Book Summary
Nathaniel Hawthorne – The Scarlet Letter
Book Details
Title: The Scarlet Letter
Author: Nathaniel Hawthorne
Pages: 219
Publisher: Lijsters - Blackbird Classics
Publication Date: 2011
Genre: Historical Fiction, Romance Novel
Original Language: English
Topics: The individual versus the group and the nature of sin, guilt and remorse.
Notes have been included: These are not part of the text in the book. They are extra insights
intended to help you understand the story. They will always appear in green font.
Short Summary of the Book:
The story starts out with a chapter about prison. To be exact, it talks about the prison door.
People have gathered in front of it, as they wait for the condemned to come out. The narrator
tells us that we are in seventeenth-century Boston, America. Back, when it was a Puritan
Settlement. The prison door opens and out comes a young woman, Hester Prynne. She is
described as a beautiful woman with thick dark hair. She is holding a three-month-old baby
in her arms. On her gown, at her breast, is sown a red letter ‘A’. Hester is led towards the
town scaffold, which stands high above the onlookers. Here, she is meant to stand, while
people stare at her. Hester holds her baby, Pearl, close to her heart.
An older man, just arrived from Native People captivity, joins the crowd and asks another
man what is going on. He is told that Hester is being punished for adultery. She will have to
stand on the scaffold for three hours and forever bear the scarlet letter ‘A’ on her person.
That's when we learn that Hester was once married and living in Europe. Hester's husband,
a scholar much older than she is, sent her ahead to America, while he settled some work.
Once finished, he would have travelled after her. However, it is widely believed that he didn't
make the journey. Two years have passed, and Hester was suddenly with child. Hester will
not reveal to anyone who the father of the child is. Even though she is questioned on the
scaffold and promised a softer punishment, she refuses to name the father of Pearl.
Hester spots the older man in the crowd and startles. It is her former husband! Apparently,
he was shipwrecked and taken in by the Native People. He was held against his will for a
long time, but only now released to go to the settlement. Her former husband stares at her
but does not reveal his identity to anyone. He goes now by the name Roger Chillingworth.
After Hester is led back to the prison, he gets to talk to her in private. He assures her he will
not harm her or Pearl, but that he is intent on revenge on the man who fathered the child.
Hester refuses to confess the name. So, Chillingworth settles in Boston, determined to solve
the mystery. Shortly after that, Hester is released from prison. She is shunned by the town
and lives now in a small cottage on the outskirts of Boston.
Several years pass and Hester supports herself as a seamstress. Pearl grows up to be a
willful child. The town fathers deliberate if they should try and take Pearl away from Hester.
However, the minister, Arthur Dimmesdale, stops them. Thanks to him, mother and child
stay together. Mr. Dimmesdale seems to suffer from a mysterious heart illness, seemingly
caused by psychological distress. Chillingworth, having made his living as a physician in the
town, tends to him. As Mr. Dimmesdale’s condition worsens more, the doctor moves in with
him so that he can provide the patient with round-the-clock care. Chillingworth seems to
suspect him of being the father of Pearl. One afternoon, while Mr. Dimmesdale is sleeping,
Chillingworth makes a shocking discovery. Although we are not told what it is, we know that
he is now certain that Mr. Dimmesdale is the father of Pearl and Hester’s former lover.
1
,We come to understand that Chillingworth does not want to harm Mr. Dimmesdale directly.
Instead, he seems to play on his conscience, driving him into more distress. One night, when
Hester and Pearl are returning home, they find Mr. Dimmesdale standing on the scaffold,
trying to punish himself. Hester and Pearl join him, and they hold hands. Pearl asks her
father to acknowledge her publicly, but he refuses. They witness a comet that night.
Hester watches quietly as his condition grows worse. At first, she confronts Chillingworth.
She has figured that he is adding to Mr. Dimmesdale’s torment, and she wants him to stop,
but he refuses. Hester then arranges to meet Mr. Dimmesdale in the forest, in secrecy. They
decide to flee to Europe, where they can start anew and live as a family with Pearl. They will
take a ship to in four days. With the promise of a new life, Hester takes off the scarlet letter
off her gown, but Pearl refuses to come to her mother without the scarlet letter.
On the day before the ship sails, the townspeople gather for a holiday and Mr. Dimmesdale
preaches his most beautiful sermon yet. He then has a change of heart. He sees Hester and
Pearl standing in front of the scaffold. He gets on with Hester and Pearl and confesses
publicly. He even exposes the skin on his chest and people can see he had branded an ‘A’
into his flesh. All this time, Hester and Mr. Dimmesdale had shared a scarlet letter. Emotion
overtakes Mr. Dimmesdale, and he succumbs to heart failure. Frustrated that his revenge
didn't work out as he had hoped, Chillingworth dies a year later. Hester and Pearl leave
Boston and no one knows what happened to them. Many years pass, before Hester returns
without Pearl to Boston. She is wearing the scarlet letter again. She goes to live in her old
house and resumes her work. Pearl stayed in Europe, where she married a European
aristocrat. She keeps in touch with Hester by writing letters. She has started a family of her
own. When Hester dies, she is buried next to Arthur Dimmesdale. The two share a single
tombstone, which bears the scarlet letter ‘A’.
Long Summary of the Book:
Book begins with an introduction in Dutch!
