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1.) grotesque - (adj.) odd or unnatural in shape, appearance, or character; fantastically ugly or absurd; bizarre (dictionary.com)

"The waving of crooked, false-jeweled fingers gave an added grotesqueness to the words" (65).

2.) prig - (n.) a person who displays or demands of others pointlessly precise conformity, fussiness about trivialities, or exaggerated propriety, esp. in a self-righteous or irritating manner (dictionary.com)

"As for the lives of one's neighbors, if one wishes to be a prig or a Puritan, one can flaunt one's moral views about them, but they are not one's concern" (82).

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1.) "Children begin by loving their parents; as they grow older they judge them; sometimes they forgive them" (70).

This quote relates the feelings of Sybil and James Vane towards their mother. Sybil feels that her mother does not entirely believe that her relationship with Sybil would do them much good in their time of debt. In the meantime, James sees his mother as too protecting. In the above quote, both James and Sybil are judging their mother. They grew up loving her since she took care of them, but now they are denouncing her for her protectiveness. Perhaps a similar thing could be occurring between Basil, Dorian, and Lord Henry. Basil and Lord Henry seem to both be very protective of Dorian, and perhaps the above quote is a foretaste of how their relation would play out to be.

2.) "I should fancy that the real tragedy of the poor is that they can afford nothing but self-denial. Beautiful sins, like beautiful things, are the privilege of the rich" (83).

This is another of Lord Henry's witty claims. He says that the problem with the poor is that they can not afford to commit wrongdoings, since they are already at a loss, which the rich can do whatever they want, since their money will serve as a cushion if they got into trouble. This comment is directed towards Dorian's relationship with Sybil. Dorian is rich, but Sybil is poor. Basil and Lord Henry feel that Dorian is making a mistake getting married to a poor girl. Yet, they reluctantly acknowledge his decision, because Dorian is rich. If he got into trouble, his money would save him. Yet, Basil and Henry can not realize this without being troubled; "The painter was silent and preoccupied" (84). Perhaps this is in correlation with the sexual undertones of Lord Henry and Basil towards Dorian, or perhaps it could even be jealousy.

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1.) myriad - (n.) a very great or indefinitely great number of persons or things (dictionary.com)

"I felt that this grey, monstrous London of ours, with its myriads of people, its sordid sinners, and its splendid sins, as you have phrased, must have something in store for me" (Wilde 52).

2.) vivisect - (v.) to dissect the living body of an animal (dictionary.com)

"And so he had begun by vivisecting himself, as he had ended by vivisecting others" (61).

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1.) "'Men marry because they are tired; women, because they are curious: both are disappointed'" (51).

In the quote, Lord Henry shares with Dorian the reasons why he believes that men and women fall in love. He says this quote after his wife leaves his house to eat out. That is ironic, because she left almost as soon as Lord Henry arrived, and without saying much at all. Chances are that could be in part of his attitude towards relationships, as he describes in the above quote. he says that being married to Victoria could be a mistake, and attempts to warn Dorian not to marry so soon, since he'd get tired of it. The reason why he might say this is because if Dorian wants to enjoy himself the most, he would have to be free so that he could do whatever he wanted without having a wife to get in his way and impede on his fun. Dorian does not take this advice very well, as he gets engaged to Sybil at the end of the chapter.

How might Dorian's choice to become engaged hurt him in the long run?

2.) "But you should not say the greatest romance of your life. You should say the first romance of your life" (53).

This is Lord Henry's response to Dorian's feelings towards his relationship to Sybil. Dorian called his relationship the greatest romance of his life. Yet, Lord Henry did not think so strongly of relationships as Dorian did. Again, this takes the course of the above quote. Lord Henry did not want Dorian to see himself with Sybil forever, since he could meet someone better later on, or she could impede on his own enjoyment. This is evidenced when Lord Henry said that he had dated many actresses, and found them to be rather drab. At the moment, it is unclear as to why Lord Henry cares to intervene in each of Dorian's affairs. What seems evident at times, however, is that Lord Henry and Basil seem to take homosexual undertones around Dorian. Perhaps that explains why Lord Henry and Basil care so much about Dorian's affairs, and why Lord Henry is unsatisfied with his marriage to his wife, Victoria.

How might Basil and Lord Henry respond to the news of Dorian's engagement?

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1.) plaintive - (adj.) expressing sorrow or melancholy (dictionary.com)

"'But must we really see Chicago in order to be educated?' asked Mr. Erksine, plaintively." (Wilde 42)

2.) paradox - (n.) a statement or proposition that seems self-contradictory or absurd but in reality expresses a possible truth (dictionary.com)

"'Paradoxes are all very well in their way....' rejoined the Baronet." (43)

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1.) "'I can sympathize with everything, except suffering,' said Lord Henry, shrugging his shoulders" (43).

