2. Nathaniel Hawthorne was born in Salem, Massachusetts, in 1804. His family descended from the earliest settlers of the Massachusetts Bay Colony; among his forebears was John Hathorne (Hawthorne added the “w” to his name when he began to write), one of the judges at the 1692 Salem witch trials. Throughout his life, Hawthorne was both fascinated and disturbed by his kinship with John Hathorne. Raised by a widowed mother, Hawthorne attended Bowdoin College in Maine, where he met two people who were to have great impact upon his life: Henry Wadsworth Long-fellow, who would later become a famous poet, and Franklin Pierce, who would later become president of the United States. After college Hawthorne tried his hand at writing, producing historical sketches and an anonymous novel, Fanshawe, that detailed his college days rather embarrassingly. Hawthorne also held positions as an editor and as a customs surveyor during this period. His growing relationship with the intellectual circle that included Ralph Waldo Emerson and Margaret Fuller led him to abandon his customs post for the utopian experiment at Brook Farm, a commune designed to promote economic self-sufficiency and transcendentalist principles. Transcendentalism was a religious and philosophical movement of the early nineteenth century that was dedicated to the belief that divinity manifests itself everywhere, particularly in the natural world. It also advocated a personalized, direct relationship with the divine in place of formalized, structured religion. This second transcendental idea is privileged in The Scarlet Letter. The majority of Hawthorne’s work takes America’s Puritan past as its subject, but The Scarlet Letter uses the material to greatest effect. In The Scarlet Letter, Hawthorne uses the repressive, authoritarian Puritan society as an analogue for humankind in general. The Puritan setting also enables him to portray the human soul under extreme -pressures. Hester, Dimmesdale, and Chillingworth, while unquestionably part of the Puritan society in which they live, also reflect universal experiences. Hawthorne speaks specifically to American issues, but he circumvents the aesthetic and thematic limitations that might accompany such a focus.

3. Hester Prynne – the main character who wears the scarlet letter “A” Pearl – Hester’s illegitimate daughter Roger Chillingworth – Hester’s husband in disguise Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale – local minister Governor Bellingham – wealthy, elderly gentleman who often consults with the other town fathers; he adheres strictly to the rules but is easily swayed by Dimmesdale; he’s ignorant to the fact that his own sister is a witch Mistress Hibbins – a widow who lives with her brother Governor Bellingham and is known as a witch Reverend Mr. John Wilson – Boston’s elder clergyman 17 th Century Boston in a Puritan settlement

4. A crowd of men and women is gathered outside a prison door (1) Pilgrims planned to create a utopia, yet they set aside land for a prison “black flower of civilized society” = prison rose bush at the entrance of the prison (Why? Symbolizes?) “we could hardly do otherwise than pluck one of its flowers and present it to the reader”; “It may serve to symbolize some sweet moral blossom that may be found along the track, or relieve the darkening close of a tale of human frailty and sorrow.” (2)

5. a crowd waits by the scaffolding at the market place women take particular interest in executions & punishment the gathered women judge Hester (5) Hester Prynne is escorted from the prison with a 3-month-old child in her arms Prynne holds the baby (Pearl) closely to her to cover the “A” she wears as a punishment, but then moves the baby to reveal the letter to the crowd as if she’s proud to show it (6) vivid description of Hester’s beauty and attitude (6) Hester thinks back on her life in England, her town, her childhood, her home, her husband with “a pale, thin, scholar-like visage” and “the left shoulder a trifle higher than the right” (12) She comes out of her reminiscence only to realize that the “infant and the shame were real... all else had vanished” (12)

6. Hester notices a Native stands at the edge of the crowd; beside him stands a white man “clad in a strange disarray of civilised and savage costume” (13) She notices that one of the man’s shoulders is higher than the other One of the townsman reveals to this stranger that Hester’s husband sent her to Boston from Holland and was to join her, but hasn’t been heard from in two years The stranger tells the townsman that he’s been “a wanderer, sorely against my will” and has been held captive by the Natives and inquires about Hester After learning of her crime, the stranger is outraged that Hester’s partner in crime is unnamed The stranger reveals that the Massachusetts magistracy [judges] consider Hester “youthful and fair” and feel that she “was strongly tempted” (15) Hester’s punishment is to stand on the platform for three hours and to wear a mark of shame (the Scarlet Letter “A”) for the rest of her life The stranger agrees with the sentence but is “irked” that the “partner of her iniquity” is not on the scaffold beside her (16)

