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Summary and Analysis Chapter 1. In this first chapter, Hawthorne sets the scene of the novel — Boston of the seventeenth century. It is June, and a throng of drably dressed Puritans stands before a weather-beaten wooden prison.
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- Chapter 24
Summary. Several versions circulate of what actually...
- The Custom-House
Summary. Hawthorne begins The Scarlet Letter with a long...
- Book Summary
In June 1642, in the Puritan town of Boston, a crowd gathers...
- Arthur Dimmesdale
In Chapter 11, "The Interior of a Heart," Dimmesdale...
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- Plot summary
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This first chapter contains little in the way of action, instead setting the scene and introducing the first of many symbols that will come to dominate the story. A crowd of somber, dreary-looking people has gathered outside the door of a prison in seventeenth-century Boston. The buildings heavy oak door is studded with iron spikes, and the prison ...
The one incongruity in the otherwise drab scene is the rosebush that grows next to the prison door. The narrator suggests that it offers a reminder of Natures kindness to the condemned; for his tale, he says, it will provide either a sweet moral blossom or else some relief in the face of unrelenting sorrow and gloom.
As the crowd watches, Hester Prynne, a young woman holding an infant, emerges from the prison door and makes her way to a scaffold (a raised platform), where she is to be publicly condemned. The women in the crowd make disparaging comments about Hester; they particularly criticize her for the ornateness of the embroidered badge on her chesta letter...
These chapters introduce the reader to Hester Prynne and begin to explore the theme of sin, along with its connection to knowledge and social order. The chapters use of symbols, as well as their depiction of the political reality of Hester Prynnes world, testify to the contradictions inherent in Puritan society. This is a world that has already fal...
But the images of the chaptersthe public gatherings at the prison and at the scaffold, both of which are located in central common spacesalso speak to another Puritan belief: the belief that sin not only permeates our world but that it should be actively sought out and exposed so that it can be punished publicly. The beadle reinforces this belief w...
Summary. Analysis. A crowd of men and women assembles near a dilapidated wooden prison. The narrator remarks that the founders of every new settlement have always sought first to build a prison and a graveyard.
A summary of Chapters 23–24 in Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter. Learn exactly what happened in this chapter, scene, or section of The Scarlet Letter and what it means. Perfect for acing essays, tests, and quizzes, as well as for writing lesson plans.
The Scarlet Letter. Fiction | Novel | YA | Published in 1850. A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Summary. Victor’s newfound happiness is crushed when, on returning to his apartment, he reads a letter from his father informing him that his youngest brother, William, has been murdered. The ...
From a general summary to chapter summaries to explanations of famous quotes, the SparkNotes Wonder Study Guide has everything you need to ace quizzes, tests, and essays.