This relates to Lord Henry's general outlook on life. Overall, he promotes a hedonistic lifestyle. In the first two chapters, he tells Dorian Gray to live his life to the fullest while he is young and beautiful. In this passage, he denounces his aunt's philanthropic efforts. After Lord Henry says the above passage, he says that suffering is too ugly for him, and that he prefers to live to enjoy life's beauties. In having these views, Lord Henry is quite mistaken. Wherever he goes, there will always be the ugliness of poverty and disease and starvation. If he wants to truly live a life where he does not have to see any ugliness, he should contribute to help exorcise it while he has money. Otherwise, visions of the ugly will continue to stand out as he sees them, and will meddle with his contentedness.

2.) "'Humanity takes itself too seriously. It is the world's original sin. If the caveman had known how to laugh, History would have been different'" (43-44).

This quote is a continuation of Lord Henry's views. His aunt said that it was the responsibility of the wealthy to contribute some of their money for the betterment of society. The above quote was Lord Henry's response. He is basically saying that people burden themselves more than they need to and are making themselves feel responsible for things they did not cause. That is a rather liberal view to take, since he is saying that the problems of society lay in how the cavemen dealt with them. Yet, Lord Henry is missing the boat once again. In their time, cavemen did not have these kinds of problems such as poverty, disease, or starvation. They did not mind such things, anyway, since they lived their lives trying to provide for themselves. Though they promoted the "survival of the fittest" way of life that would eventually cause the problems of the future, the cavemen had no control over it. They did not have the intelligence to see into the future to see what their actions mat amount to in the long run either.

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1.) sallow - (adj.) of a sickly, yellowish color (dictionary.com)

"You will become sallow, and hollow-cheeked, and dull-eyed" (Wilde 24).

2.) panegyric - (n.) a lofty oration or writing in praise of a person or thing; eulogy (dictionary.com)

"Then had come Lord Henry Wotton with his strange panegyric on youth, his terrible warning of its brevity" (27).

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1.) "'Yes,' continued Lord Henry 'that is one of the great secrets of life - to cure the soul by means of the senses, and the senses by means of the soul. You are a wonderful creation. You know more than you think you know, just as you know less than you want to know'" (23).

This quote comes in at the part when Dorian and Lord Henry are in the garden. This quote was said after Dorian Gray said that the only thing to cure the soul was the senses. this is Lord Henry's response, and he is telling Dorian to live his life at the fullest while he can, while he is still beautiful. Lord Henry encourages Dorian to live a hedonistic life, because he will not be subjected to as much pleasure when he is older and not as good looking. This relates to the theme of beauty, since Lord Henry is make it seem as if it is above all else. Dorian and the others can only he truly happy if he is living his live to the fullest. That is because he will be able to know that everyone thinks well of him, since all they see of him is the charm he radiates.

2.) "'I am jealous of everything whose beauty does not die. I am jealous of the portrait you have painted of me'" (29).

This quote comes in when the portrait of Dorian is completed. It seems as if Dorian took in what Lord Henry stated in the above quote. In this quote, Dorian realizes that he is to enjoy his live while he can, since he will not always look as he does in the painting. After Dorian says the above piece, Basil offers to destroy the painting, since he does not want it to disrupt their friendship. Dorian says that would not be necessary, since it took so much work to complete. Also, Dorian's response relates to Wilde's own view of art, "All art is quite useless" (2). At the time, art was seen as the very best of life captured on canvas. Dorian shares WIlde's character in that way, since they both denounce art. This also reveals a possible coorelation between Wilde and Dorian in fate, since Lord Henry was considered a bad influence by Basil, and he might go on to do similar things to what Wilde did in his own life.

To Page 16

1.) tremulous - (adj.) characterized by trembling, as from fear, nervousness, or weakness (dictionary.com)
"whose tremulous branches seemed hardly able to bear the burden [...] the sense of swiftness and motion" ( Wilde 3).

2.) truculent - (adj.) fierce; cruel; savagely brutal (dictionary.com)
"I remember her bringing me up to a truculent and red-faced old gentleman covered all over with orders and ribbons [...] the most astounding details" (9).

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1.) "But beauty, real beauty, ends where an intellectual expression begins. Intellect is in itself a mode of exaggeration, and destroys the harmony of any face" (5).

Basil says the above quote as Lord Henry is trying to get him to put his picture of Dorian Gray on display. As Lord Henry reasons, Basil says the above quote, and then mentions that he would not display the picture since he put so much of himself into it. This quote relates the the theme of beauty. Beauty is a condition that appeals to the senses in a positive way, while Basil makes it seem that intellect is the exact opposite of beauty. This is because Lord Henry's attempts to reason with Basil does not ring correctly with that Basil Believes he should do. it is Basil's painting, so he can display it if he feels it necessary. If the painting is really that beautiful, maybe Basil does not want to display it so that he always has it to gaze at when he needs to.

Why should beauty be seen as the pinnacle of society? What could this mean for those who are not beautiful?