7. Hester “was conscious of a shelter” due to the crowd between her and the stranger (16) Hester hears the voice of Reverend John Wilson behind her, “Hearken unto me, Hester Prynne!” (16) Reverend Wilson tells Hester that her own pastor Reverend Dimmesdale (the “pale young man beside him”) knows her better and is better prepared to “deal with this poor sinner’s soul” (18) Wilson urges Dimmesdale to have Hester “confess the truth” (19) Dimmesdale approaches Hester and tells her to “speak out the name of thy fellow-sinner and fellow-sufferer” (20) Hester refuses to reveal the baby’s father, saying “my child must seek a heavenly Father; she shall never know an earthly one” (21) Dimmesdale says, “Wondrous strength and generosity of a woman’s heart! She will not speak!” (21) As Reverend Wilson lectures the gathered crowd regarding sin, he refers often to the letter (A) Hester wears Hester endures the scorn of the crowd and, after her sentence, is led back to the prison (22)

8. Once back in prison, Hester is observed to be in a disturbed state and is watched closely (23) Pearl has become sick Master Brackett, the jailer, brings Mr. Chillingworth, the stranger who had been standing with the Native in the crowd and who was boarding in the prison When the stranger enters her cell, Hester becomes “still as death” (24) Chillingworth examines the child Before administering medicine to Pearl, Chillingworth says, “This child is yours – she is none of mine – neither will she recognize my voice or aspect as a father’s” (24) Hester asks if he will “avenge thyself on the innocent babe” (25) Chillingworth offers Hester medicine from a cup; Hester reluctantly takes it, fearing it might be poison (25) Chill. Tells Hester, “Live, therefore, and bear about thy doom with thee, in the eyes of men and women – in the eyes of him whom thou didst call thy husband” (26)

9. Chillingworth admits to giving too much attention to his personal studies and says that he understands Hester’s transgression (26) Hester tells him she “felt no love, nor feigned [pretended] any” (27), possibly one explanation for why she sought love from another

10. Hester is freed from prison after her sentence is completed Sunshine imagery – As Hester walks from the prison, the sun is “falling on all alike” and “seemed as if it meant for no other purpose than to reveal the scarlet letter” (31) Hester would “become the general symbol at which the preacher and the moralist might point” (32) WHY STAY? “Here had been the scene of her guilt, and here should be the scene of her earthly punishment” (33) and “The torture of her daily shame would at length purge her soul” One thing that keeps Hester there is the bond she feels with her lover, even though they can’t be together Hester and Pearl move into a small cottage on the outskirts of Boston where the soil is too sterile for cultivation H. earns a living through her needle-working skill, which she does for the Governor, ministers, military men, children, the dead, but not wedding veils Hester’s work is in demand (“the fashion”), but daily she must endure the glances, taunts, and stares of those she encounters

11. Hester rejects pleasure from her needlework “as a sin” (36) Public Opinion – “She stood apart... Like a ghost... And can no longer make itself seen” (37) She was the subject of discussion of clergymen in the street and church Hester also “grew to have a dread of children” because their parents had depicted her as a horrible sinner (38) Hester’s only companion is her daughter Pearl, named because she was “of great price” and is “her mother’s only treasure” Hester fears that Pearl will demonstrate “some dark and wild peculiarity” as a result of the unorthodox circumstances of her birth

12. “There was no physical defect… the infant was worthy to have been brought forth in Eden” (42) Suggesting? “So magnificent was the small figure… that there was an absolute circle of radiance around her on the darksome cottage floor” (42) “the child could not be made amenable to rules” (42) “In giving her existence, a great law had been broken, and the result was a being whose elements were perhaps beautiful and brilliant, but all in disorder” (42-43) Hester is ineffective at disciplining Pearl due to her guilty conscience – “Mindful, however, of her own errors and misfortunes, she early sought to impose a tender but strict control over the infant” and “Hester was ultimately compelled to stand aside, and permit the child to be swayed by her own impulses.” (43) Hester’s only comfort was when Pearl slept (45)

