The Scarlet Letter - Penguin Readers

Teacher’s notes

LEVEL 2

PENGUIN READERS Teacher Support Programme

The Scarlet Letter Nathaniel Hawthorne

About the author Nathaniel Hawthorne was born in 1804 in Salem, Massachusetts and he died in 1864. He became one of the most famous American authors for his novels The Scarlet Letter (1850) and The House of the Seven Gables (1851), and for his many short stories, some of which are collected in Twice-told Tales (1837). His first novel Fanshawe (1828) was self-published, but later he tried to destroy all the copies as he thought it wasn’t good enough. Although his writing brought him fame and praise, it earned him little money and he had to take different jobs to survive financially. In the final years of his life, he visited Italy and England, where he wrote The Marble Faun (1860). On his return to the United States, his mental and physical health declined dramatically. He even appeared to predict his own death by writing “64” over and over again on pieces of paper. After his death, his work continued to be appreciated and he is now considered to be among the best American fiction writers. His stories can be read on both a literal and a symbolic level and it is perhaps this more than anything that makes him such a great writer.

Summary The Puritan elders of seventeenth century Boston imprison an unmarried mother, Hester Prynne, and force her to wear a scarlet letter “A” on her dress to show everybody that she is an adulteress. She is told that she might be allowed to remove the letter if she tells everybody who the father of her child is, but she refuses in order to protect her one true love. Her husband, who had sent her to Boston two years earlier, turns up and discovers that the father is a young minister called Arthur Dimmesdale. He doesn’t tell anybody, but uses the power of his knowledge

c Pearson Education Limited 2008

to make Dimmesdale’s life unbearable. Dimmesdale eventually reveals his secret and dies from ill health. Hester and her daughter, Pearl, leave Boston to start a new life. Chapters 1–2: Hester Prynne is released from prison and a crowd of people are waiting for her. The governor has said that she must stand public exposure with a scarlet letter on her chest, and the crowd believe that she should be punished for her terrible sins of adultery and bearing a child out of wedlock. Hester Prynne had come to town only two years earlier, while her husband stayed in Europe and now she is discriminated against and publicly insulted. Hester may be able to find forgiveness if she tells the name of the baby’s father to the ministers. Yet, she refuses and continues to stand on the platform of the square. In the midst of her public shame, she recognizes a familiar face. Hester is taken back to prison and starts weakening to such an extent that a doctor is sent for. To Hester’s astonishment, her estranged husband, the very same familiar face she saw among the crowd, appears in the guise of a doctor, calling himself Roger Chillingworth. He has grown old and bitter since they last met. He does not reveal that he is her husband to anybody else, but when he is alone with her, he also asks her who the father of the baby is. When she refuses to reveal the truth, he promises to find out the secret for himself. Before he leaves her, he makes her promise not to tell anyone that he is her husband. Chapters 3 – 4: Hester is released from prison and moves to a small house outside the town. Life is very difficult there, since she and her daughter are looked down on and disrespected by people and even church ministers. Time goes by and Hester’s child, Pearl, grows into a lively and happy child, despite the bullying from the other children of the town. Some people in town notice that Pearl does not believe in God and this nearly leads to her being taken away from Hester. The Governor threatens to grant the custody of Pearl to another family. The old minister questions the child and then accuses Hester of not bringing her up in the way of the Lord. So Hester turns to the young minister, Arthur Dimmesdale for help. He finally speaks for Hester and she is allowed to keep Pearl on condition that she is taught the word of God and that she starts school when she comes of age. To everyone’s amazement, Pearl runs to the young minister, takes his hand and puts it to her face before running away.

The Scarlet Letter - Teacher’s notes

of 3

Teacher’s notes


LEVEL 2

The Scarlet Letter Chapters 5–6: Arthur Dimmesdale is very sick and Roger Chillingworth moves into the same house with him. Chillingworth wants to know what secret lies in Dimmesdale’s heart, as he believes some sicknesses have nothing to do with a man’s body but with his heart. Chillingworth waits for the right moment to catch Dimmesdale unaware and discover his secret. Now the young minister is in his hands. Dimmesdale is considered the best minister and speaker in town. People feel very sorry about his sickness. Deep down, Dimmesdale feels sad and empty and wants everybody to know that he is a sinner. We gradually realize that Arthur is Pearl’s father. He is too frightened of public shame to admit his sin. One night, he tries to find the courage to proclaim it from the platform in the town square. Yet, he stands there alone and only Hester and Pearl are with him. Pearl asks Arthur to stand there with them the next day but Arthur refuses. Unexpectedly, Chillingworth shows up and convinces Arthur to leave with him, ignoring Hester and Pearl. Chapters 7–8: Hester and Chillingworth meet at the beach and they have a fight. Hester realizes that Chillingworth is destroying Dimmesdale and warns the doctor that she intends to go back on her promise not to reveal the fact that he is really her husband. Chillingworth threatens to disclose the truth and to ruin Dimmesdale for life if she dares tell the townspeople his secret. Hester wants to tell Dimmesdale about Chillingworth as soon as possible, but he has left town. The following day, Hester waits for him in the woods with Pearl in order to talk to him without being seen. At first, Dimmesdale is mad at Hester but he soon forgives her, recognizing that his real enemy is Chillingworth. Hester insists that the doctor is going to destroy him, and that he should go away. She offers to go with him and they make plans to leave for England. Chapters 9–10: Dimmesdale finds out that there will be a ship to England in four days. He starts preparing his final speech to deliver before the townspeople. Three days later there is a public gathering, since the whole town is on holiday. Dimmesdale speaks at church and the people are moved by his warm words. To everyone’s astonishment, he goes up onto the platform with Hester and Pearl. He opens his shirt and some townspeople say they can see a scarlet letter “A” on his breast. Then he dies. Roger Chillingworth dies a few months later and leaves his money to Pearl. Everybody in town continues to talk


about what Dimmesdale did at the public square. Hester and Pearl leave Boston (presumably they only stayed to be near Arthur) and the story ends with a scene of Hester in later life, back in Boston, receiving letters from her daughter in another country and making baby clothes, presumably for her grandchild.