2.) "I like persons better than principles, and I like persons with no principles better than anything else in the world" (11)

This quote also relates to the theme of beauty. When Lord Henry says the above quote, he is at the point where he requests that Basil tells of who Dorian Gray is. Lord Henry says the above quote, as if to state that he did not care who Dorian Gray was as a person, he just wanted to know about him. One thing that Lord Henry can see is that Dorian Gray is good looking. As with anyone, such a trait would ring positively with anyone. Yet, the rest of Dorian Gray remains a mystery to Lord Henry. He craves to learn more, and encourages Basil to describe him by saying that he will leave Dorian Gray open to interpretation, and will accept him, even if he has only done what is wrong.

Why would someone look for the wrong in anyone else?

Scarlet Letter Essay

Andrew Goncalves
AP English – Mr. George
1/12/09
Scarlet Letter Essay

Sin and Redemption

From the outset, the fate of Arthur Dimmesdale was to hang from the gallows, with his weight bearing down on his neck. As an adulterer, Dimmesdale was entitled to such a fate, and he was aware of this. Dimmesdale resorted to internally bearing his sin, since he knew that death would be his immediate fate should his secret act of adultery leak. Failure to reach heaven was inevitable, if Dimmesdale did not make amends, with God, himself, and his society.
Dimmesdale, like any human being, possessed a capacity for sin. Yet, his expression of that sin and his search for redemption was quite unique, since his life was at stake. He attempted to conceal his sin as best he could, to little avail. Having done this for seven years, he endured a roller coaster ride of emotions. In the words of Shakespeare from his play, “Measure for Measure,” “Some rise by sin, and some by virtue fall” (Shakespeare 2.1.). Dimmesdale is viewed by the people as high and mighty, but sulks when he looks to his virtuous side that screams for the admittance of his sinful deed. Dimmesdale sentenced himself to self-torture and was also indirectly punished by a fellow doctor known as Chillingworth. Dimmesdale’s punishment was especially poignant in his case, since he committed the sin of adultery; he felt remorse for his actions, and because he ultimately perceived his condition to be a blessing from God himself.
Dimmesdale’s punishment was fitting since he committed the grave sin of adultery. The sin of adultery was punishable by death at the time: “a penalty, which, in our days, would infer a degree of mocking infamy and ridicule, might then be invested with almost as stern a dignity as the punishment of death itself” (Hawthorne 47). Unfortunately for Dimmesdale, his youth and high position made him more susceptible to this kind of temptation. Choosing to bear his sin in secret took a tough toll on Dimmesdale’s emotions. Dimmesdale would constantly place his hand over his heart, when speaking of personal matters.
Dimmesdale’s daughter, Pearl, also served as a constant reminder of his actions. The narrator constantly described her as being “of demon origin,” (91) which is true, since she was conceived by the wayward sin of adultery. Pearl is comfortable around Hester because she was raised by her. While around Dimmesdale, she is distrusting: “‘What a strange, sad man is he!’ […] ‘In the dark night-time he calls us to him, and holds thy hand and mine, as when we stood with him on the scaffold yonder. And in the deep forest, where only the old trees can hear, and the strip of sky see it, he talks with thee, sitting on a heap of moss!’” (205). Pearl was able to figure out that there was something odd about Dimmesdale’s disposition, for he always avoided contact with her in public. Pearl was not alone in her discovery.
Dimmesdale sought to keep his sin away from the eyes of his parishioners, yet, there would always be someone who knew. Roger Chillingworth, Hester’s original husband and a comrade of Dimmesdale, was also aware that he was hiding something within. When Chillingworth initially discovered that Hester had cheated on him, he called for immediate action to be taken, revenge: “‘I shall seek this man, as I have sought truth in books; as I have sought gold in alchemy. There is a sympathy that will make me conscious of him. I shall see him tremble. I shall feel myself shudder, suddenly and unawares. Sooner or later, he must needs be mine!’” (70). Chillingworth eventually discovered that Dimmesdale was the guilty one, after relentless interrogation. The physician then began to constantly torment him. Chillingworth claimed numerous times that Dimmesdale would not be admitted into heaven upon his death because of his sin.
The argument between Chillingworth and Dimmesdale about weeds in the graveyard was noteworthy. One day, Chillingworth observed weeds growing out of a grave, and said, “‘Wherefore not; since all the powers of nature call so earnestly for the confession of sin, that these black weeds have sprung up out of a buried heart, to make manifest an outspoken crime?’” (119). This is an example of the kind of torture Chillingworth delivered to Dimmesdale. Chillingworth professed a diatribe against Dimmesdale. Dimmesdale feared that his grave would be consumed by weeds because of his sin, which added to his mounting depression.
Dimmesdale attempted to hide himself and his shameful actions, but he was not safe so long as Chillingworth kept tabs on the minister. Sometimes, Dimmesdale sought refuge simply by being alone, inflicting physical pain on himself to tame the deeper pangs within. Hester and Dimmesdale met in the dark, shady forest occasionally, giving them a sense of privacy. Dimmesdale and Hester conversed about their lives and planned to escape to Europe later on. However, Dimmesdale’s failure to bear his sin and his decision to live forever with the woman he committed adultery, nagged at him:
“The wretched minister! He had made a bargain very like it! Tempted by a dream of happiness, he had yielded himself, with deliberate choice, as he had never done before, to what he knew was deadly sin. And the infectious poison of that sin had been thus rapidly diffused throughout his moral system” (199).