De inleiding is geschreven door Henk Pieter Berkman. Inleidingen hebben een specifiek
doel. Ze zijn bedoeld om je nieuwsgierig te maken en een beetje informatie te verstrekken
over de inhoud van het boek. Hier gaat de inleiding over de auteur, Nathaniel Hawthorne.
Het is niet zomaar over zijn leven, maar meer over het feit dat hij een andere introductie
heeft staan in zijn boek en Puriteinen. Alle informatie kan je terugvinden: Over de Auteur.
Belangrijk om alvast te weten: Het verhaal in “The Scarlet Letter” speelt zich af in de
zeventiende eeuw, in het puriteinse Boston, Amerika. Het Puritanisme is een Protestantse
stroming, die ontstond als een vorm van protest tegen de kerk. De Anglicaanse Kerk bevatte
veel roomse elementen en de puriteinen wilden een persoonlijker beleving van het christelijk
geloof, zonder alle tussenpersonen en priesters. Puriteinen zijn streng in hun regels en er
wordt een strikt vroom leven verwacht van de leden in hun gemeenschap. In 1620 zeilde
een eerste groep van puriteinen naar Amerika. In 1630, volgde een nieuwe groep van
ongeveer 1500 puriteinen en deze vestigden zich in Boston.
The Customhouse: Introductory
Important to know: The original introduction cannot be found in this edition you are reading!
It is mentioned in this summary to help you understand the context of the story.
Nathaniel Hawthorne wrote the introductory to establish how the nameless narrator of the
story decided to write a book. According to this story, the narrator used to work at Customs.
"Customs" are the taxes you pay when you import goods into a country. A customhouse is
where you can find the Customs Officials and make your payments. It is in this old run-down
place that our narrator happened to find an old manuscript with a scarlet cloth in the shape
of the letter ‘A’. The manuscript is a story, documented by Jonathan Pue, which the narrator
decides to make into a book – which becomes The Scarlet Letter.
2
, Chapters (There are twenty-four chapters in this book):
The story starts out with a close look at the prison door. A crowd of somber people gathered
outside of the prison in seventeenth-century Boston. They are staring at the door, waiting for
it to open and reveal the condemned. The door itself is made of oak wood and studded with
iron spikes. It looks ancient, almost as if it has always stood there. The narrator remarks that
it was one of the first buildings to be constructed. He notes that no matter where founders of
new colonies go, the first things to be built are a prison and a cemetery. Almost as if it is a
reminder that sin, crime and death are inevitable followers.
The narrator tells us that on one side of the door, a wild rosebush grows. As it is June, it is
covered with roses. They seem to offer their fragrance and beauty to the condemned as they
walk through the door. Perhaps it is nature’s way of showing kindness where people will not,
and the narrator hopes it symbolizes some sweet moral blossom down the road to this story.
The narrator goes on to focus on the crowd, waiting outside of the prison. Sentences ranged
from whipping an undutiful child, to scourging a heterodox religionist out of town. Either way,
the crowd shares very little sympathy for transgressors. For people whom religion and law
are identical, these moments are important to enforce the sentiment of the whole community.
In this case, several women of the town appear to have taken a peculiar interest in what the
punishment will be. Some of them talk amongst themselves, making critical comments about
the condemned. Then, the door swings open and out comes a woman, holding a baby in her
arms. Hester Prynne stands fully revealed to the crowd and she is described as a tall and
elegant woman with abundant dark hair. She is a real beauty compared to the other women
in town, who stand described earlier as man-like countrywomen. On her gown, at her breast,
in fine red cloth is sown the letter ‘A’. It is embroidered with luxurious gold thread. One of the
women remark that it almost seems to have been made with pride. One thing is for sure, the
crowd seems transfixed with the scarlet letter on her gown. A grim beadle stands in front of
the woman and makes a gesture with his staff. He bids the crowd to make way for Mistress
Prynne, so she can go on the scaffold at the marketplace.
Note: A beadle in historical context is a minor parish officer dealing with offenders. He is
described as a grim and grisly man, with a sword by his side and a staff of office in his hand.
He represented the Puritanic Code of Law, which was his business to administer.
The scaffold was regarded as an effective agent in the promotion of good citizenship. It is
where transgressors were shamed and punished for all to see. Hester ascends the wooden
steps and stands displayed at the multitude. To Hester, it is as if her life flashes before her
mind. She remembers her joyful childhood, her parents, her husband and when she arrived
on this new continent. Then, she realizes that it is all in the past, and that her baby and this
scarlet letter is her new reality. Whether she wants it or not, this is now her life.
Then, another thing draws Hester’s attention. It is a figure, standing with a Native American.
Note: Native Americans are called ‘Indians’ in the book. We no longer use that word.
The red men would sometimes visit the town, so that wasn’t uncommon. It is the man next to
him that begs her attention. He is described as small in stature, with remarkable intelligence
in his features and a slight deformity in his shoulders. One shoulder slightly rises higher than
the other. Heather recognizes her husband and presses her baby closer to her breast. The
man puts a finger to his lips. He doesn’t want his identity to be revealed. Then, he touches
the shoulder of another townsman and asks what is going on. “Who is this woman? – and
wherefore is she here set up to public shame?”
“You must needs be a stranger,” remarks the townsman, looking curiously at him.
The man goes on to explain that he is a stranger indeed. From his story, we learn that he
was shipwrecked and then held in bonds among the heathen-folk. Only now he could come
to the Boston Settlement. The townsman replies: “It must gladden your heart, to be again in
a land where iniquity is searched out and punished in the eyes of rulers and people.”
3
