Through Hawthorn’s discrimination toward Puritans,he makes a plot with a series of events that leads you through sins and torments of the three main characters. The setting is the colonial time period, in the Puritan town of Boston, Massachusetts. The story starts with a group of puritans standing outside a prison door. Hester Prynne leaves the prison to go to the scaffold to stand with her newly born daughter Pearl. Hester is standing on the scaffold for punishment of adultery, which there is also a scarlet “A” on her breast symbolizing the sin and crime.
She is known to have sinned because she came o the new world without her husband and gave birth to Pearl. While standing on the scaffold, she notices a gentleman standing next to an Indian. This gentleman is who we know as Roger Chillingworth. Roger Chillingworth is the husband of Hester. With Hester still on the scaffold, he acts why she is standing there with the child. He is told that she has committed adultery . Hester returns to prison and Roger Chillingworth visits her. He gives Pearl a drink to make her stop crying and talks to Hester about her sin.
She tells him she won’t tell him who she slept with and he asks her not to tell nyone that he is her husband. Hester agrees to this. Hester is released from prison. She makes a living by her amazing sewing abilities. As Peal gets a little older, Hester tries to discipline her. However, Pearl seems to love to be rebellious. This brings Hester and Pearl to governor Bellingham’s. Hester is there to deliver some gloves she made, but is truly there because she has heard that they might take Pearl away from her. She dresses Pearl up and talks to Bellingham, who is in company of Dimmesdale, Wilson,and Chillingsworth.
These men are in a meeting to determine weather or not Pearl will stay ith her. The four men see Pearl first and ask her were she comes from. She says that she is her mother’s child and her name is Pearl. They also ask her who made her. She knows the correct answer but replies that no one made her she was plucked off a rose bush. Bellingham determans by this answer that Pearl needs to be taken away. Hester gets very mad and pleads to Dimmesdale to make and argument. Dimmesdale gives a very good speech and they allow Hester to keep Pearl.
As she is leaving she spots the mistress Hibbons who asks her if she wants to meet with the Black Man. Hester says she would if they had taken Pearl. Dimmesdale is very sick and Chillingworth starts to take care of him. They even move in together in a widows house. Chillingworth senses a darker side of Dimmesdale and tries to figure it out with careful gestures about hiding sin. After a long time of living together Chillingworth can’t help himself and looks under Dimmesdale’s shirt and looks in horror and even some delight. With his new found information, Chillingworth devises a plan.
However, with all of this happening Dimmesdale becomes very popular with his congregation. He tells them that he is a sinner and they don’t believe him. They think that he is just saying that to be a good minister. Also, Dimmesdale starts to fast a bunch. While fasting he begins to hillousinate. One of his most favorite is seeing Pearl point to Hester’s “A” and then to him. Dimmesdale decides to go to the town scaffold. This begins the second scaffolding scene. He goes in the middle of the night. He doesn’t think he will be found. He yells very loud and thinks everyone will awake and come to see him there.
Then, Reverend Wilson walks past. Dimmesdale thinks that arries on a conversation but he really doesn’t. He then begins to think if he couldn’t move down the steps and maybe everyone would see him there in the morning. He is interrupted by Pearl’s laugh. Pearl and Hester are returning from Winthrop’s deathbed. He asks them to join him. They do and Pearl asks if he will join them on the scaffold at noon tomorrow. Dimmesdale says no,then notices the “A” that streaks across the sky. He also notices Chillingworth staring at him which startles him.
Chillingworth gets Dimmesdale to come down and the next morning Dimmesdale gives his best sermon ever. Hester’s position starts to change in the community. They still keep her as an outsider but don’t think of here quit as bad. Hester realizes Chillingworth is tormenting Dimmesdale way to much. she decides to ask Chillingworth if she can tell Dimmesdale who Chillingworth really is. Hester meets Chillingworth and Chillingworth says he doesn’t care if she tells but he isn’t going to lay off. Hester then meets Dimmesdale in the forest. She tells him and he gets very mad at her. After a long hug he gets starts to forgive Hester.
After they have forgiven one another they make a plan to run way on a pirates ship after the election. They start walking back to town. Hester un pins the “A” and tells Dimmesdale all the great qualities about Pearl. Hester calls Pearl, but she won’t come. Pearl will not come unless Hester puts the “A” back on. Pearl joins them. Before they get to town, Dimmesdale and Hester split. Dimmesdale then unleashes his wild side by thinking of lust and other things. He reaches he house to write his sermon. Chillingworth shows up and Dimmesdale tells him to go away. He throws his half written speech away and starts a new one
This will lead us to the third scaffolding scene. Its election day,and everyone is there. The captain of the ship that Hester and Dimmesdale were going to escape on approaches her. He tells her that Chillingworth is going to go with them. This breaks here spirit. The town procession now starts. Dimmesdale walks up and begins his sermon. However, there is something different about Dimmesdale’s look. He doesn’t look sick. He gives a great sermon and starts to walk slowly to the scaffold. Wilson asks if Dimmesdale needs his help but Dimmesdale says no. Dimmesdale tells Hester that he is oing to confess.
He does confess. At the end of the confession which is also the climax he asks Pearl to kiss him and she does. He then dies. Chillingworth dies within a year. He leaves everything to Pearl. Hester leaves for England with Pearl but then returns later. She was said to have last been seen making a little dress which is suggested that it is for Pearl’s baby. This was a very different book in which you were roller coaster ride through many sins. However, I do believe Hawthon did a great job setting up the plot. It was a great series of events that leads to, what I think, is a weak climax.
