Chapter 14: Hester and the Physician
Hester approaches Roger at the each while leaving Pearl to play alone. Roger tells her
that she may soon not have to wear her scarlet letter any more. Hester says that she will wear anyway. Hester notices a change in Roger, that he has become evil. Hester tells him she plans to reveal his true identity to Dimmesdale. She tries to make Roger realize what he has become and that he should stop. For a moment Roger sees himself, but quickly dismisses it. He tells Hester how Dimmesdale must e punished. Hester asks why he doesn?t want to punish her. He responds by saying the scarlet letter has already punished her. Hester tells Roger that she will tell Dimmesdale and walks away, but Roger does not try to stop her.
Chapter 15: Hester and Pearl
Hester looks back at Roger as she walks away. She imagines him turning into horrible
monsters. Meanwhile, Pearl has kept busy by making a costume out of seaweed, including a seaweed letter ?A.? Hester sees the ?A? and asks if Pearl knows what the ?A? stands for. Pearl only knows it is related to Dimmesdale somehow. Then Pearl asks why her mother wears the letter. Hester panics and a thousand thoughts race through her head. She decides not to tell Pearl what it stands for. After they return home Pearl still questions Hester about the letter every chance she gets.
Chapter 16: A Forrest Walk
Hester remains determined in telling Dimmesdale about Chillingworth?s true identity,
but can never get to him in privacy. She learns that he will be returning soon from a visit to Apostle Eliot. Hester decides to meet him. She brings Pearl with her as always.
To get there they must first pass through a forrest. Pearl says that Hester scares the
sunshine away. Hester says that is ridiculous, but when she reaches out for it, it disappears. As they walk Pearl questions Hester about the ?Black Man? with the book of blood signatures. Hester says she has met only once.
A figure appears in the distance, which turns out to be Dimmesdale. Hester sends Pearl
off to play while she talks with him. Hester watches him for a moment and sees how weak and depressed he is.
Chapter 17: The Pastor and his Parishioner
Hester calls out to Dimmesdale as he walks by in the forrest. They meet and hold
hands. They start off by talking about everyday things before Hester builds up enough courage to tell him her secret.
Hester tells him that Roger Chillingworth is her husband. Dimmesdale almost dies
because of the news. Dimmesdale is still feeling guilty, to which Hester tells him that he is in great danger. Hester tells him he must flee Boston. Dimmesdale is willing to do it, but not alone. Hester agrees to go with him.
Chapter 18: A Flood of Sunshine
Once it was decided upon to leave, Dimmesdale feels happy. Hester also feels so
relieved that she removes her scarlet letter and throws it into the forrest. After she does this, her ?womanhood? reappears. Also, the forrest is suddenly covered in sunshine.
Once this happens Hester decides to get Pearl. Pearl is some way off on the other side of
a brook that runs through the forrest. Pearl has kept herself busy by playing in the forrest. She comes in contact with many animals, including a wolf. She adorns herself with flowers as she hears Hester call for her.
Chapter 19: The Child at the Brookside
Pearl walks slowly up to the edge of the rook. When she is there her reflection in the
water gives her a mystical quality. Hester calls for Pearl, but Pearl will not cross the stream. Hester realizes that Pearl wants her to wear her letter. Hester finds it and puts it back on, pulls back her hair, and returns to her former self . At this Pearl joins Hester and Dimmesdale on the other side of the stream. Dimmesdale kisses Pearl on the head. She immediately washes her forehead off in the brook while Hester and Dimmesdale make plans.
Chapter 20: The Minister in a Maze
Dimmesdale makes plans with Hester to leave on a ship in four days. He is secretly
happy because in three days he can deliver a speech announcing his retirement.
Dimmesdale returns to town with a new outlook on everything. He also felt
mischievous. When reunited with a high member of the church he almost says blashemous suggestions. When passing by an elderly member of his church he whispers something into her ear that makes her very happy. Then he passes a young woman of his clergy. He is very rude to her causing her to cry. Mistress Hibbins passes and suggests that he was in the forrest for evil. He denies it as he returns to his house.
Soon after returning Chillingworth comes in to check up on him. Dimmesdale tells him
that he will no longer need his medicines. Roger suspects that Dimmesdale knows his identity, but doesn?t let it show. That night Dimmesdale spends writing a revised Election Sermon.
Chapter 21: The New England Holiday
Hester and Pearl attended the ceremony of naming a new governor. Hester thinks to
herself that soon she will never have to wear the letter again.
A crowd gathers for the approaching ceremony. Adults are let off from work and
children from school. The scene is very busy with things not normally allowed. Indians and pirates also are part of the scene. Roger Chillingworth enters the scene speaking with the captain of the ship Hester plans to escape on. The captain leaves Roger to speak with Hester. He tells her that Roger will e on the ship with them as the ship?s physician. The captain walks away and as he does Hester sees Roger smiling at her.
Chapter 22: The Procession
Hester is shocked at the news, but her thoughts are interrupted by the procession
starting. When Dimmesdale passes by he seems uncharacteristically healthy and upbeat. Hester questions if he is even the same person she met in the forrest three days earlier. Pearl hardly recognizes him as well. At this time Mistress Hibbins approaches Hester. She tells her that she knows that Dimmesdale had gone into the forrest. She also said she knew there was a mark on his chest. After she leaves Pearl entertains herself with the crowd. She meets the captain of the ship, who tells her to tell Hester that Chillingworth will board the ship with Dimmesdale. Hester is still confused about what to do.
Dimmesdale begins his powerful sermon while a crowd gathers to look at the infamous
Hester. Hester feels worse because of the letter than when she first had to put it on. At the end of the chapter it is revealed that the same mark is on Hester and Dimmesdale.
Chapter 23: The Revelation of the Scarlet Letter
Dimmesdale finishes his sermon. As people leave the church they speak nothing but
praise of the minister, who they believe is still dying. Dimmesdale was enjoying his success while Hester was still being tormented.
As Dimmesdale walks from the church to town hall he appears weak and about to fall.
He stops in the middle of the ceremony and calls out to Hester and Pearl. Roger tries to stop her but he can not. Dimmesdale asks Hester to help him up to the scaffold. Chillingworth follows them up. The crowd is going crazy and the other members of the procession do not know what to do.
Dimmesdale told the crowd that there had been an evil among them. He pointed to the
scarlet letter and them showed the crowd a stigma ?A? on his heart. With his last words he asks for a kiss from Pearl. When she gives it to him she becomes a natural, well-behaved child. Soon afterward he dies on the scaffold. The crowd then breaks out of their silence.
Chapter 24: Conclusion
Stories spread about the occurrences on the scaffold. While most people believed the
stigma was formed by guilt, others believed it was never even really there.
Roger Chillingworth soon dies, as he has nothing left to live for once he doesn?t seek
revenge. Before he dies he bequeathed a large amount of money to Pearl.
Hester and Pearl fled Boston. It is not known if Pearl died or lived a normal life. Hester
returns to Boston, wearing her scarlet letter, to live in her cottage. Women from the town come to her for advice until her death. On her tombstone reads: ?On a field, sable, the letter A, gules.?
Bibliography
I took these notes completely from the book. Better than the Cliffnotes.