The Scarlet Letter

Analysis of characters

the main characters

Hester Prynne

Arthur Dimmesdale

Roger Chillingworth

Major characters in The Scarlet Letter

Hester Prynne

Arthur Dimmesdale

Roger Chillingworth

daughter

loverhu

sba

nd

Pearl

Hester

Passionate — has a love affair with Dimmesdale

attractive, appealing, intelligent, capable

strong and stoic —she endures years of shame and scorn

contemplative— speculates on human nature, social organization, and larger moral questions. maternal—moderates her tendency to be rash; cares for the poor and brings them food and clothing

a protofeminist mother figure to the women of the community

Major characters in The Scarlet Letter

Why does she repeatedly refuse to stop

wearing the letter? A--“her passport into regions where other

women dared not tread” her behavior

She desires to determine her own identity rather than to allow others to determine it for her

she is determined to transform its meaning through her actions and her own self-perception

She is unwilling to erase her past deed and her past decisions She is not the example of sin that she

was once intended to be. Rather, she is an example of redemption and self-empowerment.

What makes Dimmesdale’s mental anguish?

1.Hester takes all of the blame for their shared sin, leading to his guilty conscience and resultant mental anguish.

2.The townspeople do not believe Dimmesdale’s protestations of sinfulness. This drives Dimmesdale to further internalize his guilt and self-punishment and leads to still more deterioration in his physical and spiritual condition.

Chillingworth

his name --- a man deficient in human warmthHis appearance--- twisted, stooped, deformed

shoulders--- his distorted soulHis identity of a “leech”---he feeds on the

vitality of others as a way of energizing his own projects.

He is obsessed with revenge---after Dimmesdale dies, Chillingworth no longer has a victim. Having lost the objects of his revenge, the leech has no choice but to die.

true evil

Themes of The Scarlet Letter

assumes the universality of guilt

explores the complexities and ambiguities of man’s choices

Hawthorne--

Doesn’t intend to tell a love story or a story of sin

focuses his attention on the moral, emotional, and psychological effects of the sin on the people

Everybody is potentially a sinner, and great moral courage is indispensable for the improvement of human nature.

Hawthorne

The book is an examination of the forces that shape Hester and the transformations those forces effect, a hymn on the moral growth of the woman who is sinned against.

Hester Dimmesdale Chillingworthconfesses her

guilt, faces the future optimistically ，helps others

is able to construct her life, wins a moral success

hides his guilt first

undergoes the physical and spiritual torments

moral growth

morally degrades by his pursuit of revenge

die

sinners

angel

Writing Characteristics

1) It is a cultural allegory and structurally compact.

twenty-four chapters

scaffold scenes.

In the beginning, the middle, and the end,

are knitted together by

all the four major characters are at the scene.

Writing Characteristics

2) Hawthorne's ambiguity

People offer different views concerning the sign of the letter A on the dead minister's chest. The author doesn't give his views. So, people come up with different interpretations.

Writing Characteristics

3) It is a kind of romance.

Two lovers come together, and will be finally united in death.

4) Hawthorne uses the supernatural.

The appearance of the symbol A in the sky is in twilight atmosphere. All things, natural or otherwise, may become probable.

Writing Characteristics

the scarlet letter “A”

the central symbol

Adultery Able Angel

a token of shame “A” appears in the sky

5) His use of symbols

What does “A” mean to the chief characters respectively?

For Puritan society, it just means punishment.

For Hester, it means unjust humiliation.For Dimmesdale, it’s a reminder of his

own sin.For Chillingworth, it’s a request for

revenge.For Pearl, it’s nothing but a beautiful

cloth. It is a guide for Hester to go to heaven,

and Dimmesdale to hell.