The Scarlet

Letter
Cuarto Medio
 ACTIVITIES: Before Reading
Read the story introduction on the first page of the book. Which of these ideas would
you agree with, and which do you think the Puritans of New England would agree
with?

1. Adultery is a terrible sin which must be punished.

2. Adultery means a marriage has broken down and so it is best for everyone to finish
the marriage.
3. It is more important to forgive than to punish.
4. You should be kind to somebody who has sinned, and help them to be good again.
5. You must never tell a lie.
6. If telling the truth will hurt another person, you should stay silent.
7. A child of adultery is a bad child, and must stay away from other children.
Salem, my hometown
Summary
 Salem, my hometown

Salem, my hometown is a quiet place and not many ships call at the port here. When I was
a young man, I worked in the port offices of Salem. There was very little work to do but
one day in 1849 I was looking through an old wooden box and a piece of red material in
the shape of the letter A caught my eye. What could it mean? I held it in my hands and it
seems to me that the scarlet letter had some deep meaning which I could not understand. I
held the letter to my chest and suddenly it seemed to be red-hot metal.
Nexto to it there was an old packet of papers, I opened them carefully and found several
papers explaining the history of the scarlet letter, containing details of the life and
experiences of a woman who died in the 1690’s called Hester Prynne. And it is her story
that I tell you now, a story of the early years of Boston soon after the City Fathers build the
first wooden houses, churches… and prison.
Chapter 1
Summary
 Hester Prynne’s Shame

On a June morning, even though the prison of Boston was new, it looked old, dark and ugly. A crowd
of people waited in Prison Lane: men and country women; all of them watching the wooden prison
door. The women were especially interested, most of them had been born in England and crossed the
sea with the first families who came to build the town of Boston in New England, hey brought their
customs and religion from old England. These women were discussing the punishments they thought
Hester Prynne should get, such as “burning the letter into her forehead with hot metal” instead of
putting it on her dress, or killing her because she has brought shame to all of them.

The door opened and a woman stepped out into the open air with a three month old baby in her
arms. Everyone was looking at the bosom of her dress which had the letter A in red cloth surrounded
by gold thread patterns; but she smiled proudly. Those who expected her to appear sad and ashamed
were surprised: “she is meant to wear that letter as a punishment not as something to be proud of!”
 Hester Prynne’s Shame

She walked to the scaffold in front of the church. This is the place were criminals met their death
before the eyes of the town but it was also used as a place of shame were those who had done wrong
in the eyes of God were to stand and show their faces to the world. She accepted her punishment
bravely, in those years the religious feelings in New England were very strong. As she stood there she
remembered her past, living in Old England, her parents and then living in Amsterdam with an older
man; suddenly, the present felt unreal.

Then, she noticed an Indian and a man who looked like he travelled a lot near the crowd. The man
asked what was happening and was told that the “Evil Mistress Prynne” was the wife of an
Englishman who went missing two years ago on his way to Massachusetts to reunite with his wife,
and so the father of her child remains a mystery. He was also told that the usual punishment for
adultery is death but that the magistrates decided to be merciful and make her stand on the scaffold
for three hours and wear the scarlet “A” for adultery for the rest of her life.
Hester was again asked by the priests if she wanted to reveal the name of the baby’s father but she
refused to do so. After her punishment was over, she was taken back to the prison.
Chapter 2
Summary
 Roger Chillingworth’s secret

By night-time inside the prison, the child would not stop screaming and so the prison officer,
Brackett, decided to bring a doctor. His name was Roger Chillingworth, the man she had seen in the
crowd earlier, he had learned natural medicines from the Indians. The man was brought inside and
Hester froze, Chillingworth put some powder into a cup of water and gave it to the baby who fell
asleep. She said she thought that he was taking revenge and that the medicine was going to kill her
baby and her, to which he said she should not be afraid of him.

They both sat and the man said “Look at me! I’m old and ugly, how could I have imagined the day
that I married you that you would ever love me?”. Chillingworth wishes her no harm but wants to
know the name of the baby’s father so that he can find him. He doesn’t want to hurt him, harm his
position or inform the law as he believes he will be punished in Heaven, but he wants to know him.
She refuses to tell him, so he also asks her to keep the secret and not tell anyone that he is her
husband. She agrees to keeps both secrets, so he leaves.
Chapter 1 & 2
Activities
 Activities

Choose the best question-word (Who/What) for these questions and then
answer them.
1. W___was in the old wooden box with the papers?
2. W___ punishments did the women suggest for Hester?
3. W___ could the magistrates send to the scaffold?
4. W___ was Hester’s punishment for her sin?
5. W___ had probably died before reaching Massachusetts?
6. W___ name did Hester refuse to give to the priest?
7. W___ did the prison officer bring to see Hester?
8. W___ was Hester afraid that Roger would do to her and her child?
9. W___ did Roger want to find?
10. W___ did Roger want to do to this person?
11. W___ did Roger ask Hester to do?
Before Reading Chapter 3
Activities
 Activities

Can you guess what difficulties Hester will face?

❏ Someone tries to kill her.

❏ The Puritans want to take her child away from her.
❏ The women try to make her leave town.
❏ People try to stop her getting any work.
❏ Nobody in the shops will sell her any food.
Chapter 3
Summary
 A fatherless child

When Hester’s time in prison came to an end,s he moved to a small cottage outside town with her
daughter and started to earn enough money with her beautiful sewing skills. Her needlework was
used by the Governor, the fine dresses of the ladies and babies’ little coats and hats. She was an
outsider because the Puritans were hard judges with a woman who was sinned. Her daughter’s name
was Pearl, she was a wild child, one minute bright and happy and then dark and angry. When Pearl
was about three years old, Hester took her with her to Governor Bellingham’s house in order to
deliver a shirt and talk to him in person because she heard that many Puritans wanted to take Pearl
away from her.

She arrived to the Governor’s house and found that he was there with the old priest John Wilson, the
young priest Arthur Dimmesdale and his doctor, Roger Chillingworth; they were discussing the
matter of taking Pearl away from Hester. They questioned if she could raise her child properly to
which she replied she can teach her child about everything she has learned from wearing the scarlet
letter. In the end, Arthur Dimmesdale convinced them to let her keep her child so that everyday she
can be reminded of her great sin.
NEXT WEEK:
Chapters 4 and 5