Scarlet Letter Annotations

Quote
1. "She bore in her arms a child, a
baby of some months oldit
acquainted only with the gray
twilight of a dungeon, or other
darksome apartment of the
prison" (chapter 2)
2. Pearl, looking at this bright
wonder of a"No, my little
Pearl!" said her mother; "thou
must gather thine own sunshine.
I have none to give
thee!"(Chapter 7)
3. "It was a sad transformation, too,
that her rich and not a shining
lock of it ever once gushed into
the sunshine." (Chapter 13)
4. Yea, woman, thou sayestA
mortal man, with once a human
heart, has become a fiend for his
especial torment!" (chapter 14)
5. "What choice had you?" asked
Roger Chillingworth. "My finger,
pointed at this man,thence,
peradventure, to the gallows!"
(chapter 14)
6. "What evil have I done the
man?" That he now breathes,
and creeps about on earth, is
owing all to me!" (chapter 14)

7. "I have left thee to the scarlet

letter," replied Roger
Chillingworth. "If that have not
avenged me, I can do no more!"
(chapter 14)
8. "'Mother,' said little Pearl, 'the
sunshine does not love you
because it is afraid of something
on your bosom.'" (chapter 16)
9. "Thou shalt forgive me!" cried

Interpretation/response
There is an easy contrast in the dreary
dark loneliness of the prison cell and
the light of civilization. The light is kind
of like a beacon of truth; it brightly
bears down on Pearl and Hester amplify
the humiliation of Hester.
If sunshine is taken as symbol of a pure
soul and a pure conscience, we can see
that Hester has neither.

There is no longer any light in Hester.

She used to be a beautiful young
woman. But, the scarlet letter has
sucked all the light and beauty in her.
Now there is only darkness.
He has been obsessed with revenge for
seven years and addresses that. Making
revenge your reason to live isn't great
for your longevity. Also, shadows are
shown here, representing sin and evil.
We know that Chillingworth could have
gotten revenge by making sure that
Dimmesdale was thrown in prison or
hanged but he doesn't because he is so
obsessed with these evil ideas of
revenge.
Chillingworth's vengeful attention has
actually kept Dimmesdale alive. But,
considering that he's made his life a
living hell, she sees how maybe death
would be better than the acts of
Chillingworth.
Chillingworth is obsessed with taking
personal revenge on Dimmesdale, but
he lets the community revenge itself on
Hester.
Ever since Hester was condemned to
wear the Scarlet Letter, she has literally
and metaphorically been walking in the
dark.
When Dimmesdale finds out that

Hester, flinging herself on the

fallen leaves beside. "Let God
punish! Thou shalt forgive!"
(chapter 17)
10.That old man's revenge has
been blacker than my sin Thou
and I, Hester, never did so!"
(chapter 17)
11."Love... must always create
sunshine..that it overflows upon
the outward world" (Chapter 18)
12."All at once, as with a sudden
smile of heaven, forth burst the
sunshine..." (chapter 18)

13."Yonder she is, standing in a

streak of sunshine, a good way
off, on the other side of the
brook" (Chapter 18)

14."As if there were a withering spell

in the sad letter, her beauty, the
warmth and richness of her
womanhood, departed, like
fading sunshine; and a gray
shadow seemed to fall acriss her"
(chapter 19)
15."In the brook beneath stood
another child-another and the
same-with likewise its ray of
golden light." (Chapter 19)

16."Well, well! We must needs talk

thus in the daytime! You carry it
off like an old hand! But at
midnight, and in the forest, we
shall have other talk together!"
(Chapter 20)
17.Thou hast escaped me!""May

Chillingworth's mental manipulation is

all part of a twisted plot to seek
revenge on his wife's lover, hes not too
happy.
Hester is saying how his sin is way
worse than what Dimmesdale and
Hester did, because he has become a
cynical character over the obsession.
She feels as if a burden has been
uplifted, and she takes off the letter
because of her love for Dimmesdale.
This occurs immediately after Hester
removes the A from her chest and lets
down her hair in the forest. Never
before had the sun shined down upon
Hester while in the forest. It is almost as
if the heavens are approving of their
plan; Hester is being looked upon in a
good light for the first time since her
public humility.
She is able to remain in the sunlight
while Hester cannot seem to flee from
darkness. This difference between
mother and daughter demonstrates the
purity of Pearl and the sinfulness of
Hester.
The letter is a symbol of darkness and
sin. Although the affair between
Dimmesdale and Hester was a sin to
the Puritans, the sunlight that appears
as the letter is taken off tells the
readers that they are meant to be a
family. God is accepting this and is
telling them by sunshine.
The sunlight shinning on Pearl in this in
this quote symbolize innocence and
youth. Pearl has has both innocence
and youth because she has not
commited a sin and is young and full of
youth.
In the daytime/light all actions and
truths are revealed out in the open to
society. Whereas in the night/darkness,
these secret actions, that society may
deem unacceptable are hidden and
concealed from everyone.
By now, the whole "I'm gonna get you

God forgive thee!" said the

minister. "Thou, too, hast deeply
sinned!" (chapter 23)

18.At old Roger Chillingworth's

decease (which took place within
the year)the daughter of
Hester Prynne. (chapter 24)

spiel that Chillingworth has been

playing with for the last seven years
seems to be less about exactly a welldeserved revenge than about playing
some sort of sick cat-and-mouse game.
Could this be Roger Chillingworth's
final, twisted act of revengea way of
haunting Hester and Pearl?