Full Answer
What happens in Chapter 19 of the Scarlet Letter?
The Scarlet Letter Summary: Chapter 19: The Child at the Brook-Side Hester calls to Pearl to join her and Dimmesdale. From the other side of the brook, Pearl eyes her parents with suspicion.
How does Pearl react to the Scarlet Letter on the brook?
From the other side of the brook, Pearl eyes her parents with suspicion. She refuses to come to her mother, pointing at the empty place on Hester’s chest where the scarlet letter used to be. Hester has to pin the letter back on and effect a transformation back into her old, sad self before Pearl will cross the creek.
Does Pearl Kiss Hester in the Scarlet Letter?
In her mother’s arms, Pearl kisses Hester and, seemingly out of spite, also kisses the scarlet letter. Hester tries to encourage Pearl to embrace Dimmesdale as well, although she does not tell her that the minister is her father.
What happens in Chapter 20 of the Minister in a maze?
Summary: Chapter 20: The Minister in a Maze As the minister returns to town, he can hardly believe the change in his fortunes. He and Hester have decided to go to Europe, since it offers more anonymity and a better environment for Dimmesdale’s fragile health.
What is Chapter 20 called in the scarlet letter?
Summary: Chapter 20: The Minister in a Maze.
Why is Chapter 20 of the scarlet letter called the minister in a maze?
This chapter is called "Minister in a Maze" because Dimmesdale is confused on whether he has changed as a person, or if the devil has changed him. He has to ignore his impulses in which he has never experienced and that scares him, as well as confuses him.
What happens at the end of chapter 20 in the scarlet letter?
Dimmesdale lies to Chillingworth, telling him that though he knows his medicine is dispensed by a loving hand, he does not need it. Then he goes to his study and furiously writes his Election Sermon.
What is the title of scarlet letter?
The significance of the title of The Scarlet Letter is that the letter is the symbol of adultery and sin that Hester is ordered to wear prominently. The “A” stands for adulteress. The scarlet denotes how unlike the Puritans, who wear plain simple clothing in dark somber colors, Hester is.
What does Pearl do when Dimmesdale kisses her?
Pearl desires the minister to acknowledge her in public. While Hester assures her that this admission will happen in the future, Dimmesdale kisses Pearl's forehead in an attempt to mollify her. Pearl immediately goes to the brook and washes off the kiss.
Why does Pearl wash off Dimmesdale's kiss?
Why does Pearl wash off Dimmesdale's kiss? -It is in a way of Pearl keeping her pureness and innocence. Dimmesdale is a man of sin, and in Pearl's eyes the kiss if accepted could be a transfer of sin.
What are the departure plans for Hester and Dimmesdale in chapter 20?
Hester will secure passage and secrecy for the three on a Spanish pirate ship that is in port and set to leave in four days. Dimmesdale is pleased with this plan because his Election Sermon, given on the opening day of the legislature, is set for the day before the boat's departure.
Where is Hester buried?
the King's Chapel graveyardHester is buried in the King's Chapel graveyard, which is the burial ground for Puritan patriarchs. Her grave is next to Dimmesdale's, but far enough away to suggest that “the dust of the two sleepers had no right to mingle, even in death.” They do, however, share a headstone.
What happened in chapter 20 of the giver?
The Giver will explain that Jonas accidentally drowned in the river, and then he will help them cope with the new memories. That's the plan. While he knows that The Giver needs to stay, Jonas still wants him to come along on the escape. The Giver explains that he will stay to help the citizens.
Is scarlet letter A true story?
Hester Prynne, central character of Hawthorne's classic The Scarlet Letter, stems from a distant past (where names like “Hester” weren't considered weird), and it's a shock to realize she was probably inspired by a real person: Elizabeth Pain, a woman who had a child out of wedlock and was later accused of murdering ...
Is scarlet letter hard to read?
