a prolific writer as he is an avid reader. With a degree in Journalism, he goes around scouring literary storehouses and archives; picking up, dusting the dirt off, and leaving clean even the most crooked pieces of literature all with the skill of analysis.

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The Scarlet Letter

Nathaniel hawthorne.

Ask LitCharts AI: The answer to your questions

The Scarlet Letter begins with a prelude in which an unnamed narrator explains the novel's origin. While working at the Salem Custom House (a tax collection agency), the narrator discovered in the attic a manuscript accompanied by a beautiful scarlet letter "A." After the narrator lost his job, he decided to develop the story told in the manuscript into a novel. The Scarlet Letter is that novel.

The novel is set in seventeenth-century Boston, a city governed by strict Puritan law. The story begins as Hester Prynne , the novel's protagonist, is led out of a prison carrying an infant, named Pearl , in her arms. A bright red "A" is embroidered on her chest. A crowd waits expectantly as Hester is forced to climb up a scaffold to endure public shame for her sin. While on the scaffold, Hester is terrified to recognize her estranged husband, Chillingworth , in the crowd. He recognizes her too, and is shocked. Chillingworth pretends not to know Hester, and learns her story from a man in the crowd: she was married to an English scholar who was supposed to follow her to Boston but never showed up. After two years she fell into sin, committing the adultery that resulted in her baby and the scarlet "A" on her breast. Chillingworth predicts the unknown man will be found out, but when the beloved local Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale commands Hester to reveal the man's name, she refuses and is sent back to her prison cell. Chillingworth poses as a doctor to get inside the prison to speak with Hester, and there forces her to promise never to reveal that he's her husband.

Three years pass. Hester is let out of prison and moves to the outskirts of Boston, near the forest. She makes a living as a seamstress, though the people who employ her still shun her. Hester refuses to tell Pearl what the scarlet letter signifies, and Pearl becomes obsessed with the letter. Meanwhile, Chillingworth is working in Boston as a physician, though he has no formal medical training. One of his patients is Dimmesdale, who has fallen ill with heart trouble. Chillingworth moves in with Dimmesdale to care for him full-time and begins to suspect a connection between Dimmesdale's heart ailment and Hester's crime. When he discovers that Dimmesdale has carved a mark over his heart that resembles Hester's scarlet letter, Chillingworth realizes that Dimmesdale is Hester's lover. Chillingworth decides to torment and expose Dimmesdale.

Under Chillingworth's cruel care, Dimmesdale's health deteriorates. Dimmesdale's guilt for committing and concealing adultery causes him profound emotional suffering. He even starves and whips himself as punishment. One night Dimmesdale mounts the same scaffold upon which Hester was publicly shamed. At just that moment, Hester and Pearl pass by and join Dimmesdale on the scaffold. A meteor lights the sky in the shape of a red "A" and illuminates Chillingworth standing nearby.

Hester decides she must help Dimmesdale, and pleads with Chillingworth to stop tormenting him. Chillingworth acknowledges that he's become cruel and wicked, but argues that he's actually protecting Dimmesdale by not revealing his secret to the public. Hester then takes matters into her own hands: she intercepts Dimmesdale in the forest and tells him Chillingworth's true identity. She convinces Dimmesdale to flee with her and Pearl to Europe, and they make plans to take a ship the day after Dimmesdale is scheduled to deliver an important sermon. Dimmesdale delivers the sermon (the best of his life). However, he realizes he's dying and won't make it to Europe. He mounts the scaffold and asks Hester and Pearl to join him. He confesses his sin to the crowd and bares his chest, revealing a scarlet letter carved into his own skin. He dies as Pearl kisses him for the first time.

Hester and Pearl leave Boston. Chillingworth dies a year after Dimmesdale, leaving Pearl a small fortune as an inheritance. Many years later, Hester returns to her cabin on the outskirts of town. She still wears her letter "A." Pearl has married into money in Europe and writes to Hester on occasion. Hester remains in Boston until her death and is buried alongside Dimmesdale. Their shared tombstone bears a letter "A."

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The Scarlet Letter - Study Guide

Nathaniel Hawthorne 's masterwork, The Scarlet Letter (1850) is considered one of the best novels of all time, and an exemplar of Dark Romanticism. Our study guide offers teachers and students important background about the author, particularly his own experiences at The Custom-House, where he learned to "stick it to the man" and inspired his writing of Hester Prynne's story. Don't skip the Introduction !

Read the book: The Scarlet Letter , Character Analysis & Summary , Genre & Themes , Symbolism & Literary Devices , Historical Context , Quotes , Discussion Questions , Paired Readings , Useful Links , and Notes/Teacher Comments

Character Analysis & Summary

Character analysis.