The regrets ran high, and so did the magnitude of the act. Dimmesdale was forever doomed for having committed the capital crime of adultery, even if he attempted to make amends. This is because he would be with the woman who led him to sin in the first place, and she might lead him to sin further.
Dimmesdale was constantly described as deteriorating physically: “A bodily disease, which we look upon as whole and entire within itself, may, after all, be but a symptom of some ailment in the spiritual part” (124). This change is symbolic of the toll taken on his body by his decision to remain silent about his sin. Dimmesdale became older, uglier, and more devilish as he concealed his sin. When Dimmesdale decided to leave Boston with Hester and Pearl, his physique improved with his attempt to escape his sins. However, consequences arose with new temptations to preach foul words to children. This is because he feels regret that he is going to continue living with the woman whom he was led to sin with.
Dimmesdale’s punishment of everlasting guilt was a weighty burden, yet it doubled as a source of reconciliation. Dimmesdale was even sorrier for committing adultery since he was supposed to be an example to others. He feared that the clergy would find it appropriate to sin as he did, for he was a representative of God. Dimmesdale sought his deliverance feverishly; however, openly admitting his sin to the masses came along with major repercussions. Therefore, he chose to conceal his sin. Dimmesdale was forced to reveal his secret in the end, for his depression was agonizing.
Dimmesdale is a dim character, as inscribed in his name. He regrets his act of adultery and his decision to conceal it. However, how might he receive any consolation so as to be emancipated if he is not willing to receive such consolation? Seeing Hester publicly bear her sin made him feel doubly guilty. At one point, the people accepted Hester, and the meaning of the “A” on her bosom was viewed as able. Dimmesdale felt as if he exploited Hester, and that he missed out on his chance for salvation. He felt that if he publicly bore his sin now, he would be subjugated to the wrath of a hollow hell. Yet, the suffering Dimmesdale endured as he held onto his guilt made him feel as if he was being punished justly. Hester and Dimmesdale decided to take the easy way out, by leaving Boston entirely. Dimmesdale approves of this idea, since it may help to relieve his aching body: “The excitement of Mr. Dimmesdale's feelings, as he returned from his interview with Hester, lent him unaccustomed physical energy, and hurried him townward at a rapid pace” (194). Dimmesdale would have been devastated if he had known that the diligent Chillingworth discovered his plan. Chillingworth knew that his victim was escaping, so the physician decided to embark on the same journey as Hester and Dimmesdale. The shipmaster willingly accepted Chillingworth, because doctors were needed, “‘Why, know you not,’ cried the shipmaster, ‘that this physician here - Chillingworth, he calls himself - is minded to try my cabin-fare with you? Ay, ay, you must have known it; for he tells me he is of your party, and a close friend to the gentleman you spoke of, - he that is in peril from these sour old Puritan rulers!’” (210). Dimmesdale had no escape. He was left with only one option to oust Chillingworth, and that was to confess his sin and face the wrath of his clergy.
Dimmesdale felt he was fortunate to endure his punishment as he did. According to the principle of utility, silent emotional torture is significantly better than being hanged or burnt, since less lives are lost. Chillingworth leeched upon Dimmesdale, keeping the minister alive to prolong his torture. Hawthorne makes this clear when he points out that “The victim was forever on the rack; it needed only to know the spring that controlled the engine; and the physician knew it well!” (127).
Dimmesdale was also at an emotional loss. Dimmesdale eventually realized that he could quickly relieve himself of the burden by admitting his sin. On the night that Dimmesdale delivered his election sermon, he stood on the scaffold with Hester, as he proclaiming:
“‘ye, that have loved me! - ye, that have deemed me holy! - behold me here, the one sinner of the world! At last - at last! - I stand upon the spot where, seven years since, I should have stood; here, with this woman, whose arm, more than the little strength wherewith I have crept hitherward, sustains me, at this dreadful moment, from grovelling[sic] down upon my face’” (227).
Dimmesdale blew the crowd away. The entire time, it was Dimmesdale, their trusted minister, who was the guilty one. Dimmesdale’s admittance to adultery allowed him to achieve his redemption. Shortly after he made his confession, Dimmesdale breathed his last and died.
In his confession, Dimmesdale’s life is complete. His timely death means but one thing, he was blessed by God. In his confession, God once again accepted Dimmesdale as a person, and did this by taking his soul up to heaven. No longer could he be plagued with the shame he faced on earth. Chillingworth’s torment was a blessing to Dimmesdale, for it led him to heaven. The physician helped to relieve the strain that the minister felt, in some sense. Even if Dimmesdale lived for ten more years, after his death, he would have all of eternity to live as care-free as he wished.
Dimmesdale was a sinner. He willingly committed the sin of adultery, a decisive action that would dictate the pain in which he endured the following seven years. As Dimmesdale’s hand loomed over his heart, he was expressing the pain that he felt within. Yet, he was really experiencing an equilibrium between sin and redemption. Dimmesdale felt badly, and decided to atone by beating himself at first. Afterwards, he decided to do it by letting go of his secret, and telling it freely to his clergy. As the plot unfolded, Shakespeare’s words took on new meaning. Dimmesdale rose up by his unexposed sin, and the clergy accepted him by his external self. On the inside, Dimmesdale was humbled by his sin, for he was not following God’s example. That is how Dimmesdale was blessed by his punishment, and how such a punishment was just.

