The story takes
place in the Puritan village of Boston, Massachusetts, during the first half of
the 17th Century. Several years before the novel begins, Hester Prynne came to
the New World to await the arrival of her husband who had business to conclude
in Europe. However, Hester's husband was captured by Indians upon his arrival
in New England and did not arrive in Boston as Hester expected. While living
alone in Boston and believing her husband dead, Hester committed adultery and
became pregnant. The village magistrates imprisoned her for this sin and
decreed she must wear a scarlet "A" on the bodice of her dress for
the rest of her life. While in prison, Hester, highly skilled in needlework, elaborately
embroidered the scarlet letter with gold thread.
Before her
release from prison, Hester was forced to stand on the public scaffold where
all the villagers could see her. As the story opens, Hester is leaving the
prison to take her position on the scaffold. She wears the scarlet letter and
carries with dignity her three-month-old daughter Pearl. As Hester endures this
public disgrace, Roger Chillingworth, an old man new to the village, asks
members of the crowd about her and learns as much of her story as is commonly
known. When he asks the identity of the child's father, he discovers Hester has
refused to divulge this information. From the balcony overlooking the scaffold,
the young Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale also asks for this information and eloquently
appeals to Hester to publicly name her partner in sin. She refuses.
Upon her return
to prison, Hester is distraught, and Roger Chillingworth, a self-proclaimed
physician, comes to calm her and the babe. Chillingworth, who is actually
Hester's husband, refuses to publicly acknowledge her and share in her shame.
He makes Hester promise to keep his true identity secret and vows to discover
and avenge himself on the man who has wronged him.
Hester and Pearl
take up residence in a small cottage at the edge of the village. Using her
needlework skills, Hester supports herself and Pearl by sewing for the
magistrates and wealthy villagers. She also sews for the poor as an act of
charity. Although they live humbly, Hester's one extravagance is the way she
dresses Pearl. Hester fashions scarlet, elaborately embroidered dresses for
Pearl. The townspeople generally shun Hester and her daughter.
Three years pass,
and Hester learns the magistrates are considering taking Pearl away from her.
Hester passionately implores Governor Bellingham to allow her to keep Pearl,
who is her sole joy as well as a constant reminder of her sin. The Reverend
Arthur Dimmesdale speaks in behalf of Hester, and Pearl is allowed to remain
with her mother. As Hester and Pearl leave the Governor's Mansion, Mistress
Hibbins, the Governor's sister, invites Hester to meet the Black Man in the
forest. Hester happily declines the offer because she must take care of Pearl.
The story now
turns to Roger Chillingworth. Following his secret interview with Hester in
prison, Chillingworth becomes a respected member of the community and personal
medical advisor to Arthur Dimmesdale, whose health is failing. Chillingworth
uses his medical knowledge to treat the minister's physical condition, but
suspects some wound or trouble in Dimmesdale's soul is contributing to his
declining health. Intent on discovering the truth about Arthur Dimmesdale,
Chillingworth one day comes upon the minister in his sleep, pushes aside his
shirt, and reads the secret of the minister's heartÑthe Reverend Arthur
Dimmesdale is Hester Prynne's partner in adultery and the father of little
Pearl. Chillingworth acknowledges Dimmesdale as his enemy and thus makes him
the unsuspecting victim of his malevolent revenge.
Although
Dimmesdale lacks the courage to confess his sin publicly and risk ruining his
reputation as a man of God, he suffers privately. In addition to his constant
mental torment, he punishes himself physically with a bloody scourge, fasts to
the point of weakness, and keeps nightly vigils. On one of these vigil nights,
seven years after Hester stood in solitary shame upon the scaffold, Dimmesdale,
thinking the rest of the town is asleep, stands on that same scaffold. However,
Hester and Pearl pass the scaffold as they return home from watching at the
deathbed of Governor Winthrop. Dimmesdale invites them to ascend the steps and
the three stand together on the scaffold. Pearl asks him if they will stand
together tomorrow, but Dimmesdale tells her it cannot be. Chillingworth sees
the trio on the scaffold. Dimmesdale appeals to Hester for support against the
nameless horror he feels for Chillingworth. Hiding his hatred for Dimmesdale,
Chillingworth approaches and leads the minister back home.
Hester is shocked
by the decay of Dimmesdale's nerve and moral force. She infers Chillingworth to
be the insidious cause of his weakened state. Realizing she has allowed this to
happen by keeping Chillingworth's identity a secret, Hester resolves to talk to
her former husband and try to rescue Dimmesdale from his evil influence. Soon
after, Hester approaches Chillingworth and asks him to stop tormenting
Dimmesdale. When Chillingworth refuses, she tells her former husband she must
reveal the secret of his identity. Chillingworth tells her to do what she will
with the minister.
Several days
later, Hester intercepts Arthur Dimmesdale as he is walking through the forest.
The two retreat to the seclusion of the woods and talk while Pearl plays among
the nearby trees. Arthur tells Hester he detests living a lie and is relieved
to look into the eyes of one who knows him for what he really is. Hester tells
him that Chillingworth also possesses this knowledge, and that he was the
husband she betrayed. Dimmesdale is initially horrified, but soon forgives
Hester for keeping Chillingworth's secret. Fearing further revenge from
Chillingworth, Dimmesdale asks Hester what he should do. She suggests they
leave Boston and return to the Old World. Arthur agrees, and they plan to leave
aboard the ship currently in the harbor. In their newly discovered freedom,
Hester removes the scarlet letter and the cap which binds her hair. Hester
wants Arthur to know Pearl and summons her from the trees. But Pearl,
distressed by her mother's altered appearance, comes reluctantly. Pearl then
bursts into a fit of passion and insists her mother don the letter and cap
before she will behave civilly. Hester does this sadly. Dimmesdale gives the
child a kiss, which she immediately washes off in the brook.
Upon returning to
the village, Hester makes arrangements with the ship's captain for the passage.
Arthur is secretly pleased they will not leave until after Election Day when he
will have the honor of delivering the Election Sermon. When Election Day arrives,
the ship's captain tells Hester that Chillingworth will be traveling with them.
Hester cannot warn Dimmesdale of this new development because the Election
Procession, of which he is part, is beginning. Reverend Dimmesdale's sermon is
a brilliant triumph, but as the procession is leaving the church, he surprises
everyone by inviting Hester and Pearl to ascend the scaffold with him once
again, this time in front of the entire village. Chillingworth tries
unsuccessfully to dissuade Dimmesdale from this action. Hester supports Arthur,
and Pearl holds his hand as the three of them climb onto the scaffold. The
scaffold is the only place Roger Chillingworth dares not follow Dimmesdale, and
he looks on unhappily as Dimmesdale escapes his revenge.
On the scaffold,
Dimmesdale confesses his sin and tears away his shirt to reveal what appears to
be a scarlet "A" on his own breast. Chillingworth laments that
Dimmesdale has escaped him, and Dimmesdale tells him he too has sinned deeply.
Pearl kisses her father's lips and her tears fall on his cheek. A dying man,
Dimmesdale bids Hester farewell, but cannot assure her they will meet again in
Heaven, reminding her of the gravity of their sin.
Dimmesdale is
buried in the village cemetery. Roger Chillingworth dies within the year,
leaving Pearl a considerable amount of property. Hester and Pearl leave Boston,
but years later, Hester returns and takes up residence in her old cottage where
she lives until she dies. She is buried next to Dimmesdale, and although their
graves do not touch, they share a common gravestone.
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