Teacher’s notes
LEVEL 2
PENGUIN READERS
Teacher Support Programme
The Scarlet Letter
Nathaniel Hawthorne
About the author
Nathaniel Hawthorne was born in 1804 in Salem,
Massachusetts and he died in 1864. He became one of the
most famous American authors for his novels The Scarlet
Letter (1850) and The House of the Seven Gables (1851),
and for his many short stories, some of which are collected
in Twice-told Tales (1837). His first novel Fanshawe (1828)
was self-published, but later he tried to destroy all the
copies as he thought it wasn’t good enough. Although
his writing brought him fame and praise, it earned him
little money and he had to take different jobs to survive
financially. In the final years of his life, he visited Italy and
England, where he wrote The Marble Faun (1860). On
his return to the United States, his mental and physical
health declined dramatically. He even appeared to predict
his own death by writing “64” over and over again on
pieces of paper. After his death, his work continued to be
appreciated and he is now considered to be among the best
American fiction writers. His stories can be read on both a
literal and a symbolic level and it is perhaps this more than
anything that makes him such a great writer.
Summary
The Puritan elders of seventeenth century Boston
imprison an unmarried mother, Hester Prynne, and
force her to wear a scarlet letter “A” on her dress to show
everybody that she is an adulteress. She is told that she
might be allowed to remove the letter if she tells everybody
who the father of her child is, but she refuses in order to
protect her one true love. Her husband, who had sent her
to Boston two years earlier, turns up and discovers that the
father is a young minister called Arthur Dimmesdale. He
doesn’t tell anybody, but uses the power of his knowledge
c Pearson Education Limited 2008
to make Dimmesdale’s life unbearable. Dimmesdale
eventually reveals his secret and dies from ill health. Hester
and her daughter, Pearl, leave Boston to start a new life.
Chapters 1–2: Hester Prynne is released from prison and
a crowd of people are waiting for her. The governor has
said that she must stand public exposure with a scarlet
letter on her chest, and the crowd believe that she should
be punished for her terrible sins of adultery and bearing
a child out of wedlock. Hester Prynne had come to
town only two years earlier, while her husband stayed in
Europe and now she is discriminated against and publicly
insulted. Hester may be able to find forgiveness if she
tells the name of the baby’s father to the ministers. Yet,
she refuses and continues to stand on the platform of the
square. In the midst of her public shame, she recognizes
a familiar face. Hester is taken back to prison and starts
weakening to such an extent that a doctor is sent for. To
Hester’s astonishment, her estranged husband, the very
same familiar face she saw among the crowd, appears in
the guise of a doctor, calling himself Roger Chillingworth.
He has grown old and bitter since they last met. He does
not reveal that he is her husband to anybody else, but
when he is alone with her, he also asks her who the father
of the baby is. When she refuses to reveal the truth, he
promises to find out the secret for himself. Before he leaves
her, he makes her promise not to tell anyone that he is her
husband.
Chapters 3 – 4: Hester is released from prison and moves
to a small house outside the town. Life is very difficult
there, since she and her daughter are looked down on
and disrespected by people and even church ministers.
Time goes by and Hester’s child, Pearl, grows into a lively
and happy child, despite the bullying from the other
children of the town. Some people in town notice that
Pearl does not believe in God and this nearly leads to her
being taken away from Hester. The Governor threatens
to grant the custody of Pearl to another family. The old
minister questions the child and then accuses Hester of
not bringing her up in the way of the Lord. So Hester
turns to the young minister, Arthur Dimmesdale for help.
He finally speaks for Hester and she is allowed to keep
Pearl on condition that she is taught the word of God and
that she starts school when she comes of age. To everyone’s
amazement, Pearl runs to the young minister, takes his
hand and puts it to her face before running away.
The Scarlet Letter - Teacher’s notes
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Teacher’s notes
PENGUIN READERS
Teacher Support Programme
LEVEL 2
The Scarlet Letter
Chapters 5–6: Arthur Dimmesdale is very sick and
Roger Chillingworth moves into the same house with
him. Chillingworth wants to know what secret lies in
Dimmesdale’s heart, as he believes some sicknesses have
nothing to do with a man’s body but with his heart.