13. Pearl was an outcast of the infantile world (45) “puppets of Pearl’s witchcraft” (46) Figure of speech? “If the children gathered around her, Pearl would… snatch up stones and fling at them” (46) Pearl is an outcast in the real world, so she creates her own world – “the unlikeliest materials – a stick, a bunch of rags, a flower – were the puppets of Pearl’s witchcraft, and without undergoing any outward change, became spiritually adapted to whatever drama occupied the stage of her inner world” (46) “The very first thing she had noticed in her life was…the scarlet letter” (48) “It was as if an evil spirit possessed the child” (48)

14. The townspeople began to question Pearl’s behavior, going as far as suggesting that she is a “demon offspring” (51) This gossip generates a movement to take Pearl away from Hester Hester goes to Governor Bellingham’s mansion to deliver an order to him (51) Pearl wears a crimson dress that is elaborately embroidered in gold thread – the human representation of the scarlet letter On their way several children taunt Pearl, but she sends them away with her “witchy ways” (53) As they wait to see the governor, Pearl calls her mother’s attention to a suit of armor in which the scarlet A is greatly magnified; Hester takes her out to the garden to wait In the meeting, Hester makes her plea to the Governor, Reverend John Wilson, Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale, and Roger Chillingworth (first time she’s seen him in 3 years)

15. Governor Bellingham questions whether Hester is fit to raise Pearl in a proper Christian manner; he asks Reverend Wilson to test Pearl’s knowledge of the catechism (62) Reverend Wilson questions Pearl to see if “she hath had such Christian nurture as befits a child of her age” (62) Wilson asks Pearl “Who made thee?” Pearl refuses to answer for a moment, then says that “she had not been made at all, but had been plucked by her mother off the bush of the wild roses that grew by the prison door” (63) Bellingham feels no further questioning is necessary and that Pearl should be taken from Hester (63) Hester insists that Pearl was “placed in her keeping by God” (64) Hester turns to her pastor Dimmesdale for help, “Thou wast my pastor, and had charge of my soul, and knowest me better than these men can” (64) Dimmesdale defends Hester’s right to keep Pearl, suggesting that Pearl has “come from the hand of God, to work in many ways upon her heart” and that Pearl serves as both a blessing and a punishment

16. Dimmesdale’s health begins to fail (pale, tremulous voice, hand over heart) (71) Dimmesdale refuses Chillingworth’s medical help/advice – “I need no medicine” (73); the elder ministers of the church wonder if he is “weary of his labors” and “did he wish to die” Chillingworth’s arrival considered a divine providence – “setting him down at the door of Dimmesdale’s study” (71) He has seemingly dropped down on the town to cure the minister. Dimmesdale tells Chillingworth, “I could be well content that my labors, and my sorrows, and my sins, and my pains, should shortly end with me, and what is earthly of them be buried in my grave” (73) “No secret such as the physician fancied might exist there, ever stole out of the minister’s consciousness into his companion’s ear” (76) Chillingworth lodges with Dimmesdale in an old maid’s house Chillingworth inquires who Dimmesdale might marry if he could; Dimmesdale says “there was no present prospect” and “he rejected all suggestions of the kind, as is priestly celibacy were one of his articles of church discipline” (76)

17. Chillingworth continues to dig for information from Dimmesdale. He says, “This man…pure as they deem him – all spiritual as he seems – hath inherited a strong animal nature” (81) “Trusting no man as his friend, he could not recognize his enemy when the latter actually appeared” (82) Dimmesdale asks Chillingworth where he gathered the odd-looking herbs (83) Chillingworth reveals that he “found them growing on a grave, which bore no tombstone, nor other memorial of the dead man, save these ugly weeds…in remembrance of him” (83) Obsessed with Dimmesdale, Chillingworth one day asks him why a person who carries secret sins would not confess them. Dimmesdale replies that some do not confess because either the “very constitution of their nature” prevents them or they can’t bear to be seen by their peers as “black and filthy” (84) Chilling worth questions the latter reason by asking if “a false show can be better…than God’s own truth” (91)

