English
Assignment
Questions:
1. How do Hester, Dimmesdale, and Pearl plan to leave Boston?
2. Why does Dimmesdale consider it fortunate that they will not be leaving for four days?
3. What have crowds of people gathered in the market place to witness?
4. What piece of unwelcome news is Hester made aware of in the marketplace?
5. How does Dimmesdale appear as he leaves the church after his triumphant sermon?
6. According to Chillingworth, what is the one place where Dimmesdale could have successfully escaped him?
7. What do you think Dimmesdale means when he describes his and Hester’s actions as violating “our reverence each for the other’s soul”?
8. How is the theme of redemption fulfilled by Hester, Dimmesdale, and Chillingworth?
9. No real cause of death is given from either the minister or physician. It would appear the driving force that gave them life no longer exists once the secret is exposed. How does this make their deaths ironic?
10. Why, do you suppose, does Hester return to Boston?
Answers:
1. Hester, Pearl, and Dimmesdale plan to leave Boston on a ship.
2. Dimmesdale considers it fortunate that they will not be leaving for four days because it gives him some time to reconcile his past.
3. They witnessed the election of the governor.
4. She learns that Chillingworth is setting sail on the same ship as her and her family.
5. He appears to look like death with pale skin and no energy.
6. The only way that Dimmesdale could have escaped Chillingworth is death.
7. I think this means that they both condemned each other’s souls by committing adultery but they do not care.
8. Redemption for Hester is when she comes back and begins her work again and for Chillingworth it would be him coming back and practicing his sermons and Dimmesdale’s death is his redemption.
9. It’s ironic because what killed them is what kept them alive.
10. To finish her work as a seamstress.