Works Cited
Thinkexist. 12 January 2009. Thinkexist. 13 January 2009.
Hawthorne, Nathaniel. The Scarlet Letter. New York: Bantam Dell, 2003.

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1). Tumult- (n.) violent and noisy commotion or disturbance of a crowd or mob; uproar (dictionary.com)

"Then ensued a murmur and half-hushed tumult; as if the auditors, released from the high spell that had transported them into the region of another's mind, were returning into themselves, with all their awe and wonder still heavy on them"(221).

2). Bequeath- (v.) Law To leave or give (personal property) by will (dictionary.com)

"Leaving this discussion apart, we have a matter of business to communicate to the reader. At old Roger Chillingworth's decease(which took place within the year), and by his last will and testament, of which Governor Bellingham and the Reverend Mr.
Wilson were executors, he bequeathed a very considerable amount of property, both here and in England, to little Pearl, the daughter of Hester Prynne"(232).

Chapter 22: The Procession

-Hester is worried by this new development.
--“Her spirit sank with the idea that all must have been a delusion, and that, vividly as she had dreamed it, there could be no real bond betwixt the clergyman and herself. And thus much of woman was there in Hester, that she could scarcely forgive him, - least of all now, when the heavy footstep of their approaching Fate might be heard, nearer, nearer, nearer! - for being able so completely to withdraw himself from their mutual world; while she groped darkly, and stretched forth her cold hands, and found him not”(214-215).
-Hester moved up onto the scaffold where she spent much time long ago, simply to hear Dimmesdale's sermon.
--“An irresistible feeling kept Hester near the spot. As the sacred edifice was too much thronged to admit another auditor, she took up her position close beside the scaffold of the pillory. It was in sufficient proximity to bring the whole sermon to her ears, in the shape of an indistinct, but varied, murmur and flow of the minister's very peculiar voice”(217).
-Pearl brings a message to Hester, saying that Chillingworth will be with Dimmesdale and Hester is to be with Pearl.
--“‘Then tell her,’ rejoined he, ‘that I spake again with the black-a-visaged, hump-shouldered old doctor, and he engages to bring his friend, the gentleman she wots of, aboard with him. So let thy mother take no thought, save for herself and thee. Wilt thou tell her this, thou witch- baby?’”(219-220)
-Hester looks about, and sees that everyone is looking at her, as she is on the scaffold.
--“With her mind harassed by the terrible perplexity in which the shipmaster's intelligence involved her, she was also subjected to another trial. There were many people present, from the country round about, who had often heard of the scarlet letter, and to whom it had been made terrific by a hundred false or exaggerated rumours, but who had never beheld it with their own bodily eyes. These, after exhausting other modes of amusement, now thronged about Hester Prynne with rude and boorish intrusiveness. Unscrupulous as it was, however, it could not bring them nearer than a circuit of several yards”(220).