18. Soon afterward, Chillingworth and Dimmesdale see Hester and Pearl walking along the graveyard. (85) Pearl skips on the graves and then attaches prickly burrs around her mother’s scarlet letter Pearl notices Chillingworth and Dimmesdale looking out their window and throws a burr at Dimmesdale, then says to her mother, “Come away, or yonder old Black Man will catch you! He hath got hold of the minister already.” (86) Chillingworth continues to question Dimmesdale, suggesting that he can cure him only if he reveals the trouble in his soul (88) Dimmesdale becomes upset and tells Chillingworth, “No – not to thee! – not to an earthly physician! … But who art thou, that meddlest in this matter? – that darest thrust himself between the sufferer and his God?” He then rushes out of the room. (88) Dimmesdale falls into a deep sleep. Chillingworth “laid his hand upon his bosom, and thrust aside the vestment, that hitherto, had always covered it even from the professional eye” (90) Chillingworth sees something that sends him into a fit of “wonder, joy, and horror” as when “Satan comports himself when a precious human soul is lost to heaven and won into his kingdom” (90)

19. Chillingworth, angered by what he saw on Dimmesdale’s chest, continues to torture Dimmesdale, though Dimmesdale hardly senses the evil around him (92) The more Dimmesdale suffers, the more popular he becomes with his followers – his suffering allows him to sympathize with other sinners (93) Dimmedale’s followers see him as a “miracle of holiness” (blind faith?) The adoration from his church members makes Dimmesdale’s guilt even more intolerable and brings him close to public confession. Instead of being totally honest with his congregation, though, he always stops short of confessing the actual sin, and his assertions of sinfulness only make his followers closer to him ( His followers suggested “their children that their old bones should be buried close to their young pastor’s holy grave” (94) “More than once, Dimmesdale had gone into the pulpit…and told his hearers that he was altogether vile, a viler companion of the vilest, the worst of sinners, an abomination, a thing of unimaginable iniquity” (95) Dimmesdale tries to atone for his sin by self-punishment, beating himself with a bloody scourge (whip), fasting severely, and keeping all-night vigils during which he sees frightening visions (98-99)

20. One night during one of his vigils, DImmesdale goes to the scaffolding where Hester served part of her sentence, mounts the scaffold, and stands there as Hester had (100) Dimmesdale realizes the mockery of his standing there as the town sleeps and he has no risk of being seen Ashamed of his cowardice, Dimmesdale lets out a loud shriek which gets Governor Bellingham’s and his sister Mistress Hibbins’ attention (101) Reverend Wilson passes by on his way home from the deathbed of Governor Winthrop (102) Dimmesdale bids him a good evening in his imagination and then wonders if he has really spoken (102) Wilson disappears into the night. Dimmesdale envisions the cold air causing him to be too stiff to descend the scaffolding and the townspeople finding him their the next morning frozen to death (104) Dimmes. Laughs at the vision, then hears a childish laugh in response; it is Pearl returning from Governor Winthrop’s deathbed with Hester (embroidery) (104)

21. Dimmes. calls them onto the scaffolding to stand with him (104) Pearl asks him if he will stand with them the next day at noon; he says not then, but on “judgment day” (105) As Dimmes. speaks to Pearl, a bright light in the sky suddenly illuminates the scaffolding and all its surroundings (105) Dimmesdale looks up and imagines that he sees an immense red light in the shape of the letter A. At the same time, he becomes aware of Chillingworth standing below, smiling up at them(107) He asks Hester to identify the man. Pearl says, “I can tell thee who he is!” Pearl mumbles “gibberish” into his ear, then laughs aloud (108) Chillingworth, acting as if he thinks Dimmes. has been walking in his sleep, offers to lead Dimmes. home (109)

22. The next day, Dimmesdale preaches the most powerful sermon he’s ever preached; as he descends the pulpit, the sexton hands him a black glove that was found on the scaffolding that morning (109) The sexton tells Dimmesdale that Satan must have dropped the glove there “in jest against your reverence” (109) He then asks Dimmes has heard of the great red letter in the sky last night, an A interpreted to stand for Angel in honor of the death of Governor Winthrop who’d been made an angel (110) Dimmesdale tells him he “had not heard of it” (110)

23. Much time has passed since Hester began wearing the Scarlet A. Due to her selfless charity, society’s perception of her has changed so that many now interpret the A as standing for Able. Pearl is now seven years old The years of punishment have not been so kind to Hester, though, and have stripped her of her womanly qualities of beauty, grace, and passion Since Hester has been denied a normal emotional life, she has become more contemplative and speculates freely about women’s role in society At times she wonders if it would have been better had Pearl never been born – “Indeed, the same dark question often rose…with reference to the whole race of womanhood.” Hester takes note of Dimmesdale’s declining state and feels that her promise not to reveal Chillingworth’s identity is responsible; however, she decides that she must rescue Dimmesdale from Chillingworth Hester spots her former husband gathering herbs