Hester Prynne - The woman who committed adultery with a pastor and bore an illegitimate child. She is sentenced to wear a letter "A" on her chest as her badge of public shame in this small Puritan community in which she seeks repentance and dignity.

Arthur Dimmesdale - The town's pastor with whom Hester had an adulterous affair, impregnating her out of wedlock. He does not confess to his guilt, and grows sick by his tormented conscience. Finally, he confesses in public and dies in Hester's arms.

Pearl - The "elf child" borne out of wedlock whom her mother Hester raises, but her father Arthur keeps his paternity a secret. Pearl becomes unruly and capricious as she is raised by Hester in a cabin on the edge of town.

Long-lost Husband - The small misshapen man who was Hester's husband, presumed to be lost at sea. She spots him in the crowd at her sentencing on the public scaffold (stocks). He changes his name to Roger Chillingworth and embarks on a mission to reveal the identity of Hester's adulterous partner. Hester refuses to name her lover, he threatens Hester to never reveal his identify as her husband. He finally suspects Dimmesdale is the father of Pearl, but Dimmesdale dies before Chillingworth gets his revenge.

Reverend John Wilson - A church leader who attempts to get Hester to confess her lover's identity, along with the town's minister denying his sin, Arthur Dimmesdale.

Governor Bellingham - Governor of the Bay Colony, he listens to the ministers and grants Hester's appeal to retain custody of her daughter.

Plot Summary

The story, subtitled "A Romance," is set in the Puritan town of Boston in the 17th century. It is about Hester Prynne, who conceived a child during a secret affair with a pastor, Arthur Dimmsedale, and is charged with adultery. After refusing to name her lover after repeated pressures from everyone (including Dimmesdale, who is covering up his sin), she is sentenced to wear a scarlet "A" (A for adultress) after standing three hours on the public scaffold in quiet dignity. Her long-lost husband appears at the sentencing, she refuses to reveal her lover, and he threatens to get revenge. After serving her prison sentence, Hester raises her daughter in a small cottage at the edge of town, church members threatens to take her away for being unruly, so Hester appeals to the ministers and Governor to let her stay. Meanwhile, Dimmesdale hides his guilt, but is consumed by sickness for years and eventually confesses to his sin. Chillingworth who suspected him, sees a symbol representing an "A" on Dimmsedale's chest. Hester and Dimmesdale meet secretly, she convinces him to leave Boston for Europe. After his best sermon ever delivering " a shower of golden truths upon them ," Dimmesdale climbs on the public scaffold to admit his sin, and dies in Hester's arms. Some witnesses swear they saw an "A" on his chest, but can't confirm it. When she dies, Hester is buried near Dimmesdale with the gravestone epitaph, "On a field, sable, the letter A, gules" (On a field, black, the letter A, red). Chillingworth gives up on revenge, dies, and leaves Pearl a large inheritance.

Readers are encouraged to study, rather than skip over the Preface to the Second Edition and The Custom-House , where Hawthorne reveals his sense of romance, between materialism and "dreaminess." He describes his experiences there, its crumbling systems of patronage, to provide a deeper understanding of the novel itself.

Genre & Themes

Hawthorne's story is in the genre of Romanticism, considered a masterpiece in the sub-genre of Dark Romanticism for its focus on sin, human fallibility, and the religious and societal institutions which enforce society's judgement and alienation of specific members of the community.

Primary Themes

• Sin, Evil, Guilt and Shame
• Purity and Corruption
• Fighting for Repentence and Dignity
• Darkness of Puritan Institutions - confusing the cause and nature of evil, denial of love, reinforcing alienation.

Morality Lessons

• Realism and Imagination (dreaminess) don't alway meet (Romance?)
• Fall from Grace to Eternal Damnation - Come forward to confess your guilt, or you'll get sick and die (Dimmesdale)
• The shaming by peers can be worse than the sentence for committing the crime
• Maintain quiet dignity and respect yourself, no matter what people think (Hester)
• Is redemption every possible? Once a Scarlet Letter, always a Scarlet Letter?
• "Be true! Be true! Be true! Show freely to the world, if not your worst, yet some trait whereby the worst may be inferred."

Symbolism & Biblical References

• The letter "A" which stands for "adulteress" is the symbol worn by Hester to represent her crime and ensuing public shaming; she refers to it as "some sweet moral blossom"
• Red is the color of the letter Hester wears, representing passion, blood and sin
• Rose Bush (also red) represents beauty, in sharp contrast to the red letter "A"
• "Black Man" is associated with Dimmesdale, Chillingworth, and little Pearl, the embodiment of evil.

