The Scarlet Letter

Chapter 1-2



In this first two chapters, people are discussing a woman who has been put in jail. The woman was put in jail for committing adultery and is forced to wear the scarlet letter, "A" across her chest. The woman's name,we discover, is Hester Prynne and she has a newly born baby. For her punishment for committing adultery, she is forced to stand on a platform while everyone in the town is giving the opportunity to gawk at her.



Chapter 3-4



In the proceeding chapters, Hester, while on the platform, recognizes someone in the crowd. The person she recognizes is announced to be named "Roger Chillingworth." He visits her in prison one day. It turns out that that he is Hester's real husband that sent her ahead of him a few years ago. He had planned to move there with her later, but his ship sank and he was abducted by Native Americans. He told Hester, however that he was not upset with her and that he had wronged her too by marrying her so young. So in that sense, they were even. He also made her swear not to reveal who he was and she did.

Chapter 5-6

In the next two chapters, the book goes into great detail describing Hester and Pearl. Hester is a very skilled seamstress who sews garments for almost everyone in town. The only garment she doesn't sew are wedding gowns because nobody wants an adulterer to sew their wedding gown. These chapters also go into detail describing Hester's daughter Pearl. Hester perceives her as a elfish little child with a sinister smile and laugh. She feels that perhaps that since Pearl was created through breaking a law, that she is made of sheer evil. She also spoils Pearl and lets her do as she pleases. This is probably why Pearl acts the way she does.

Chapter 7-8

In these chapters, Hester has to deliver gloves to the governor. The other reason she is visiting the governor's house is because there is talk that Pearl may be taken away from Hester,and Hester wants to try to convince the governor otherwise. The Reverend, Mr. Wilson decides to give Pearl a test to see if she can answer some simple religious questions. Pearl fails this test completely by saying that she had not been created by a Heavenly Father, but instead was plucked off a rose bush by her mother. This makes Wilson and the others want to take Pearl away even more now, but then Reverend Dimmesdale comes to her rescue. He tells the others that Hester can teach her daughter through her own experiences and that Pearl is in good care. The Governor in the end decides to let Hester keep her daughter as long as she promises to send her to learn about religion.

Chapter 9-10

Chapters nine and ten display the relationship that Roger Chillingworth has formed with Reverend Dimmesdale. They are always together and since Dimmesdale has been in bad health lately, Chillinworth tries to convince him to take some medicine. He had a presumption that Dimmesdale was the father and so he spent all the time he could, getting to know Dimmesdale. He wanted to build up Dimmesdale's trust so that he could slowly torture him every single day. One day while Dimmesdale is sleeping, Roger lifts up his shirt and sees something there (possibly a scarlet letter) on Dimmesdale's chest. This is the final proof Chillingworth had been so desperately searching for.

Chapter 11-12

In these chapters, the story reveals that Dimmesdale has been physically abusing himself in order to compensate for his sins. Then, Dimmesdale has an epiphany. He travels to the scaffold on which Hester once stood. He emits a shrill screech in order and figures that the neighborhood should awake at any moment. They, however, do not. Instead he sees Hester and Pearl a headed towards him. They join him on the scaffold and all join hands. Pearl then asks Dimmesdale if he will stand on the scaffold and hold hands again at noon. He says that he will on judgement day. Then, they see a comet in the sky that Dimmesdale believes is a giant letter "A" like the one Hester wears on her chest. Then Chillingworth appears and leads Dimmesdale homeward.

Chapter 13-14

At first, the chapter reveals that because Hester is always doing good for others, people have started to change the meaning of her scarlet letter. They now interpret the letter as to stand for "Able." Hester realizes that the scarlet letter hasn't fully done its office. Hester decides that she does not regret what she has done. In the woods, she stumbles across Chillingworth. She sent Pearl down to the beach while her and Chillingworth talked. She sees how different Chillingworth has become, he has a look of sinister malevolence. Hester knows about how Chillingworth has been cunningly torturing Dimmesdale. She tells him that she can no longer keep her promise to him and that she must reveal to Dimmesdale Chillingworth's true identity. Hester believes that she is being sinful for keeping her promise to Chillingworth, so she refuses to keep it any longer.

Chapter 15

After Hester left from speaking with Chillingworth, she went to get Pearl from the beach. She discovers that Pearl has put a capital letter "A" across her chest. Pearl believes that everyone who is an adult has a letter "A" on their chest eventually, but her mother tells her otherwise. This even more so sparks Pearl's curiosity and she asks her mother why she wears the scarlet letter. Her mother does not believe that Pearl is old enough to understand, so she refuses to answer and instead dances around the subject of the letter. Hester tells Pearl not to ask about it anymore.