Scarlet Letter starts to get pretty steep. And that's not even to mention all the tricky ideas about fate, community, and forgiveness. But take it from us: there's a reason this book has stayed on required reading lists for decades. (And it's not because your teachers like to torture you.)
How many chapters are in scarlet letter?
Chapter 24 concludes Hawthorne's novel ''The Scarlet Letter''. This chapter serves as an epilogue, discussing what happens to Chillingworth, Pearl, and Hester Prynne after Dimmesdale dies.
How does Dimmesdale's burden affect his ministry?
His suffering has given him sympathies that cause him to understand the sins of others, which results in eloquent and moving sermons. The more Dimmesdale asserts his own sinfulness, the holier his congregation believes him to be.
What three theories are offered to explain the scarlet letter on the ministers chest?
What theories are given about the scarlet letter imprinted in the minister's flesh? The theories that are given about the scarlet letter on Dimmesdale's chest are: he inflicted it upon himself, Chillingworth used magic to put it there, and that it was remorse and guilt that put it on his chest.
Who is the black man in the scarlet letter?
In the Scarlet letter Nathaniel Hawthorne uses the Black Man to symbolize the devil and his messenger in the form of Roger Chillingworth who is the devil. The Black Man was important to this book because Hester's scarlet letter was left by the black man (The Devil).
What does Dimmesdale mean when he says?
What does Dimmesdale mean when he says, "Oh Hester, what a thought is that, and how to dread it! That my own features were part reflected in her face, and so strikingly that the world might see them!" Dimmesdale mentions Pearl's resemblance to him through her features as he watches her play in the woods.
What is the chapter 20 of The Scarlet Letter?
Hawthorne, N. (1850). Chapter 20: “The Minister in a Maze”. The Scarlet Letter (Lit2Go Edition). Retrieved September 02, 2021, from https://etc.usf.edu/lit2go/127/the-scarlet-letter/2287/chapter-20-the-minister-in-a-maze/
Who was looking at the minister with the grave and intent regard of a physician towards his patient?
All this time Roger Chillingworth was looking at the minister with the grave and intent regard of a physician towards his patient. But, in spite of this outward show, the latter was almost convinced of the old man’s knowledge, or, at least, his confident suspicion, with respect to his own interview with Hester Prynne.
Who recognizes Dimmesdale as a kindred spirit?
Even Mistress Hibbins recognizes him as a kindred spirit. Dimmesdale is the "wretched minister! . . . Tempted by a dream of happiness, he had yielded himself, with deliberate choice, as he had never done before, to what he knew was deadly sin.".
What does Dimmesdale say to Chillingworth?
When Chillingworth says that his congregation may find their ill pastor gone the next year, Dimmesdale agrees. In fact he answers Chillingworth , "Yea, to another world" with "pious resignation.".
Who invites Dimmesdale to the forest?
Mistress Hibbins invites Dimmesdale to the forest and tells him she admires the way he covers up his true feelings during the day. But she knows she will see him in the forest with the Black Man when midnight comes. Dimmesdale hurries home and, because he is agitated, Chillingworth offers to give him some medicine to calm him down. Dimmesdale lies to Chillingworth, telling him that though he knows his medicine is dispensed by a loving hand, he does not need it. Then he goes to his study and furiously writes his Election Sermon.
What does Dimmesdale call "involuntary"?
As if possessed, Dimmesdale returns to the town, a man on fire. He is tempted several times by the irrational, wild, blasphemous, and — what Dimmesdale calls "involuntary" — desire to do wicked things to members of his congregation and perfect strangers. Even Mistress Hibbins recognizes him as a kindred spirit.
What chapter does Hester call Pearl?
Summary: Chapter 19: The Child at the Brook-Side. Hester calls to Pearl to join her and Dimmesdale. From the other side of the brook, Pearl eyes her parents with suspicion. She refuses to come to her mother, pointing at the empty place on Hester’s chest where the scarlet letter used to be. Hester has to pin the letter back on ...
What does Hester and Dimmesdale's encounter mean?
