What is the story The Scarlet Letter about?
Set in Puritan Massachusetts Bay Colony during the years 1642 to 1649, the novel tells the story of Hester Prynne, who conceives a daughter through an affair and then struggles to create a new life of repentance and dignity.
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What is the story The Scarlet Letter about?
Set in Puritan Massachusetts Bay Colony during the years 1642 to 1649, the novel tells the story of Hester Prynne, who conceives a daughter through an affair and then struggles to create a new life of repentance and dignity.
Why did Chillingworth marry Hester?
I felt no love, nor feigned any.” Chillingworth believes that Hester could not love him because of his deformity (one shoulder is higher than the other). Nonetheless, he was initially content to marry her because he appreciated her youth and beauty.
What does the last sentence of The Scarlet Letter mean?
A motto carved on the headstone they share ensures that their punishment follows them even into death: “on a field, sable, the letter A, gules.” This motto is a verbal representation of the scarlet letter (“sable” means black and “gules” means reddish). We could interpret this persistent A as a tragic final image.
What happens to Pearl in the end of The Scarlet Letter?
A short time later, Chillingworth also dies and leaves his fortune to Pearl; Pearl and Hester go abroad, but Hester returns alone years later to live out her days quietly in the New England community.
Does Chillingworth love Pearl?
In the Conclusion, we discover that Chillingworth “positively withered up, shrivelled away.” Obsession, vengeance, and hatred consumed him, but, despite all this, he leaves his fortune to Pearl, a child of love and passion, the living symbol and personification of the scarlet letter.
Why is adultery a crime in hesters society?
In Puritan society, adultery was the ultimate sin, and it was punishable by death. Since Hester Prynne gave birth to a child due to this sin, the townspeople decide not to punish her by death, but rather allow her to live out her days with her child while condemned to wear a scarlet A on her bosom.