Chapter 21: The New England Holiday

-The time came to elect a new governor, and similarly to the beginning where people gathered to watch Hester, they gathered in the same area.
--“It was like a mask; or, rather, like the frozen calmness of a dead woman's features; owing this dreary resemblance to the fact that Hester was actually dead, in respect to any claim of sympathy, and had departed out of the world, with which she still seemed to mingle”(203).
--“‘Look your last on the scarlet letter and its wearer!’ - the people's victim and life-long bond-slave, as they fancied her, might say to them. ‘Yet a little while, and she will be beyond your reach! A few hours longer and the deep, mysterious ocean will quench and hide for ever the symbol which ye have caused to burn on her bosom!’”(203)
-Pearl continues to ponder over why Dimmesdale cannot encounter she and Hester in the middle of the day.
--“‘He should not nod and smile at me, for all that, - the black, grim, ugly-eyed old man!’ said Pearl. ‘He may nod at thee, if he will; for thou art clad in gray, and wearest the scarlet letter. But see, mother, how many faces of strange people, and Indians among them, and sailors! What have they all come to do, here in the market-place?’”(205)
--“‘What a strange, sad man is he!’ said the child, as if speaking partly to herself. ‘In the dark night-time he calls us to him, and holds thy hand and mine, as when we stood with him on the
scaffold yonder. And in the deep forest, where only the old trees can hear, and the strip of sky see it, he talks with thee, sitting on a heap of moss! And he kisses my forehead, too, so that the little brook would hardly wash it off! But here, in the sunny day, and among all the people, he knows us not; nor must we know him! A strange, sad man is he, with his hand always over his heart!’”(205)
-Chillingworth appears at the procession, and appears as the most outstanding, perhaps because he is glad of something he has found out.
--“The latter was by far the most showy and gallant figure, so far as apparel went, anywhere to be seen among the multitude. He wore a profusion of ribbons on his garment, and gold-lace on his hat, which was also encircled by a gold chain, and surmounted with a feather. There was a sword at his side, and a sword-cut on his forehead, which, by the arrangement of his hair, he seemed anxious rather to display than hide”(209).
-Hester is ultimately defeated when she speaks with one of the sailors of the ship that would be bringing herself and Dimmesdale to Europe, and finds out that Chillingworth is coming. The sailor said that it was a good thing, since they may need a doctor.
--“‘Why, know you not,’ cried the shipmaster, ‘that this physician here - Chillingworth, he calls himself - is minded to try my cabin-fare with you? Ay, ay, you must have known it; for he tells me he is of your party, and a close friend to the gentleman you spoke of, - he that is in peril from these sour old Puritan rulers!’”(210)
-Hester sees Chillingworth in a lonely corner of the marketplace, and he simply smirks at her.
--“Nothing further passed between the mariner and Hester Prynne. But, at that instant, she beheld old Roger Chillingworth himself, standing in the remotest comer of the market-place, and smiling on her; a smile which - across the wide and bustling square, and through all the talk and laughter, and various thoughts, moods, and interests of the crowd - conveyed secret and fearful meaning”(210-211).

Chapter 20: The Minister in a Maze

-The prospect of moving with Hester and getting away from Chillingworth is getting into his head.
--“The edifice had so very strange, and yet so familiar, an aspect, that Mr. Dimmesdale's mind vibrated between two ideas; either that he had seen it only in a dream hitherto, or that he was merely dreaming about it now”(194-195).
--“This phenomenon, in the various shapes which it assumed, indicated no external change, but so sudden and important a change in the spectator of the familiar scene, that the intervening space of a single day had operated on his consciousness like the lapse of years”(195).
-The minister feels guilty, since he thinks he is giving into temptation, and encounters various people on his way back to the church. Their presence seemed to irk him, to the point of wanting to teach them cruel words.
--“For instance, he met one of his own deacons. The good old man addressed him with the paternal affection and patriarchal privilege, which his venerable age, his upright and holy character, and his station in the Church, entitled him to use; and, conjoined with this, the deep, almost worshipping respect, which the minister's professional and private claims alike demanded. Never was there a more beautiful example of how the majesty of age and wisdom may comport with the obeisance and respect enjoined upon it, as from a lower social rank, and inferior order of endowment, towards a higher”(195).
--“Hurrying along the street, the Reverend Mr. Dimmesdale encountered the eldest female member of his church; a most pious and exemplary old dame; poor, widowed, lonely, and with a heart as full of reminiscences about her dead husband and children, and her dead friends of long ago, as a burial ground is full of storied gravestones. Yet all this, which would else have been such heavy sorrow, was made almost a solemn joy to her devout old soul, by religious consolations and the truths of Scripture, wherewith she had fed herself continually for more than thirty years”(196).
---“The instilment thereof into her mind would probably have caused this aged sister to drop down dead at once, as by the effect of an intensely poisonous infusion”(196).
--“She was fair and pure as a lily that had bloomed in Paradise. The minister knew well that he was himself enshrined within the stainless sanctity of her heart, which hung its snowy curtains about his image, imparting to religion the warmth of love, and to love a religious purity. Satan, that afternoon, had surely led the poor young girl away from her mother's side, and thrown her into the pathway of this sorely tempted, or - shall we not rather say? - this lost and desperate man”(197).
--“It was, - we blush to tell it, - it was to stop short in the road, and teach some very wicked words to a knot of little Puritan children who were playing there, and had but just begun to talk”(197-198).
-Dimmesdale encounters old Mistress Hibbins.
--“At the moment when the Reverend Mr. Dimmesdale thus communed with himself, and struck his forehead with his hand, old Mistress Hibbins, the reputed witch-lady, is said to have been passing by. She made a very grand appearance; having on a high head-dress, a rich gown of velvet, and a ruff done up with the famous yellow starch, of which Ann Turner, her especial friend, had taught her the secret, before this last good lady had been hanged for Sir Thomas Overbury's murder”(198).
-His encounter with Mistress Hibbins makes it clear to him what he has done wrong all along, which was giving into temptation in the first place.
--“The wretched minister! He had made a bargain very like it! Tempted by a dream of happiness, he had yielded himself, with deliberate choice, as he had never done before, to what he knew was deadly sin. And the infectious poison of that sin had been thus rapidly diffused throughout his moral system”(199).

