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How does Hawthorne answer two essential questions:

How does Hawthorne answer two essential questions: How do you balance the needs of the individual with the needs of society? Also, think about this question with specific regard to Hester, Dimmesdale , and Chillingworth – how do their individual needs conflict with societal needs?.

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How does Hawthorne answer two essential questions:

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  1. How does Hawthorne answer two essential questions: • How do you balance the needs of the individual with the needs of society? Also, think about this question with specific regard to Hester, Dimmesdale, and Chillingworth – how do their individual needs conflict with societal needs?

  2. Which character in the story displays the most integrity? Justify your answer. • There are three scenes throughout the story which take place at the scaffold. What are the three scenes, and what significance does the scaffold play throughout the story?

  3. Is it fair to look at Hester as a heroic character? Why or why not? • Examine the following argument: • As Dimmesdale confesses on the scaffold, “Dimmesdale regains his soul, Pearl gains her humanity,…and Hester loses her dream.” • What does each of these claims means, and do you agree that the claims are accurate?

  4. On a symbolic/allegorical level, what role does Pearl play throughout the novel? How does this change after the final scaffold scene? • Other symbols: the rose (redemption), red (forgiveness) and black (evil), the letter A (adultery, able, angel)

  5. In what ways does The Scarlet Letter fit into our definition of Romanticism? In what ways does it not? • What questions does Hawthorne pose in relation to: • Sin • Guilt • Revenge • Innocence • The relationship of men to women?

  6. Both Hester and Dimmesdale fight through internal struggles throughout the story: • Hester: Passion v. Discipline • Dimmesdale: Hypocrisy v. Desire to do good • Is he right, at the end, to choose confession and escape over his relationship with Hester?

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