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The Marketplace

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English

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Study Guide

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Key Terms:
Parallel structure - Usage of like syntax to put emphasis. Repetition of a specific syntactic form.
Epithet - A title given to a hero/protagonist. A descriptive label that takes the place of a name.
Epithets can capture/remove meaning and/or individuality of a person. Example: Racial epithets,
Odyssey.
Characterization: Development of a character by the author. Characterization is employed
through actions, words/speech, others’ POV/description of said character, Narrator’s
POV/description, appearance of the character, context/interactions with others, and figurative
language.
“The door of the jail being flung open from within...” p 40-42
Characterization of Hester:
● Hester is referred to as like a “black shadow emerging into sunshine,” comparing her to
the previously mentioned black flower of civilized society. It is interesting how she is
portrayed as evil by society whereas the narrator perceives evil stemming from society
rather than from an individual (39).
● She is shown as using her baby to cover the scarlet A on her dress. However, “in a
moment, however, wisely judging that one token of her shame would poorly serve to hide
another” suggests that her child is illegitimate and seems equally shameful as the scarlet
A from the perspective of the throng of men and women (40).
● “Never had Hester Prynne appeared more lady-like in the antique interpretation of the
term, than as she issued from the prison. Those who had before known her, and had
expected to behold her dimmed and obscured by a disastrous cloud, were astonished, and
even startled, to perceive how her beauty shone out, and made a halo of misfortune and
ignominy in which she was enveloped” (4)
○ There is contrast between the evil of darkness and the brightness of purity and
innocence. Hawthorne clearly is positively biased towards Hester Prynne, saying
her beauty “shone out” even in the face of being “dimmed and obscured” by a
“halo of misfortune and ignominy”
● “Had there been a Papist among the crowd of Puritans, he might have seen in this
beautiful woman, so picturesque on her attire and mien and with the infant, [..] and object
to remind him of the image of Divine Maternity, [...] of that sacred image of sinless
motherhood, whose infant was to redeem the world. Here, there was the taint of deepest
sin in the most sacred quality of human life, working such effect, that the world was only
the darker for this woman’s beauty, and the more lost for the infant that she had borne”
(42)
○ Again, there is the usage of dark vs. light, where the world’s religious views have
made the world “only the darker” for the woman and the baby, as a result of what
it believes to be “the taint of deepest sin”
● “Her attire, which, indeed, she had wrought for the occasion, in prison, and had modelled
much after her own fancy, seemed to express the attitude of her spirit”

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○ This shows that Hester Prynne has not resigned to others’ condemnations of her
actions, and modelling her attire to her own fancy, still wishes to make her own
decisions rather than acquiesce to others’ decisions.
Characterization of the letter
● “that SCARLET LETTER, so fantastically embroidered and illuminated, [...] had the
effect of a spell, taking her out of the ordinary relations of humanity, and enclosing her in
a sphere by herself” (41)
○ There can be two possible meanings: 1. Hester Prynne is elevated above her
peers, defined by her individualism and non-conformity to society as seen by her
“fantastically embroidered and illuminated” A, which should be a symbol of
shame rather than one of beauty OR 2. Her non-conformity has resulted in her
ostracization by others.
■ Evidence that others believe the symbol should be one of shame: “if we
stripped Madam Hester’s rich gown off her dainty shoulders; and as for
the red letter, which she hath stiched so curiously, I’ll bestow a rag of mine
own rheumatic flannel to make a fitter one” (41)!
● “‘O, peace, neighbors, peace!’ whispered their youngest companion; ‘do not let her hear
you! Not a stitch in that embroidered letter, but she has felt it in her heart’” (41).
○ She seems more forgiving than the elders, hinting at a generational gap in which
the newer generation is more tolerant and merciful
○ “Ah, but,” interposed, more softly, a young wife, holding a child by the hand, “let
her cover the mark as she will, the pang of it will be always in her heart” (39)
■ It almost seems as if she is trying to spare Hester Prynne from further
punishment, but does it in a way in which it seems that she is conforming,
by outwardly shunning Hester Prynne’s actions
Closing Questions:
1. How does Hawthorne FRAME the chapter?
1.1. Hawthorne frames the chapter by giving the reader multiple perspectives, such
that like the members of the Puritan community, the reader is allowed to make
his/her own judgments about Hester. He shows the reader the beliefs of the older,
more pious Puritan generation, the beliefs of the younger, more tolerant Puritan
generation, and those of a Catholic. Hawthorne contrasts light and dark to
emphasize the inherent goodness within humans with the evil manifested from the
creations and beliefs of the same humans. Hawthorn uses parallel structure to
instill a sense of ambiguity and mystique within the reader by hiding the true
purpose of the crowd at the prison. He says that “it might be” a Quaker being run
out of town, that “it might be” a drunk, “idle and vagrant” Indian, and that “it
might be, too” that a witch was to be hung. All allow the reader to recognize the
harsh nature of Puritan ordinance. Hawthorne never truly reveals why Hester

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Key Terms: Parallel structure - Usage of like syntax to put emphasis. Repetition of a specific syntactic form. Epithet - A title given to a hero/protagonist. A descriptive label that takes the place of a name. Epithets can capture/remove meaning and/or individuality of a person. Example: Racial epithets, Odyssey. Characterization: Development of a character by the author. Characterization is employed through actions, words/speech, others' POV/description of said character, Narrator's POV/description, appearance of the character, context/interactions with others, and figurative language. "The door of the jail being flung open from within..." p 40-42 Characterization of Hester: Hester is referred to as like a "black shadow emerging into sunshine," comparing her to the previously mentioned black flower of civilized society. It is interesting how she is portrayed as evil by society whereas the narrator perceives evil stemming from society rather than from an individual (39). She is shown as using her baby to cover the scarlet A on her dress. However, "in a moment, however, wisely judging that one token of her shame would poorly serve to hide another" suggests that her child is illegit ...
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