Matt Gazaille

ENGL 2201
Spring 2020

Discussion Question: The Scarlet Letter (Chapters 1-7)

1. In this novel all about public shaming and secret and private sin, the three major charac-
ters all carry secrets, so to speak. Hester Prynne is asked repeatedly to name the per-
son Chillingworth calls “the partner of her iniquity” – her lover and Pearl’s father-- but
she steadfastly refuses to do so. We’ve discussed how the people and events in
Hawthorne’s romances convey ideas (often through allegory). Like many elements in
Hawthorne, Hester’s silence can be read and interpreted in multiple, seemingly conflict-
ing ways.

Making specific reference to the reading, discuss (in your own view) the significance of
Hester’s refusal to name the person with whom she has committed adultery. Consider
some of the following questions (you do not have to address all of them): How do you in-
terpret Hester’s silent refusal? What would she lose or gain by breaking her silence?
Why does she refuse to name him, and what do you think her silence means or signifies
-- her protection of the man with whom she has “sinned”? -- her own agency and em-
powerment? Or maybe something else?

When taking in consideration the context of the novel, it is clear that any male figure
would not be punished or ostracized as severely as Hester was. Chillingworth, for example, dis-
appeared and completely abandoned Hester to fend for herself. The townspeople do not care that
he left his young wife years ago, they are more concerned with the fact that she has met a new
lover. By breaking her silence, and revealing that Reverend Dimmesdale is in fact the father, she
would only be fanning the flames surrounding her. Silence is a significant motif in the novel, and
it has multiple interpretations. For Hester, her silence is representative of her agency– which is
virtually non-existent in the puritan society she is held captive in. Her ability to remain silent is
the only thing that she has control over in her life. On the other hand, silence is used against her
as she becomes a social outcast; “In all her intercourse with society, however, there was nothing
that made her feel as if she belonged to it. Every gesture, every word, and even the silence of
those with whom she came in contact, implied, and often expressed, that she was banished, and
as much alone as if she had inhabited another sphere, or communicated with the common nature
by other organs than the rest of human kind.” (5.8). While it can be said that she is trying to pro-
tect the identity of her lover from the townspeople’s delicate and cruel sensibilities, I simply do
not think that is the case. In my opinion, Hester does not want to give the townspeople, or Chill-
ingworth, the satisfaction of knowing her secret. While she has little control over her own (and
Pearl’s) life, she is still able to keep at least one aspect of her private life away from the prying
eyes of her neighbors.