Scarlet Letter

22 Pages 5572 Words

that Hester was born in England and grew up there. She later met a scholar who is slightly deformed, having a left shoulder higher than his right. Her husband, later revealed to be Roger Chillingworth, took her first to Amsterdam, and then sent her to America to await his arrival.
Hester looks out over the crowd and realizes for the first time that her life condemns her to be alone. She looks at her daughter and then fingers the scarlet letter which will remain a part of her from now on. At the thought of her future, she squeezes her daughter so hard that the child cries out in pain.

Chapter Three: The Recognition
Summary
On the edge of the crowd Hester notices an Indian accompanied by a white man. She recognizes the white man as Roger Chillingworth, her husband, who sent her to America and remained in Amsterdam. Hester fearfully clutches Pearl harder, and again causes her child to cry out in pain.
Roger Chillingworth asks a bystander who Hester is and what her crime was. The man informs him of her past, telling how she was sent to Boston to await her husband, and how she ended up with a child instead. Chillingworth remarks that the man who was her partner in the crime of adultery will eventually be known.
The Reverend Mr. Dimmesdale is exhorted to make Hester tell the gathered crowd who the father is. She refuses and instead tells him that she will bear his shame as well as her own. Dimmesdale cries out, "She will not speak!" and places his hand over his heart. The Reverend Mr. Wilson steps forward and delivers a sermon against sin, after which Hester is allowed to return to the prison.

Chapter Four: The Interview
Summary
After Hester returns to her prison cell, she remains agitated by the day's events. Pearl is also upset and starts crying. The jailer therefore allows a physician to enter and try to calm them down.
Roger Chillingworth, pretending to be a physician, enters and mixes a potion for Pearl, who soon fall...