The Scarlet Letter Summaries

Chapters 1-2


At the beginning of The Scarlet Letter, the town of Boston is gathered around waiting to hear Hester Prynne's punishment. Hester has commited adultry and has been sent to prison for it. She comes out of prison with the letter "A' presented on her clothing, and she is holding a baby. The scarlet "A" that Hester wears on her clothes stands for her crime. As she steps onto the scaffold, everyone in the crowd taunts her and makes fun of her.

Chapters 3-4

In chapters 3 and 4, Hester is out on the scaffold. She instantly spots her husband, Roger Chillingworth, who is hiding his identity and acts like he has recently been caotured by Native Americans. As he and Hester continue to keep his identity a secret, he turns to someone in the crowd and asks many questions about Hester, acting as if he had never seen her. The stranger answers her. Hester refuses to tell anyone the baby's father and is sentenced to 3 hours on the scaffold and the "A" on her clothes. We then meet Governor Bellingham, Reverend Wilson, and Revered Dimmesdale. Dimmesdale explains to Hester that she should confess the name of the baby's father but doesn't make it a big issue. When she retreats back to prison, she and Chillingworth, a doctor, meet. He tries to give her a potion, but Hester refuses to drink it because she thinks he is trying to posion her. He tries to get Hester to reveal the baby's father, but she doesn't give in. Instead, they both promise to each other that they will not revel the identities, but he has his revenge in mind.

Chapters 5-6

When Hester is released from prison, the narrator reveals how talented she is with sewing. She can leave Boston but stays there in a cabin. She makes clothes and even sews gloves for the governor. Hester loves her beautiful daughter, Pearl, and would give anything for her. Although she loves her very much, she is worried about Pearl and her trouble that she gets in. One thing Pearl continuously says when Hester talks to her about God is, "I have no heavenly father," which worries Hester. The children and the townspeople are mean to Pearl, as well as Hester. In fact, the townspeople think she is a demon-child.

Chapters 7-8

Hester takes a visit to the Governor's Hall where she is to deliver gloves and to find out whether or not she will keep Pearl. The townspeople think Pearl should be taken away because they think she is a demon-child. They also reason that if Pearl is not a demon-child, the child should still live with a better parent than Hester. When Governor Bellingham, Reverend Wilson, Chillingworth, and Reverend Dimmesdale come into the room, they look at Pearl and tease her. They take a look at Hester and immediately asks why she should keep the child. Hester replies that she will be a better parent to Pearl and will teach her that what she (Hester) has done is wrong. The four are in doubt of this. Wilson asks Pearl about religion, and Pearl refuses to answer, which makes Wilson angry. Dimmesdale defends Hester and Pearl, and they agree that Hester should keep the child. Chillingworth wants the men to discover who Pearl's father really is, but they refuse. As Hester is leaving, if she wouldn't have been able to keep Pearl, she tells Mistress Hibbins that she would have went with her and her witches.

Chapters 9-10

In Boston, Chillingworth comes as a doctor, still with hidden identity. Dimmesdale becomes very ill with very severe health problems. Chillingworth insists that he should live with Dimmesdale to cure him. They get a home next to a cemetary where they are satisfied. The townspeople love the fact that Chillingworth is living with Dimmesdale to help him, but as time goes on, they look at him as not the "miracle" they thought he was. Chillingworth is constantly trying to find out what is wrong with Dimmesdale and is concerned. One day, they begin an awkward conversation about unburied sins and confession, and Dimmesdale has a worried look on his face. Dimmesdale tries to keep himself covered up as if he has his own confession that he has been hiding all along. Chillingworth asked Dimmesdale about it, and Dimmesdale gets angry, and Chillingworth leaves suspicious. One night, while Dimmesdale is asleep, Chillingworth unbuttons his shirt and looks at his chest. He finds something that he is excited to have found, but the narrator keeps what he has found a mystery.

Chapters 11-12

The doctor keeps taunting poor Mr. Dimmesdale to get revenge on him. Locked in a closet, Mr. Dimmesdale sits and whips himself with a bloody scourge for his sin. He also fasts and stays awake, holding vigils. He holds one of his vigils on the scaffold where Hester confessed her sin. Screaming aloud, he grasps his chest due to the pain. He is afraid he will be heard, but only a few people hear. He lets out a laugh when he thinks about what could happen if somebody hears him, and he hears another laugh. To his surprise, it comes from Hester and Pearl. He asks the two to join them up on the scaffold, and when they do, they join hands. Pearl looks up and asks Dimmesdale if he will do the same thing the next day at noon, and he replies that when it is time, he will. The three look up and see a meteor shooting through the sky. The meteor seems to be in the shape of an "A". When they see the meteor, Pearl looks out to see Chillingworth. Chillingworth takes Dimmesdale and leads him back home. The next day, the Sexton found Dimmesdale's black glove on the scaffold and says Satan must have put it there. As well as finding the glove, he points out that they all interpreted the "A" in the sky as meaning angel because of Governor Winthrop's death the previous night.

Chapters 13-14

Pearl is now seven years old, and Hester is starting to be accepted as a person instead of a criminal to her town. She brings food to people, nurses the ill, and help people when they're in trouble. Yet when she does all of these nice deeds for her town, she always leaves without getting any sort of recognition. She wants to do out of the goodness of her heart. Hester thinks that it is partially her fault that Dimmesdale is punishing himself as he does by hiding Chillingworth's identity. One day, Hester goes to Chillingworth to make him stop tormenting the poor minister. He tells her that the judges are considering to remove the letter from her, but she says you cant remove it by human authority. She explains to him that the secret needs to be revealed. Chillingworth seems upsset with what he has become from how he used to be. The two continue to argue, and Hester simply tells him to go back to how he used to be.

Chapters 15-16

When Hester goes to find Pearl, she finds her playing on the shore with the letter "A" on her chest in seaweed. Hester asks Pearl what the "A" means, and Pearl replies that it's the same reason why Dimmesdale always grabs his chest. Pearl doesn't fully understand what the "A" means, and Hester thinks she is too young to know. Therefore, she doesnt go into great detail. As time passes, Pearl still continues to ask her mother what it means. One day, Hester decides that it would only be right to tell Dimmesdale about Chillngworth if they were alone. As Hester and Pearl are waiting on Dimmesdale by the brook, Pearl asks Hester about the Black Man. Hester tells young Pearl that she received the letter from the Black Man. When Pearl sees Dimmesdale, she asks her mother if it is the Black Man. Hester tells her that it is the minister, and Pearl asks if the Black Man has left a letter on Dimmesdale because of how he holds his chest. Hester, wanting privacy, hurries off Pearl so her and Dimmesdale can chat.