Chapter 19: The Child at the Brook-Side

-Hester calls Pearl who is off in the woods to come and meet Dimmesdale, yet, she is at the other side of a brook from them, and is unusually reluctant to cross it. Dimmesdale seems to think that he is the reason for this.
--“‘I have a strange fancy,’ observed the sensitive minister, ‘that this brook is the boundary between two worlds, and that thou canst never meet thy Pearl again. Or is she an elfish spirit, who, as the legends of our childhood taught us, is forbidden to cross a running stream? Pray hasten her; for this delay has already imparted a tremor to my nerves’”(187-188).
--“Pearl, without responding in any manner to these honey-sweet expressions, remained on the other side of the brook. Now she fixed her bright, wild eyes on her mother, now on the minister, and now included them both in the same glance; as if to detect and explain to herself the relation which they bore to one another”(188).
-Hester had removed the scarlet letter, which is what seems to be preventing Pearl from crossing the river.
--“At length, assuming a singular air of authority, Pearl stretched out her hand, with the small forefinger extended, and pointing evidently towards her mother's breast. And beneath, in the mirror of the brook, there was the flower-girdled and sunny image of little Pearl, pointing her small forefinger too”(188).
-Dimmesdale advises Hester to put the scarlet letter back on, for Pearl's sake.
--“‘I pray you,’ answered the minister, ‘if thou hast any means of pacifying the child, do it forthwith! Save it were the cankered wrath of an old witch, like Mistress Hibbins," added he, attempting to smile, "I know nothing that I would not sooner encounter than this passion in a child. In Pearl's young beauty, as in the wrinkled witch, it has a preternatural effect. Pacify her if thou lovest me!’”(189)
-Dimmesdale kisses Pearl, who runs off to a nearby brook to wash it off. It is evident that Pearl is not accepting enough of Dimmesdale yet.
--“Hereupon, Pearl broke away from her mother, and, running to the brook, stooped over it, and bathed her forehead, until the unwelcome kiss was quite washed off, and diffused through a long lapse of the gliding water”(191).

Chapter 18: A Flood of Sunshine

-Dimmesdale feels like his moving away with Hester is him giving himself purely to temptation, but claims that it would be the only way he would be truly happy. He also asks God for forgiveness.
--“‘If, in all these past seven years,’ thought he, ‘I could recall one instant of peace or hope, I would yet endure for the sake of that earnest of Heaven's mercy. But now, - since I am irrevocably doomed, - wherefore should I not snatch the solace allowed to the condemned culprit before his execution? Or, if this be the path to a better life, as Hester would persuade me, I surely give up no fairer prospect by pursuing it! Neither can I any longer live without her companionship; so powerful is she to sustain, - so tender to soothe! O Thou to whom I dare not lift mine eyes, wilt Thou yet pardon me!’”(181)
-Dimmesdale is confident that his new life would be for the better.
--“‘Do I feel joy again?’ cried he, wondering at himself. ‘Methought the germ of it was dead in me! O Hester, thou art my better angel! I seem to have flung myself - sick, sin-stained, and sorrow-blackened - down upon these forest leaves, and to have risen up all made anew, and with new powers to glorify Him that hath been merciful! This is already the better life! Why did we not find it sooner?’’(182)
-Hester removes the scarlet letter and throws it off into the distance, also telling Dimmesdale to forget his dark past.
--“‘Let us not look back,’ answered Hester Prynne. ‘The past is gone! Wherefore should we linger upon it now? See! With this symbol, I undo it all, and make it as it had never been!’”(182)

Chapter 17: The Pastor and His Parishioner

-Dimmesdale regrets what he has done, claiming that it far outweighs the good he does.
--“‘As concerns the good which I may appear to do, I have no faith in it. It must needs be a delusion. What can a ruined soul, like mine, effect towards the redemption of other souls? - or a polluted soul towards their purification?’”(172)
-Hester suggests that Chillingworth's torment is causing Dimmesdale to feel guilty as he is.
--“‘Thou hast long had such an enemy, and dwellest with him, under the same roof!’”(173)
-We learn that Hester's original husband was actually Chillingworth.
--“‘That old man! - the physician! - he whom they call Roger Chillingworth! - he was my husband!’”(175)
-Now it makes sense why Chillingworth is bothering to torment Dimmesdale, especially concerning an earlier point he makes.
--“‘I shall seek this man, as I have sought truth in books; as I have sought gold in alchemy. There is a sympathy that will make me conscious of him. I shall see him tremble. I shall feel myself shudder, suddenly and unawares. Sooner or later, he must needs be mine!’”(70)
-Dimmesdale is aware that Chillingworth knows what Hester is up to, and is aware that he is likely to announce Dimmesdale's sin as the ultimate revenge.
--“‘Hester,’ cried he, ‘here is a new horror! Roger Chillingworth knows your purpose to reveal his true character. Will he continue, then, to keep our secret? What will now be the course of his revenge?’”(177)
-Hester suggests that Dimmesdale leaves Salem before Chillingworth can do any more to him.
--“‘Thou must dwell no longer with this man,’ said Hester, slowly and firmly. ‘Thy heart must be no longer under his evil eye!’”(177)
--“‘Give up this name of Arthur Dimmesdale, and make thyself another, and a high one, such as thou canst wear without fear or shame’”(179).
-Dimmesdale is unsure if simply going elsewhere is the best way to go, and if it will keep Chillingworth away.
--“‘O Hester!’ cried Arthur Dimmesdale, in whose eyes a fitful light, kindled by her enthusiasm, flashed up and died away, "thou tellest of running a race to a man whose knees are tottering beneath him!’”(179)