24. Hester approaches Chillingworth and says she wishes to speak to him, “a word that concerns us much (121) He tells Hester that the village council has said she may remove the scarlet letter; she replies, “Were I worthy to be quit of it, it would fall away of its own nature, or be transformed into something that should speak a different purport” (122) Hester is shocked to note the changes that have occurred in Chillingworth over the past seven years A false smile and a glare of red light in Chillingworth’s eyes reveal his evil passion “as if the old man’s soul were on fire” (122) Hester tells him that she regrets not revealing his identity, thereby enabling him to invade Dimmesdale’s life (124) He tells her that were it not for his care, Dimmesdale would be dead; Hester replies, “It had been better so!” (124)

25. Chillingworth admits torturing Dimmesdale and describes his manner of torture with pleasure, “Yes, woman, thou sayest truly!” (124) Hester asks Chillingworth, “Hast thou not tortured him enough?” (125) Chillingworth says, “No!—No!—He has but increased the debt!” He blames Dimmesdale’s actions for transforming him into a fiend (125) Hester tells Chillingworth that she plans to reveal his identity to Dimmesdale, “I must reveal the secret…he must discern thee in thy true character” (126) Chillingworth tells Hester to “deal as thou wilt with yonder man” and blames their current situation on fate, suggesting, “Let the black flower blossom as it may” (127) Chillingworth walks off and continues gathering herbs (127)

26. Hester watches as Chillingworth continues gathering herbs She wonders that the herbs do not turn to poison under the touch of one so wicked and how she could have ever married him Hester feels that his persuading her to marry him was a worse sin than the sin she committed against him While Hester is absorbed in thought, Pearl makes a letter A from eel grass and displays it on her bosom Hester asks Pearl if she knows why her mother wears the scarlet letter; Pearl replies that it is for the same reason the minister puts his hand over his heart Pearl denies knowing the meaning of the letter, but she asks her mother three questions: 1) What does the letter mean, Mother? 2) Why dost though wear it? 3) Why does the minister keep his hand over his heart? Hester considers telling her the truth. Instead she answers that she knows nothing of the minister’s heart and that she wears the letter for the sake of its gold thread – this marks the first time Hester has lied about the letter, and she feels that the lie is an indication of evil in her heart

27. Pearl decides to reveal Chillingworth’s identity to Dimmesdale She takes Pearl with her into the forest the next day to intercept the minister who is returning from a visit with missionary John Eliot It is a chilly, somber day, broken by occasional flickers of sunlight Pearl tells her mother that the sunshine doesn’t love her because it is afraid of something in her bosom (138) See p. 31 Pearl asks Hester to tell her a story about the Black Man; she tells her mother that she heard Mistress Hibbins say that the scarlet letter was the Black Man’s mark, which glows when Hester meets him at midnight in the woods When Pearl asks her mother if she meets the Black Man and if the scarlet letter is his mark, Hester confesses, “Once in my life, I met the Black Man! This scarlet letter is his mark!” (140) Hester sends Pearl away to play so that she can talk to Dimmesdale; before Pearl walks away, she asks if the minister covers his heart to hide the mark of the Black Man; Hester doesn’t answer (142)

28. Hester and Dimmesdale feel awkward when they first begin talking, but they soon feel rather comfortable with each other Dimmesdale admits to Hester that his is miserable because he has found no peace and made no penitence Hester tells Dimmesdale that he has an enemy living under the same roof as him and reveals that the enemy is also her husband Dimmesdale tells Hester that he cannot forgive her for not revealing this sooner, but when she throws her arms around him, he relents (149) Dimmesdale says that Chillingworth’s sin is worse than either of theirs Hester agrees that what she and Dimmesdale did had “a consecration of its own,” suggesting that what they did was in the name of love (151) As they sit hand in hand, Dimmesdale expresses his terror at the thought of what Chillingworth might do now that he expects Hester to reveal his purpose Hester urges Dimmesdale to leave Boston and start a new life (153) and he claims his is too weak to go into the world alone (154) Hester whispers, “Thou shalt not go alone!” (154)

