The Scarlet Letter

1. The Scarlet Letter • CHAPTER NOTES 11-13 • ADAPTED FROM: • Guelcher, William: THE SCARLET LETTER: STRATEGIES IN TEACHING: Idea Works Inc., Eagan Minnesota, 1989. • Van Kirk, Susan: HAWTHORNE’S THE SCARLET LETTER: CliffszNotes. IDG Books Worldwide Inc., Forest City, California., 2000.

2. CHAPTERS 11-13 • Chapter 11 captures great irony: Dimmesdale’s consciousness of his personal sin serves to make him a more effective, more compassionate servant of God. • Hawthorne describes him as “a subtle, but remorseful hypocrite.”

3. CHAPTERS 11-13 • Chapter 12: the second of three crucial scaffold scenes. • Dimmesdale is clearly on the brink, as evidenced by the near insanity of his scream. • It is clear that his subconscious is the source of his agony. • Pearl asks him twice to bring the issue into the open: When Dimmesdale refuses a great light comes forth from the skies: a sign calling for the truth that would set them free.

4. Chapters 11-13 • The chapter has Gothic, supernatural elements: the weird light, the sudden appearance of Chillingworth, the red “A” blazing across the sky. • But Hawthorne attributes these to natural occurrences, such as a meteor. • It is left up to each character’s – and the reader’s – interpretation as to what really occurred.

5. Chapters 11-13 • By Chapter 13, four years have passed: Pearl is now seven. • Hester’s position and regard in the community has changed: She is given credit for bearing her shame with courage, and her position has risen because of her charity. • The scarlet A now stands for “Able.” • The price? No friends, no love, no affection. She is the perpetual outsider.

6. Chapters 11-13 • Hester’s humanity has been stripped from her: Her beauty, warmth, charm, and passion have been replaced by coldness, severity, drabness. • Yet, her feelings for Dimmesdale remain. She feels guilty for harboring the secret of Chillingworth’sidentity. • She decides to harbor it no longer.