Biblical References

• Hester is is the Latin form of Esther, a young Hebrew woman in The Bible, Book of Esther who married the Persian ruler Xerxes and risked her life to save her people. Puritans favored using Old Testament names.
• In Persian, Hester/Esther means "Star"
• Madonna and child (there is no acknowledged father, like for Pearl)
• Adam and Eve - They were both naked and "not ashamed" but their sin resulted in discovery of shame, explusion and extreme suffering by God after eating from the forbidden tree of knowledge
• Martyrs accept all sin on behalf of others (Hester never "outed" Dimmesdale's sin)
• Dimmesdale falls from grace to his own damnation
• Hester saw she could never take on this role advising other women, she was stained with sin and shame; the Prophetess must be lofty, pure, and beautiful to exhibit "the ethereal medium of joy" through sacred love.

Historical Context & The Custom-House

The story, written in 1850, is considered a work of Historical Fiction, set in Boston, the Puritan Bay Colony of Massachusetts between 1692 - 1699. Puritans left England for the New World to escape persecution and judgement in the hands of others in power. The strict religious convictions and social morays of the religion required conformity and cast judgement and punishment on anyone in their congregation who failed to conform to the Puritan ideals.

There were two types: "separating" Puritans, such as the Plymouth colonists, who believed that the Church of England was corrupt and that true Christians must separate themselves from it; and "non-separating" Puritans, such as the colonists who settled the Massachusetts Bay Colony, who believed in reform, but not separation. Most Massachusetts colonists were non-separating Puritans who wished to reform the established church, largely Congregationalists who believed in forming churches through voluntary compacts. Legacies of Puritanism include modern-day practicing Protestants which include Lutheran, Anglican, and Quaker denominations, and the so-called "Protestant work-ethic" which implies staunch focus of hard work and good deeds. Read more about Puritanism in New England

Hawthorne, and many other authors who embraced the genre of Dark Romanticism , cast judgement of their own on Puritans' treatment of sin, judgement, and human fallibility. Their stories often revealed the hypocrisy and dark side of these religious and cultural institutions to perpetuate, rather than eradicate, the sins they were trying so forcefully to admonish.

A note related to the significance of Salem's Custom-House. Both Hawthorne (as a young man) and Herman Melville (after his writing career tapered-off) took office jobs there. Operating in Salem since 1649, its business is collecting taxes on imported cargo, first for the British, then for the American Government. Starting in 1789, it housed the U.S. Customs Service and impounded cargo. Hawthorne's writing was significantly impacted by this experience, as he reveals in his introductory chapter. This is where he learned to "stick it to the man."

Explain what the following quotes mean and how they relate to the story:

"This Custom-House sketch has a certain propriety, of a kind always recognised in literature, as explaining how a large portion of the following pages came into my possession, and as offering proofs of the authenticity of a narrative therein contained. This, in fact,--a desire to put myself in my true position as editor, or very little more, of the most prolix among the tales that make up my volume,--this, and no other, is my true reason for assuming a personal relation with the public." The Custom-House

"Ah, but let her cover the mark as she will, the pang of it will be always in her heart." - Chpt. II

"'People say,' said another, 'that the Reverend Master Dimmesdale, her godly pastor, takes it very grievously to his heart that such a scandal has come upon his congregation.'" - Chpt. II

"He hath done a wild thing ere now, this pious Mr. Dimmesdale, in the hot passion of his heart!" - Chpt. X

"A pure hand needs no glove to cover it." - Chpt. XII

"It is to the credit of human nature, that, except where its selfishness is brought into play, it loves more readily than it hates. Hatred, by a gradual and quiet process, will even be transformed to love, unless the change be impeded by a continually new irritation of the original feeling of hostility." - Chpt. XIII

"She had wandered, without rule or guidance, into a moral wilderness. Her intellect and heart had their home, as it were, in desert places, where she roamed as freely as the wild Indian in his woods. The scarlet letter was her passport into regions where other women dared not tread. Shame, Despair, Solitude! These had been her teachers - stern and wild ones - and they had made her strong, but taught her much amiss." - Chpt. XVIII

She had not known the weight until she felt the freedom." - Chpt. XVIII

"No man for any considerable period can wear one face to himself and another to the multitude, without finally getting bewildered as to which may be the true." - Chpt. XX

"It was if an angel, in his passage to the skies, had shaken his bright wings over the people for an instant,--at once a shadow and a splendor,--and had shed down a shower of golden truths upon them." - Chpt. XXIII

