THE SCARLET LETTER - Nathaniel Howthorne
In Puritan Boston
Hester Prynne was accused of adultery and the leading men of the Puritan
settlement decided that Hester had to stand on the platform for three hours
where everyone could see her. Then, she was condemned to wear a scarlet "A" on
the breast of her dress all her life. The Puritan leaders asked her to reveal
the name of her lover but she refused. While she and her infant were in prison,
her husband, Roger Chillingworth, who was a physician,
went to speak to her. He was determinate to find Hester's lover, although he
ned no revenge against Hester. She swore to keep Chillingworth's
real identity a secret. When Hester Prynne's prison term was finally over she
thought that she would be alone in the world with her child. She was free to
leave Boston,
but she decided to stay. The Puritan community scorned her and Pearl. Her only
contact with society was through her work because she was very skilled with the
needle. Governor Bellingham seriously thought about taking Pearl away from Hester because the child was
considerate a "living sin". At a meeting with the governor, Reverend Dimmesdale was able to convince him to let Hester keep Pearl since this was God's
wish.
Roger Chillingworth became
Reverend Dimmesdale's medical adviser and never left
him alone. The minister and the physican even lived
in the same house. As time went on Chillingworth
underwent a hideous change. He was convinced that the reverend was hiding a
terrible secret. The reverend had a troubled soul but he never revealed his
shame to anyone. He told his congregation that he was a vile sinner, and
everyone appreciated him even more. He whipped his shoulders and fasted as an
act of penance.
One night he met
Hester and Pearl
on the scaffold, and Chillingworth saw them together.
After having seen Reverend Dimmesdale on the
scaffold, Hester decided it was her responsibility to help him and she met Chillingworth to tell him that she wanted to reveal his
true identity to the reverend. Hester took Pearl
for a walk in the forest where the reverend used to walk, when she met Dimmesdale she revealed him the true physician's identity
and asked him to go far away together with Pearl to begin a new life, but the reverend
had just the courage to confess his sin in front of the townspeople because
soon died. Hester remained alone and decided to take away Pearl with her. After many years Hester
returned to Boston
where she died after a life of good deeds and charity.