29. Dimmesdale is reluctant at first, but once he decides to leave, he feels relieved Hester, seeing Dimmesdale’s joy, removes the scarlet letter from her bosom and throws it into woods (157) Hester then takes off her cap and reveals her dark, rich hair, and “her youth, and the whole richness of her beauty, came back from what men call an irrevocable past” (158) At that moment, sunshine bursts through the forest canopy (Imagery/Symbolism – why does the sun shine on Hester now?) Dimmesdale confesses that he is afraid of Pearl and that children are not fond of him. Hester assures him that Pearl will love him and calls her to them (159) Pearl is more at home in the forest than in town or in her mother’s cottage. The wildlife seem to recognize her as one of their own. (160)

30. Pearl refuses to cross the brook and meet Dimmesdale as her mother requests The stands at a distance and points at her mother’s chest where the A belongs When Hester attempts to make Pearl converse with Dimmesdale, Pearl bursts into a tantrum Hester realizes that Pearl does not accept her without the scarlet A; she tells Pearl to pick it up the letter, which is near Pearl’s feet on the other side of the brook, and give it to her Pearl tells Hester to pick up the letter herself. Hester picks it up, fastens it back on her bosom, and tucks her hair back in her cap. With this, her beauty again vanishes Seeing that her mother has returned, Pearl jumps across the brook and kisses her mother and the scarlet letter

31. Hester then tells Pearl that the minister loves them both. Pearl asks if the three of them will go back into town hand-in-hand. Hester tells her that they will live together in their own home one day. She brings Pearl to Dimmesdale, who kisses Pearl Pearl then runs to the brook and washes off Dimmesdale’s kiss As Hester and Dimmesdale discuss their future plans, Pearl stands alone at a distance away from them (Why?)

32. Hester has secretly purchased passage for Dimmesdale, Pearl, and herself on a ship that is due to sail for England in three days. The day before the departure, he is to preach the Election Sermon When Dimmesdale returns to town after his meeting in the forest with Hester and Pearl, the people and things in his surroundings appear drastically different to him As he walks through town, a series of wicked impulses overtake him: to utter blasphemies to an old deacon; to give an old widow a sermon against the immortality of the soul; to speak wickedly to children; and to trade “improper jests” and “heaven-defying oaths” with a sailor As Dimmesdale questions why he is thinking the way he does, Mistress Hibbins passes by and tells him that she will accompany him the next time he visits the forest and arrange for him to meet the “potentate” He tells Mistress Hibbins that his only purpose in going to the forest is to meet the Apostle Eliot

33. She tells him that she understands why he walks as he does during the day, but that she will have another talk with him at midnight in the forest Dimmesdale wonders if he’s sold himself to the devil Upon arriving home, Dimmesdale continues to notice changes in his familiar surroundings – for example, he realizes that he is a different and more knowledgeable man since returning from the forest Chillingworth comes and inquires about his trip and his health and offers his skill to give Dimmesdale the strength to preach the Election Sermon The minister politely refuses medicine or aid from the physician

34. On Election Day, Hester and Pearl go to the crowded market place Pearl is very excited with the festive mood in town Hester, however, is dressed in gray and does not show any excitement Pearl asks what is to take place Hester explains that there will be a procession of “all the great people and the good people” Pearl asks if the minister will be there and if he will hold out his hands to her Hester tells her that he will be there but “will not greet thee today; nor must thou greet him” (184) Pearl comments that Dimmesdale is a strange man: showing affection toward them at night and in the forest but not recognizing them in the daytime among other people

35. Hester discovers, from the commander of a ship in the crowd, that Chillingworth has booked passage on his ship and mentioned that she would accompany him Hester then sees Chillingworth in the crowd, “standing in the remotest corner of the market place and smiling on her; a smile which…conveyed secret and fearful meaning” (189)

36. The Election Day procession begins Behind the band, the soldiers, and men of civil eminence comes Dimmesdale walking with a surprising strength and energy Hester is disappointed as he passes by and does not acknowledge her with a “glance of recognition” (194) Dimmesdale seems remote and different than when she talked him so passionately in the forest; she thinks she might have dreamed the whole scene When the minister has passed, Pearl says that if she had recognized him, she would have run to him and asked him to kiss her in front of all of the people Mistress Hibbins, who is both shunned and feared by the crowd, approaches Hester and talks to her about Dimmesdale. She tells Hester that “That saint on earth, as the people uphold him to be” is actually a servant of the Black Man and wears his mark, which will be disclosed to the eyes of the world (196) Hester hears Dimmesdale giving his sermon in the meeting house. Though she cannot distinguish his words, she stands on the scaffold, listening to his voice

