Scarlet Letter Test Flashcards
The novel begins where? What is the significance of this place?
outside the prison. Significant because…
- puritanical severity of law
- The strict enforcement of laws and the inability to break free of laws
- Authority(one that doesn’t tolerate deviance)
What is the symbol of the rosebush related to?
Passion
What are the woman in the court yard upset about?
They thing Hester’s punishment is not harsh enough.
What is Hester’s punishment to be?
She is to stand on the scaffold in town along with her child while wearing a scarlet letter A on her clothing
Hester is shocked to discover who in town her first day on the scaffold?
Her husband, Roger Chillingworth
What does he vow to do? How does Chillingworth plan to do this?
Vows to find out who the child’s father is; by looking into the man’s heart
What is Pearl’s function in the novel? How does Hawthorne reveal this?
She is a living extension of the scarlet letter; he reveals it when Hester throws the Letter away, Pearl freaks out
What are the many symbols of the Scarlet Letter?
able, angel, adultress
Why is Hester’s housing choice symbolic?
The cottage is on the edge of the town and she is in the border of the moral world of Puritan society and of the immorality of the wilderness
Explain the significance of Pearl’s name.
She was named that because a pearl is something that is paid for at a high price
What point does Hawthorne try to make with the name?
appearance can be misleading
How does the trip to the governor’s mansion further the idea of Pearl as the scarlet letter?
She tells the governor That she was plucked from the rose bush
Why does Hester appeal to Dimmesdale? What are some things that this encounter causes?
To speak for her because it’s his child; puts Pearl in contact with Dimmesdale
Why is Chillingworth referred to as a leech? 2 reason
He is a physician who at the time were still known to use leeches and he is living off Dimmesdale and will eventually suck the life out of him
What is the turning point for Chillingworth? How does he change? Give some evidence of this.
Chapter 10; goes from being evil to the devil