Chillingworth waits for the right moment to catch
Dimmesdale unaware and discover his secret. Now the
young minister is in his hands. Dimmesdale is considered
the best minister and speaker in town. People feel very
sorry about his sickness. Deep down, Dimmesdale feels
sad and empty and wants everybody to know that he is a
sinner. We gradually realize that Arthur is Pearl’s father.
He is too frightened of public shame to admit his sin. One
night, he tries to find the courage to proclaim it from the
platform in the town square. Yet, he stands there alone
and only Hester and Pearl are with him. Pearl asks Arthur
to stand there with them the next day but Arthur refuses.
Unexpectedly, Chillingworth shows up and convinces
Arthur to leave with him, ignoring Hester and Pearl.
Chapters 7­–8: Hester and Chillingworth meet at
the beach and they have a fight. Hester realizes that
Chillingworth is destroying Dimmesdale and warns the
doctor that she intends to go back on her promise not to
reveal the fact that he is really her husband. Chillingworth
threatens to disclose the truth and to ruin Dimmesdale
for life if she dares tell the townspeople his secret. Hester
wants to tell Dimmesdale about Chillingworth as soon as
possible, but he has left town. The following day, Hester
waits for him in the woods with Pearl in order to talk to
him without being seen. At first, Dimmesdale is mad at
Hester but he soon forgives her, recognizing that his real
enemy is Chillingworth. Hester insists that the doctor is
going to destroy him, and that he should go away. She
offers to go with him and they make plans to leave for
England.
Chapters 9–10: Dimmesdale finds out that there will
be a ship to England in four days. He starts preparing
his final speech to deliver before the townspeople. Three
days later there is a public gathering, since the whole
town is on holiday. Dimmesdale speaks at church and
the people are moved by his warm words. To everyone’s
astonishment, he goes up onto the platform with Hester
and Pearl. He opens his shirt and some townspeople say
they can see a scarlet letter “A” on his breast. Then he dies.
Roger Chillingworth dies a few months later and leaves
his money to Pearl. Everybody in town continues to talk
c Pearson Education Limited 2008
about what Dimmesdale did at the public square. Hester
and Pearl leave Boston (presumably they only stayed to
be near Arthur) and the story ends with a scene of Hester
in later life, back in Boston, receiving letters from her
daughter in another country and making baby clothes,
presumably for her grandchild.
Background and themes
Sin: The main theme of The Scarlet Letter is the effect
of sin on the soul. Hester’s sin is discovered and she
is branded with the mark forever, on her clothes and
in her heart. She is rejected by the whole community.
Dimmesdale is able to conceal his sin and retains the
respect and admiration of the community. And yet, the
supreme irony that the novel contains is that Hester
is liberated by the public knowledge of her sin, whilst
Dimmesdale is eaten up by it and finally destroyed from
within. Born out of wedlock, Pearl is the personification
of sin and ungodliness for most of the townspeople.
However, she is also the representation of an innocence,
honesty and freedom which is not restricted by the strict
rules of moral conduct. The author suggests that what
society sees as sin is not necessarily the worst thing a
person can do. Hester and Arthur sin but they never
wanted to hurt anybody. Chillingworth doesn’t sin in the
eyes of society, yet he does serious damage to those around
him.
Gender inequality: It is symbolic that Hester, the woman,
is forced to display her sin, whereas Dimmesdale, the
man, can hide it successfully, albeit at great cost to himself
in the end. Hawthorne uses this disparity between the
experiences of the sexes to make a point about gender
equality. In an age when women were considered to be
inferior to men in many societies, it is remarkable that
Hawthorne ends his novel with a cry for feminism. ‘‘One
day,’’ Hester says, ‘‘when God is ready, there will be a new
world–a better world for women. We will be the same as
men.’’
Discussion activities
Before reading
1 Discuss: Put students in groups to discuss these
questions: Do a lot of women in your country have
babies when they aren’t married? Why does this happen?