Chapter 16: A Forest Walk

-Hester sees it necessary to notify Dimmesdale of Chillingworth's character.
--“Hester Prynne remained constant in her resolve to make known to Mr. Dimmesdale, at whatever risk of present pain or ulterior consequences, the true character of the man who had crept into his intimacy”(164).
--“But, partly that she dreaded the secret or undisguised interference of old Roger Chillingworth, and partly that her conscious heart imputed suspicion where none could have been felt, and partly that both the minister and she would need the whole wide world to breathe in, while they talked together, - for all these reasons, Hester never thought of meeting him in any narrower privacy than beneath the open sky”(165).
-Hester and Pearl go to the woods to wait for Dimmesdale to go for his daily walk.
-Pearl gets suspicious of the negative connotation behind to scarlet letter.
--“‘Mother,’ said little Pearl, ‘the sunshine does not love you. It runs away and hides itself, because it is afraid of something on your bosom’”(165).
-Pearl mercilessly questions Hester about the scarlet letter, and suggests that Hester signed the book of some "Black Man." Hester plays along with it.
--“‘Once in my life I met the Black Man!’ said her mother. ‘This scarlet letter is his mark!’”(168)
-Pearl analyzes a nearby brook, and suspects that the sound of it flowing is trying to tell them something.
--“Pearl resembled the brook, inasmuch as the current of her life gushed from a well-spring as mysterious, and had flowed through scenes shadowed as heavily with gloom. But, unlike the little stream, she danced and sparkled, and prattled airily along her course.”(168-169)
-Hester references her sin at this time.
--“‘If thou hadst a sorrow of thine own, the brook might tell thee of it,’ answered her mother, ‘even as it is telling me of mine!’” (169)
-Pearl suspects that Dimmesdale's act of putting his hand over his heart was because he signed the Black Man's book.
--“‘And so it is!’ said the child. ‘And, mother, he has his hand over his heart! Is it because, when the minister wrote his name in the book, the Black Man set his mark in that place? But why does he not wear it outside his bosom, as thou dost, mother?’”(169)
-Hester meets up with Dimmesdale, who seems alright to her, despite his situation.
--“To Hester's eye, the Reverend Mr. Dimmesdale exhibited no symptom of positive and vivacious suffering, except that, as little Pearl had remarked, he kept his hand over his heart”(170).

Chapter 15: Hester and Pearl

-In the beginning, Chillingworth is collecting herbs and other medicinal items.
-Hester reveals more to the reader her view of Chillingworth.
--“Would not the earth, quickened to an evil purpose by the sympathy of his eye, greet him with poisonous shrubs, of species hitherto unknown, that would start up under his fingers?”(158)
-Pearl is fooling around at the pond and adorns herself with seaweed and other objects found at the pond. She goes so far as to give herself an "A," as Hester has.
--“As the last touch to her mermaid's garb, Pearl took some eel-grass and imitated, as best she could, on her own bosom, the decoration with which she was so familiar on her mother's. A letter, - the letter A, - but freshly green, instead of scarlet!”(161)
-Pearl questions Hester about the meaning of the "A" Hester wears. She also becomes aware that there is something going on between Hester and Dimmesdale.
--“‘Truly do I!’ answered Pearl, looking brightly into her mother's face. ‘It is for the same reason that the minister keeps his hand over his heart!’”(161)
-Hester takes caution not to tell too much, since the truth may phase Pearl, or Pearl may tell others for some reason.
--“‘What shall I say?’ thought Hester to herself. ‘No! If this be the price of the child's sympathy, I cannot pay it’”(163).
-Hester tells a small lie, knowing that it is for the good of Pearl as well as herself.
--“‘Silly Pearl,’ said she, ‘what questions are these? There are many things in this world that a child must not ask about. What know I of the minister's heart? And as for the scarlet letter, I wear it for the sake of its gold-thread’”(163).
-Pearl does not feel resolved about the issue.
--“But the child did not see fit to let the matter drop. Two or three times, as her mother and she went homeward, and as often at supper-time, and while Hester was putting her to bed, and once after she seemed to be fairly asleep, Pearl looked up, with mischief gleaming in her black eyes” (164).