The Scarlet Letter, by Nathaniel Hawthorne Synopsis

Novel Resource Guide - The Scarlet Letter

Emily Finney
Morrell, ED 320A
November 5, 2010

The Scarlet Letter, by Nathaniel Hawthorne
Synopsis

17th Century Boston: Hester Prynne has been briefly released from prison, to be put on parade.
Her crime: adultery. She has had a baby, though she has been separated from her husband for
2 years. He is assumed lost at sea on the passage from England. Joining her on the parade is
her infant daughter, Pearl, and a scarlet “A” embroidered on her bodice. The crowd heckles, but
she refuses to name Pearl’s father; she loves him and doesn’t want him to be punished too.
During the parade, she spots an old man in the crowd - her missing husband. He’s settled in
town as a physician and calls himself Roger Chillingworth. His desire: to discover the identity of
Pearl’s father and take revenge. Chillingworth visits Hester while in prison and makes her swear
she will not reveal Chillingworth’s true identity.
Seven years passes. Hester is shunned and moves to the outskirts of town with Pearl (now an
impish child), supporting herself as a seamstress. Life’s tough, but the young & popular local
minister, Reverend Arthur Dimmsdale, helps a lot, and Hester slowly builds back her reputation.
Chillingworth comes to suspect Dimmsdale is Pearl’s father, so he haunts Dimmsdale every
chance he gets. Dimmsdale is wracked with guilt over the whole affair and his heath
deteriorates. Hester realizes what’s going on, tells Dimmsdale who Chillingworth is, and the
lovers plan to escape to England with Pearl. But the guilt finally gets to Dimmsdale, so he
publicly confesses - standing on the scaffold where Hester was shamed, he exposes a scarlet
“A” carved into his chest. And dies.
Chillingworth dies soon after, leaving his estate to Pearl. Hester and Pearl leave Boston, and
many years later, Hester returns, reclaiming her scarlet “A.” When Hester dies, she is buried
with Dimmsdale.

Themes/Issues

• the American Dream
• sin/morality
• love & nature
• life in Colonial America
• unplanned pregnancy
• alienation
• the impact of tradition
• the influence and nature of a community

Additional Texts

• Books/Novels
⁃ Tess of the D’Urbervilles by Thomas Hardy. Woman seduced and impregnated.
The two books have a number of parallels, including Tess’ name of “d’urbervilles”
as her scarlet letter.

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Novel Resource Guide - The Scarlet Letter
⁃ The Secret Diary of Ashley Juergens by “Ashley Juergens” (character). A

companion novel to the tv show The Secret Life of the American Teenager; life
perspective from the thirteen-year-old sister of fifteen-year old Amy, a pregnant
teen.
⁃ The Awakening, by Kate Chopin. Southern woman around 1900 discovers
passion and her own identity. A cornerstone of feminist lit, made into the 1991
film, Grand Isle.
⁃ John Updike’s Scarlet Letter Trilogy: A Month of Sundays (1975), Roger’s
Version (1986), S. (1989). I don’t know how student-appropriate it is, but the
books are modern variations of the novel.
• Short Stories
⁃ “The Minister’s Black Veil” by Hawthorne. A Puritan minister mysteriously wears
a black veil. The veil as a symbol of sin.
⁃ “Rappaccini’s Daughter” by Hawthorne. A beautiful young woman, confined to a
garden, is physically poisonous. A young man falls in love with her beauty and
innocent nature (against his mentor’s wishes) and becomes poisonous himself.
The poison’s antidote brings death.
⁃ “Young Goodman Brown” by Hawthorne. Puritan man takes a walk through the
forest with the devil. An allegory about evil and the true nature of humanity.
• poems
⁃ “Mending Wall” by Robert Frost (alienation)
• essays
⁃ “Nathaniel Hawthorne and The Scarlet Letter” (Chapter 7 from Studies in Classic
American Literature by DH Lawrence). Lawrence’s take on The Scarlet Letter as
satire on American culture, with Hester as the devil.
• plays
⁃ The Crucible, by Arthur Miller. Salem witch trials as an allegory on McCarthyism
⁃ Othello, by Shakespeare. The appearance of adultery, and its impact on the
community.
• Comics/Graphic Novels
⁃ Poison Ivy aka Pamela Isley (Batman Universe, DC). Partially based on
Hawthorne’s Beatrice (see: “Rappaccini’s Daughter”). The outsider; stigma; Eve;
her poisonous kiss.
• songs
⁃ “The Thorn Within” by Metallica (Load, 1996) - based on the novel
• mythology
⁃ Adam & Eve
⁃ Pocahontas
⁃ the “myth of New England” (see: DH Lawrence, Studies) and the New World
⁃ Isaiah 1:18: (though your sins are like scarlet, / they shall be as white as snow)
⁃ Revelation 17: 1-6 (Babylon, the Prostitute on the Beast)
⁃ Prometheus. Hester punished for capturing fire (passion) and giving it to the
people.
• films
⁃ Adaptations:

⁃ The Scarlet Letter (1995) A film adaptation (VERY loosely based on the
story) with Demi Moore/Gary Oldman.