37. Hester feels a great significance standing where “her whole orb of life, both before and after, was connected…as with the one point that gave it unity” As many in the crowd stare at the scarlet letter, Hester, “at the final hour, when she was soon to fling aside the burning letter, it had strangely become the center of more remark and excitement, and was thus made to sear [burn] her breast more painfully than at any time since the first day she put it on.” (201)

38. When Dimmesdale’s sermon is finished, the crowd emerges inspired and enraptured; all agree that it was his wisest and holiest discourse His sermon has given him yet an even higher position in his followers’ eyes As the audience sets its eyes on him, they see that he is feeble and pale, his energy spent; they almost expect to see him ascend to heaven Instead, Dimmesdale turns toward the scaffold and calls to Hester and Pearl At this moment, Chillingworth tries to stop Dimmesdale from doing so; he wants to have the pleasure of killing Dimmesdale himself (207) Hester helps Dimmesdale mount the scaffolding to Chillingworth’s dismay; Chillingworth tells him that the scaffold is the only place on earth he could have escaped him Dimmesdale thanks God for leading him to the scaffold and asks Hester if this isn’t better than the plans they dreamed of in the forest

39. Dimmesdale then calls out to the crowd gathered around him that this is the spot where he should have stood seven years ago He reveals that Hester’s scarlet letter is but a shadow of the mark that he bears on his own breast – with these words, Dimmesdale tears away the ministerial band from his chest, exposing the A, horrifying the crowd Dimmesdale sinks on the scaffold with a look of triumph on his face Chillingworth, with a face “out of which the life seemed to have departed,” kneels beside him and says, “Thou hast escaped me….” Dimmesdale replies, “May God forgive thee! Thou, too, hast deeply sinned!” Pearl kisses Dimmesdale, thus breaking a spell that had been cast on her since birth As Dimmesdale bids farewell to Hester, she asks if the two of them will spend eternity together. He replies that “when we violated our reverence each for the other’s soul – it was thenceforth vain to hope that we could meet hereafter” He says that he feels God has shown mercy on him by sending the burning mark of torture on his breast and the terrible old man to keep the torture burning, and by bringing him at last to the scaffold to die in “triumphant ignominy” before the people, thus bringing about his salvation

40. The people offer several accounts of Dimmesdale’s dramatic revelation on the scaffold. Some say the scarlet letter imprinted on his breast was self-inflicted through a long course of penance; some say its origin to Chillingworth’s magic and poisonous drugs; others say it was the effect of remorse, gnawing out from the heart Some witnesses at the scene deny that there was any mark at all on Dimmesdale’s breast. To these people, the revered minister did not acknowledge any connection to Hester Prynne and her guilt; they feel that he chose his manner of death as a parable to teach that all are sinners, even the holiest among us After Dimmesdale’s death, Chillingworth, with no evil purpose left to accomplish, shrivels up and dies within a year; he does, however, bequeath “a very considerable amount of property” to Pearl Hester and Pearl soon disappear from the village. Years later, though, Hester returns to the cottage where she had lived – still wearing the scarlet letter

41. There are indications in the cottage that Hester is “the object of love interest with some inhabitant of another land,” such as letters from England and articles of luxury Once Hester was seen embroidering a luxurious baby garment too ostentatious for the Colonies Hester has returned to the place of her sin for the purpose of continuing her penance The scarlet letter, which she now wears voluntarily, no longer attracts scorn People begin to come to Hester with their sorrows for comfort and counsel since because they feel that she knows what it means to suffer Hester tells those who seek her help that one day there will be a revelation of a new truth that will establish “the whole relation between man and woman on a surer ground of mutual happiness” After a long life, Hester is buried near the old sunken grave of Dimmesdale’s “with a space between, as if the dust of the two sleepers had no right to mingle. Yet one tombstone served for both.”

42. On the simple slab of slate which marks Hester’s and Dimmesdale’s grave appears a shield that serves for a motto: “On a field, sable, the letter A, gules” (“On a black background the scarlet letter A”)