Some speculated that: "the awful symbol was the effect of the ever active tooth of remorse, gnawing from the inmost heart outwardly, and at last manifesting Heaven's dreadful judgment by the visible presence of the letter." - Chpt. XXIV

"Be true! Be true! Be true! Show freely to the world, if not your worst, yet some trait whereby the worst may be inferred!" - Chpt. XXIV

"The angel and apostle of the coming revelation must be a woman, indeed, but lofty, pure, and beautiful; and wise, moreover, not through dusky grief, but the ethereal medium of joy; and showing how sacred love should make us happy, by the truest test of a life successful to such an end!" - Chpt. XXIV

Discussion Questions

1. What does the "A" represent? What does Hester mean when she says the letter is her "passport into regions where other women dared not tread" ?

3. Hawthorne's story is considered a parable, a simple story used to illustrate a moral or spiritual lesson. What's the lesson of this story?

4. Discuss the themes of sin and redemption, and Hawthorne's take-away lesson from this parable. Evil is found in plotted revenge of Chillingworth, not in Hester and Dimmesdale's love.

5. Does committing adultery with a "man of the cloth" constitute a worse crime than with a layman?

6. How is this story representative of Dark Romanticism ?

7. Why does Chillingworth (the long-lost husband) assume a new identity, and threaten Hester to never reveal he is her husband in this tight-knit Puritan culture?

8. Explain the Biblical references in the novel, including Adam and Eve eating from the tree of knowledge (good and evil), and the character's namesake, Esther in The Bible

9. Study the painting, The Scarlet Letter by Hugues Merle (1859), which Hawthorne considered the best visual representation of Hester Prynne's public disgrace and condemnation. Describe the artist's use of details, techniques and their affect (e.g., strong resemblance to Madonna and child, Hester's elderly husband is in the background).

9. Discuss Hawthorne's use of veils in his stories. He mentions a veil in his introduction, The Custom-House : " ...we may prate of the circumstances that lie around us, and even of ourself, but still keep the inmost Me behind its veil " and "...make its way through the veil of dim obstruction, and glimmer pleasantly upon our faces ." His story about a minister voluntarily adorning a veil to teach his parishioners a lesson about secret sin, The Minister's Black Veil . In its introduction, he tells of a clergyman who hid behind a black veil as self-imposed punishment for accidentally killing a friend. How does self-imposed shaming compare to Hester's public, imposed symbol of shame?

11. How does Hawthorne reveal himself as an author, an authentic "editor" to impart this story as it relates to The Custom-House. How does his experience relate to understanding the novel? Compare his description of an arcane, crumbling trading port and its aging patronage powers-that-be, with the arcane institutions in the novel.

12. Describe the significance of Hester's tombstone epitaph, "On a field, sable, the letter A, gules" (On a field, black, the letter A, red) . Is she marking herself for all eternity?

13. Speculate about the significance or symbolism of Hester naming her daughter "Pearl." What do you think her future holds after Hester's death?

Essay prompt #1 : Watch a movie: The Scarlet Letter was adapted a number of times (notably 1917 , 1926 , 1995 ). Pick a version, watch and compare it to the novel (comment on the historical or cultural context of the film's year you choose).

Essay prompt #2 : In modern culture, what does it take to earn a Scarlet Letter? Is social media our current method of social shaming, calling out those who have done wrong? Do you think public shaming can result in the person's reform?

Paired Reading Suggestions

Compare and contrast themes and literary elements in The Scarlet Letter with another story involving Puritans:

The Minister's Black Veil , the veil and the red "A" share a similar stigma of extreme social alienation, how are both "secret sin" ?

Lois The Witch ( Salem Trials of 1692 )

The Maypole of Merry Mount , both Puritans and Merry Mounter hippies are considered persecuted minorities in this story.

Extracts from Adam's Diary , a satirical twist of perspective on The Bible story about the first man who committed sin with Eve, and can't quite come clean.

Desiree's Baby , a white mother of a bi-racial child she's raising in the deep South.

Teachers : Challenge students to identify and compare other stories they've read with themes involving public ostracism, sin, and redemption.

Useful Links

Biography and Works by Nathaniel Hawthorne

Dark Romanticism Study Guide

The Scarlet Letter Themes, Motifs & Symbols

12 Popular Parables from the Bible

The Holy Bible

History of the Puritans in North America

Behind the Name Hester & the Protestant Reformation

The Minister's Black Veil Study Guide

The Custom-House, National Historic Site

20 Great American Short Stories

Short Stories for High School

Short Stories for Middle School

Notes/Teacher Comments

Visit our Teacher Resources for recommended works, supporting literacy instruction across all grade levels

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The scarlet letter, by nathaniel hawthorne, recommendations from our site.