⁃ The Scarlet Letter (1926) , silent film with Lillian Gish.
⁃ The Scarlet Letter (1979). Miniseries which gained a lot of criticism

because Hester was outfitted in a red dress with a gold letter A.
⁃ Easy A (2010). A modernization of the plot.
⁃ The New World (2005)/Pocahontas(1995). Love in colonial America.
⁃ Juno (2007). Unexpected teen pregnancy.
⁃ Grand Isle (1991). The film adaptation of Kate Chopin’s The Awakening.

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Novel Resource Guide - The Scarlet Letter

• television
⁃ The Secret Life of the American Teenager (2008-). The life of a pregnant
teenager as a dramedy. Addresses issues like broken vows and the differences
between one’s nature, one’s actions, and how one is perceived.

• paintings/visual art
⁃ The Scarlet Letter by T. H. Matteson (1860, oil on canvas)
⁃ Penguin Classics Deluxe Edition cover art by Ruben Toledo (image of the full
cover, including french folds, here - click on photo for larger image);

• other
⁃ Out Campaign - political campaign promoting freethinking and atheism
(symbolized by a scarlet A)

Websites
• Hawthorne in Salem (http://www.hawthorneinsalem.org/Introduction.html) This website
maintained by the North Shore Community College in collaboration with local Salem
museums has literature, images, and links relating to the local lore and critical work
about the Scarlet Letter (ex: images of the gravestone of Elizabeth Pain, the supposed
prototype for Hester; samples of the homes/embroidery of the time period). Also includes
biographical information on Hawthorne, including on his friendship with Herman Melville.
• American Writers: Nathaniel Hawthorne (http://www.americanwriters.org/writers/
hawthorne.asp). This site, powered by C-Span, features a brief biography of the writer
and resources for the classroom, including a brief video on Hawthorne and The Scarlet
Letter.
• Kohlberg’s Stages of Moral Reasoning (http://www.education.com/reference/article/
kohlbergs-moral-reasoning/) Lawrence Kohlberg’s stages of moral reasoning are a great
tool for students to study the sin/morality aspect of The Scarlet Letter, but most of the
text out there is highly academic. The chart at this link has one of the most succinct
explanations I could find.
• NPR (http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=87805369). This particular
audio/print article, “Hester Prynne: Sinner, Victim, Object, Winner” is a great (brief)
example of a character analysis, with a copy of George Henry Boughton’s novel cover
image, clips from the Demi Moore film, and audio excerpts of the novel that highlight the
character.
• No Fear Literature: The Scarlet Letter (http://www.sparknotes.com/nofear/lit/the-scarlet-
letter). Generally, I loathe abbreviated versions of classic novels, but... this novel is a
little dense. The “translation” loses some of Hawthorne’s poetry, but it’s better than
some of the others I’ve seen, as this one went line-by-line and is juxtaposed with the
original text. Would be nice for reference comparison to any formal graded student
summaries or for a teacher in a hurry.

Activity

Blog posts as a character: Choose a major character (Hester, Dimmsdale, Chillingworth,
Pearl) and compost and post entries as though they were from the journal of that character.
Keep in mind: tone and point of view. Required: 2 posts per week. One of those must be text -
at least 1 paragraph in length; the other may be a song, image, quote, or another text post. You
must also respond to another character’s blog posts at least once per week.
(This can either be done slightly anachronistically as though it is taking place during the novel,
or you can modernize it. This also assumes students work regularly with blogs/online
discussion boards for the class.)

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Novel Resource Guide - The Scarlet Letter

Assessment

Character Movie Poster. Create a character poster a la Harry Potter/Watchmen/etc featuring
one character from the novel. The elements you choose to emphasize should reflect your
character in relation to one of the major themes of the novel (ex: Hester/alienation; Dimmsdale/
sin). Include with your poster a 1 pg explanation of how your poster depicts your character and
your chosen theme. Extra credit if you can include a quote from the novel into your poster
image (unless your students have been tracking quotes throughout the novel, then I’d make it
mandatory).
=> Bonus: have the students do this digitally (photoshop/publisher) and publish the collected art
as a book. Work can be grouped by theme or character.

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