Hester
is tall, with a head of dark glossy hair, and a beautiful face with deeply set black eyes
. She has a lady-like dignity, which the narrator says never was more powerfulor beautiful than when she emerged from prison. Hester’s appearance again contrasts with the drab Puritans.
How is Hester Prynne described?
Hester is physically described in the first scaffold scene as
a tall young woman with a “figure of perfect elegance on a large scale
.” Her most impressive feature is her “dark and abundant hair, so glossy that it threw off the sunshine with a gleam.” Her complexion is rich, her eyes are dark and deep, and her regular …
Who is Hester Prynne and what is happening to her in chapter 2?
When chapter two begins, Hester
Prynne has been found guilty of adultery
. She has born a child of this liaison and is in prison with the baby, something horrifying by today’s standards. As part of her punishment, she must stand on the scaffolding and be viewed by the townspeople, shamed for her sin.
What happened in chapter 2 of the scarlet letter?
When chapter two begins,
Hester Prynne has been found guilty of adultery
. She has born a child of this liaison and is in prison with the baby, something horrifying by today’s standards. As part of her punishment, she must stand on the scaffolding and be viewed by the townspeople, shamed for her sin.
What is the mood of the scarlet letter in chapter 2?
In conclusion the tone, diction and imagery in the second chapter of Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter create
a tone and setting of dread, misfortune and mounting regret
through the use of solid imagery and diction help set the mood for this chapter and the remainder of the novel.
Why did Hester squeeze Pearl at the end of chapter 2?
Hester thinks about her youth spent in poverty in England. She envisions her parents’ faces and sees also the face of a “misshapen scholar,” her husband. … Hester touches the scarlet letter and squeezes her baby, Pearl, so
tightly that Pearl cries
. Hester then realizes that the letter and her baby are her only reality.
What does the scaffold symbolize in Chapter 2?
The scaffold represents
truth
and is an important symbol of the difference between Hester and Dimmesdale’s situations. It shows the contrast between public shame and inner struggle. The scaffold supports Hawthorne’s point that true repentence cannot occur until sin becomes public.
On what note does Chapter 2 of The Scarlet Letter begin?
On what note does chapter 2 begin?
People are all standing around the prison waiting for someone to emerge
. For what sin is Hester Prynne condemned? What is the Old Testament punishment for adultery?
Why does Hester wear the scarlet letter?
She wears a scarlet letter A on her gown
as a symbol of the sin she has committed which is adultery
. She has decorated the letter with gold threads around it showing us that she is not going to let this incident bring her down. Hester does suffer emotionally and cries often in her cottage.
What was Hester’s punishment?
Hester’s punishment was
a judicial sentence
; however, being forced to stand on the scaffold for three hours, and to wear the scarlet letter “A” for the rest of her life. It was socially humiliating. Hester was sent to prison for committing adultery.
Is the scarlet letter sad?
Many readers find The Scarlet Letter rather grim
and quite sad
. Even when we know in the end that Pearl has escaped the life she might have endured in Boston by living in Europe, we still feel sad that Hester is separated from her daughter by the wide expanse of the ocean.
What is the mood of Chapter 1 in The Scarlet Letter?
Chapter one establishes
a somber and severe mood
by describing a somber and severe object present in the colony where the story takes place: the prison door. The door has a “beetle-browned and gloomy front” (45). It is neither a positive nor beautiful place.
What does the scarlet letter symbolize?
The scarlet letter is meant to be a
symbol of shame
, but instead it becomes a powerful symbol of identity to Hester. The letter’s meaning shifts as time passes.
Is Hester truly penitent for her crime?
No, not thine!” Is Hester truly penitent for her crime? Though
Hester regrets the
effect her crime has had on her child and on her position in society, she sees Chillingworth’s betrayal of Dimmesdale
What caused Hester’s infant to cry out while she was standing on the scaffold?
What causes Hester’s infant to cry out while she’s standing on the scaffold?
She is frightened by the shouting of the angry crowd.
… Hester squeezes her too tightly.
Why does Hester repeatedly refuse to stop wearing the letter?
Hester chooses to continue to wear the letter
because she is determined to transform its meaning through her actions and her own self-perception
—she wants to be the one who controls its meaning.