“The Scarlet Letter is a tragic love story, but it’s also a story about resistance and transformation…Hester is a visionary. In the final chapter, she articulates her “firm belief” that at some future time, when the world has grown ripe for it, “a new truth would be revealed in order to establish the whole relation between man and woman on a surer ground of mutual happiness”. It struck me that this might be that time.” Read more...

The best books on Gender and Human Nature

Carol Gilligan , Philosopher

Other books by Nathaniel Hawthorne

The house of the seven gables by nathaniel hawthorne, the haunted mind by nathaniel hawthorne, our most recommended books, middlemarch by george eliot, jane eyre by charlotte brontë, beloved by toni morrison, war and peace by leo tolstoy, dracula by bram stoker, ulysses by james joyce.

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The Scarlet Letter: Critical Analysis

A hero can be interpreted by many things. Many people would say a hero is strong, uptight, truthful or moral . That’s not to say they aren’t allowed to have some faults, but usually a hero is someone who instills reverence and veneration in others for whatever reason. Nathaniel Hawthorne creates interesting thoughts provoking characters in the Scarlet Letter, but none of which give the right distinction that would give them the title hero . The actions and qualities of the characters in the story give no view to morality, strength physically or mentally and most of what they do is to please their own volatile and selfish desires.

Those who believe themselves to be closer to divine powers are most definitively sinful and hypocritical. Therefore, moral superiority, as Hawthorne argues in this story of Puritanical condemnation using the three scaffold scenes is false. Society has its ways of showing vengeance and in return got nothing but guilt. Many people keep silent of the wrong things they have done and have to deal with guilt, but guilt is definitely not a desirable punishment. Arthur Dimmesdale did not show any lack of guilt when he sees of guilt when he sees Hester and Pearl mocked by the community any time they are out.

Dimmesdales guilt gradually got him to bad health physically and mentally. Hawthorne did not cease to ignore the immorality Dimmesdale to confess his sin and Guilt is what leads Dimmesdale to confess his sin and guilt to the whole town. In Hawthorne’s eyes guilt was what kept people from becoming immoral sinners. Without guilt or conscience people would tend to be out of line and impulsive. In The Scarlet Letter, Nathaniel Hawthorne tried to expose hypocrisy by showing the Puritan life in a very discrete manner.

Hypocrisy is shown in every character in the book by showing character development to convey his thematic purpose. Hawthorne describes the Puritan society as plain and dark. This is clearly described in the beginning where the setting is introduced. The whole hypocrisy issue is basically their in every sentence Hawthorne has written. The only person to be free of hypocrisy was Chillingworth because the only thing he was looking for was a way to get back at Dimmesdale. Not only was Dimmesdale a hypocrite, he was a coward as well.

The only thing that encouraged him to speak up was Hesters nearly death threat. Being marked for life is a never-ending punishment. Hawthorne shows the reader a vivid way of how anyone can be marked for life by just being born in a contradistinctive household. Although The Scarlet Letter was published in 1850, the author effectively describes the environment and setting via the use of a chronically ordered plot and the accurate perception of the world around him. Pearl is used effectively as a symbol of sin and a representation of impurity in the public view at the time of the novel.

The novel is a social commentary in that it disagrees with the concept of impurity and prejudice of the time. The central themes are sin and the direct results of sin. The Scarlet Letter illustrates the consequences of Adultery and the chances for redemption through the development of the two main characters Hester and Dimmesdale. Hester is able to confront her sins and work towards redemption and is thus rewarded with coming to peace with her past. Dimmesdale, on the other hand, weighted with the guilt of what he has done slides deeper into despair without hope of recovery.

As a conclusion, sin is not the focus of this book, but how sin will weigh on the heart and how sin causes a person to act. Throughout the story, sin was portrayed in a lot of ways, starting the adultery and the letter A in the first place. Then, baby Pearl is born and she is such a hassle. Some even believe that she is possessed. Then you see what sin not only does to the Reverend (don’t remember his name? ) and how his health deteriorates, but you also watch as revenge takes over Chillingworth’s personality and makes him look just as sickly.

The underlying message of it all is that sin is an awful thing, but everyone does it. Hester was judged for committing adultery and the other major characters were punished for their sins slowly. But I think with this sin, came a sense of pride. Yes, Hester committed adultery, but she had the power in her to keep fighting and to embrace who she was, no matter what everyone else thought. In the end, sin claimed its victims, but only when they let it and that is the fate of Chillingworth and the Reverend, but not Hester who persevered and made a life for herself, past her sins.