Background and themes Sin: The main theme of The Scarlet Letter is the effect of sin on the soul. Hester’s sin is discovered and she is branded with the mark forever, on her clothes and in her heart. She is rejected by the whole community. Dimmesdale is able to conceal his sin and retains the respect and admiration of the community. And yet, the supreme irony that the novel contains is that Hester is liberated by the public knowledge of her sin, whilst Dimmesdale is eaten up by it and finally destroyed from within. Born out of wedlock, Pearl is the personification of sin and ungodliness for most of the townspeople. However, she is also the representation of an innocence, honesty and freedom which is not restricted by the strict rules of moral conduct. The author suggests that what society sees as sin is not necessarily the worst thing a person can do. Hester and Arthur sin but they never wanted to hurt anybody. Chillingworth doesn’t sin in the eyes of society, yet he does serious damage to those around him. Gender inequality: It is symbolic that Hester, the woman, is forced to display her sin, whereas Dimmesdale, the man, can hide it successfully, albeit at great cost to himself in the end. Hawthorne uses this disparity between the experiences of the sexes to make a point about gender equality. In an age when women were considered to be inferior to men in many societies, it is remarkable that Hawthorne ends his novel with a cry for feminism. ‘‘One day,’’ Hester says, ‘‘when God is ready, there will be a new world–a better world for women. We will be the same as men.’’

Discussion activities Before reading 1 Discuss: Put students in groups to discuss these questions: Do a lot of women in your country have babies when they aren’t married? Why does this happen? Do these women get any help? Do they have to give the name of the father to get help? What do people think about these women, the fathers and the children?

The Scarlet Letter - Teacher’s notes of 3

Teacher’s notes


LEVEL 2

The Scarlet Letter 2 Research: Divide the class into two groups, A and B. Tell group A to find information on the Internet about Boston, paying attention to the history of the town and what it was like in the early part of the seventeenth century. They can also find out about Boston and the way of life there now. Tell group B to find information on the Internet about the lives of women in the United States and their own country in the early seventeenth century. They can then compare this to how women live now. Then, put students in groups of four so that two students come from group A and two from group B. Tell them to exchange information. Eventually, get feedback from the whole class. 3 Guess: Ask students in pairs to predict the story using the words in the box below. Tell students to look up the words they do not know in the Word List at the back of the Reader. adulteress prison crowd devil God governor heart heaven platform promise punish sin 4 Pair work: If you have access to video or DVD, watch the first five minutes of any of the film versions of The Scarlet Letter with the sound off. Ask students to imagine what the characters say and what is happening. Get feedback from the whole class and then play the film again and check whose guess was closest to the original.

Chapters 1–2 While reading (At the end of Chapter 1) 5 Write: Tell students to write a page of Hester’s diary. You are Hester at the end of Chapter 2. What do you write in your secret book about your child, your husband and the father of your daughter? How do you feel about the people in the town and the ministers? What do you think is going to happen to you and your child?

After reading 6 Discuss: Put students into groups to discuss this question: Who is the father of Hester’s baby? Why do you think that? Elicit ideas but do not confirm or correct at this stage.

Chapters 3– 4 While reading (p. 7, after “She always looked at the ground and walked away.”) 7 Pair work and role play: In pairs, students think about the kinds of things that the people, children and ministers of the town said to Hester. Get feedback from the whole class and then ask them to imagine that Hester decides to defend herself, rather than looking at the ground. Brainstorm ways in which she could do this and then get the pairs to act out the scene.


After reading 8 Discuss and write: Ask students to think about what happened in Chapter 4 from Pearl’s point of view. Brainstorm some ideas with the whole class. Now students write a short piece describing what happened at the governor’s house as if they were Pearl.

Chapters 5–6 After reading 9 Discuss: Ask students to work in small groups to talk about Arthur when he is on the platform in Chapter 6: What is he thinking? What does he want to say? Why? Is he happy because Hester and Pearl are there? Why doesn’t he want to stand with them tomorrow? Why did he leave with Chillingworth? 10 Pair work: Write the following words on the board: house, yard, flower, forgive, shirt, climbed, baby. Have the students talk and write in pairs to say how these words were used in Chapters 5 – 6 without looking back at the book.

Chapters 7–8 While reading (At the end of page 20) 11 Discuss: Ask students to work in small groups to talk about the ways in which Hester can help Arthur. Get feedback from the whole class.

After reading 12 Role play: Put students into groups of three. One student is Hester, one is Arthur and one is Pearl. Tell them to act out the scene in the woods. They can write the dialogue first based on what they can remember from Chapter 7 or they can improvise.

Chapters 9–10 After reading 13 Discuss and write: Put students in groups to imagine a different ending to the story. Allow them to discuss what parts of Chapter 10 could be changed and get feedback from the whole class. Individually, students write an alternative ending drawing on any of the ideas the class has thought of. As a follow up, students could dramatize in groups one of their endings. 14 Write and guess: Put students in pairs and ask them to choose a short paragraph from the book. Tell them to write it again, making five changes to words in the text. Students then read out their paragraphs to the other students, who have to identify the mistakes.

Vocabulary activities For the Word List and vocabulary activities, go to www.penguinreaders.com.

The Scarlet Letter - Teacher’s notes of 3