Do these women get any help? Do they have to give the
name of the father to get help? What do people think
about these women, the fathers and the children?
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Teacher’s notes
PENGUIN READERS
Teacher Support Programme
LEVEL 2
The Scarlet Letter
2 Research: Divide the class into two groups, A and B.
Tell group A to find information on the Internet
about Boston, paying attention to the history of the
town and what it was like in the early part of the
seventeenth century. They can also find out about
Boston and the way of life there now. Tell group B to
find information on the Internet about the lives of
women in the United States and their own country in
the early seventeenth century. They can then compare
this to how women live now. Then, put students in
groups of four so that two students come from group
A and two from group B. Tell them to exchange
information. Eventually, get feedback from the whole
class.
3 Guess: Ask students in pairs to predict the story using
the words in the box below. Tell students to look up
the words they do not know in the Word List at the
back of the Reader.
adulteress prison crowd devil God
governor heart heaven platform promise
punish sin
4 Pair work: If you have access to video or DVD,
watch the first five minutes of any of the film versions
of The Scarlet Letter with the sound off. Ask students
to imagine what the characters say and what is
happening. Get feedback from the whole class and
then play the film again and check whose guess was
closest to the original.
Chapters 1–2
While reading (At the end of Chapter 1)
5 Write: Tell students to write a page of Hester’s diary.
You are Hester at the end of Chapter 2. What do you
write in your secret book about your child, your husband
and the father of your daughter? How do you feel about
the people in the town and the ministers? What do you
think is going to happen to you and your child?
After reading
6 Discuss: Put students into groups to discuss this
question: Who is the father of Hester’s baby? Why do you
think that? Elicit ideas but do not confirm or correct
at this stage.
Chapters 3– 4
While reading (p. 7, after “She always looked at the
ground and walked away.”)
7 Pair work and role play: In pairs, students think
about the kinds of things that the people, children
and ministers of the town said to Hester. Get
feedback from the whole class and then ask them
to imagine that Hester decides to defend herself,
rather than looking at the ground. Brainstorm ways
in which she could do this and then get the pairs to
act out the scene.
c Pearson Education Limited 2008
After reading
8 Discuss and write: Ask students to think about what
happened in Chapter 4 from Pearl’s point of view.
Brainstorm some ideas with the whole class. Now
students write a short piece describing what happened
at the governor’s house as if they were Pearl.
Chapters 5–6
After reading
9 Discuss: Ask students to work in small groups to talk
about Arthur when he is on the platform in Chapter
6: What is he thinking? What does he want to say? Why?
Is he happy because Hester and Pearl are there? Why
doesn’t he want to stand with them tomorrow? Why did
he leave with Chillingworth?
10 Pair work: Write the following words on the board:
house, yard, flower, forgive, shirt, climbed, baby. Have
the students talk and write in pairs to say how these
words were used in Chapters 5 – 6 without looking
back at the book.
Chapters 7–8
While reading (At the end of page 20)
11 Discuss: Ask students to work in small groups to
talk about the ways in which Hester can help Arthur.
Get feedback from the whole class.
After reading
12 Role play: Put students into groups of three.
One student is Hester, one is Arthur and one is Pearl.
Tell them to act out the scene in the woods. They
can write the dialogue first based on what they can
remember from Chapter 7 or they can improvise.
Chapters 9–10
After reading
13 Discuss and write: Put students in groups to imagine
a different ending to the story. Allow them to discuss
what parts of Chapter 10 could be changed and get
feedback from the whole class. Individually, students
write an alternative ending drawing on any of the
ideas the class has thought of. As a follow up, students
could dramatize in groups one of their endings.
14 Write and guess: Put students in pairs and ask them
to choose a short paragraph from the book. Tell them
to write it again, making five changes to words in the
text. Students then read out their paragraphs to the
other students, who have to identify the mistakes.
Vocabulary activities
For the Word List and vocabulary activities, go to
www.penguinreaders.com.
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