Hester and Dimmesdale’s encounter serves to further complicate what is already a morally ambiguous situation. The sun shines on the couple when Hester removes the scarlet letter, suggesting that nature, God, or both favor their plan. Pearl, on the contrary, cannot accept this new, happier version of her mother.
What does Pearl's instinctual displeasure with the changes that have taken place in the forest suggest?
When added to the fact that the couple plans to flee to Europe, Pearl’s instinctual displeasure with the changes that have taken place in the forest suggests that Hester and Dimmesdale are not operating according to a newer, better moral code but are instead trying to find new ways to defy the same old social rules.
What does Dimmesdale tell Chillingworth?
When he reaches his house, Dimmesdale tells Chillingworth that he has no more need of the physician’s drugs. Chillingworth becomes wary but is afraid to ask Dimmesdale outright if the minister knows his real identity. Dimmesdale has already started to write the sermon he is expected to deliver in three days for Election Day (a religious as well as civil holiday that marks the opening of the year’s legislative session). In light of his new view of humanity, he now throws his former manuscript in the fire and writes a newer and better sermon.
Why does Dimmesdale ignore the young woman?
Instead, he allows her to remain part of a system he has come to accept as corrupt, because he still lazily believes that the church offers her a way to salvation. Moreover, Dimmesdale worries that encountering her now, after his time in the woods, would somehow contaminate her, but what he fails to acknowledge fully is that the contamination has already occurred. The text makes clear that he has used the young woman’s sexual attraction to him to win her over to the church.
Why did Hester and Dimmesdale decide to go to Europe?
He and Hester have decided to go to Europe, since it offers more anonymity and a better environment for Dimmesdale’s fragile health. Through her charity work, Hester has become acquainted with the crew of a ship that is to depart for England in four days, and the couple plans to secure passage on this vessel. Tempted to announce to all he sees, “I am not the man for whom you take me! I left him yonder in the forest,” Dimmesdale now finds things that were once familiar, including himself, to seem strange.
What does Pearl tell her mother about the scarlet letter?
She also tells her mother that someday she will have her own scarlet letter. When Hester pulls off the scarlet letter in the forest and tosses it beside the brook, Pearl grows hysterical; she refuses to come to her mother until the "A" has been replaced on her dress, the child has never seen Hester not wearing it.
What does the scarlet A on Hester's chest mean?
As she proudly walks through town with her head held high, the Puritans point at the "A" and scoff at its wearer. Hester is more pained by a second symbol of her adultery, her daughter Pearl, who becomes a living symbol of the scarlet "A" on her chest. Pearl is not an easy child.
Why does Dimmesdale throw open his shirt?
With his family by his side, he finally confesses his sin and throws open his shirt so that everyone can see the scarlet "A" upon his chest. Dimmesdale then dies peacefully, no longer haunted by a hidden scarlet letter. Hester and Pearl leave Boston for a period of time.
What color is the meteor in the scaffold scene?
As the three stand together, a meteor illuminates the night sky. It is in the shape and color of a scarlet "A". Roger Chillingworth also see the illuminated "A", for he has been watching the scaffold scene in the cover of night.
Why does Hester wear a scarlet letter on her dress?
First, Hester is made to wear the scarlet letter on the bodice of her dress as a public acknowledgment of her adultery.
Who saw the illuminated A in the cover of Night?
Roger Chillingworth also see the illuminated "A", for he has been watching the scaffold scene in the cover of night. Dimmesdale is still unable to confess his sin. Instead, at Hester's suggestion, he makes plans to flee from Boston, never telling his congregation about his guilt.
Why does Pearl notice the minister holding his hand to his chest?
Pearl notices that the minister is always holding his hand to his chest, as if to hide the shame of the "A" engraved there out of sight. His suffering is escalated by the secrecy of his scarlet letter and his inability to confess its presence in public. Chillingworth, his tormentor, knows the truth about Dimmesdale.
