The Scarlet Letter

A detailed Summary of The Scarlet Letter


During a person's lifetime, secrets in a personal relationship can at times, either tear people apart or bring them together. In the historical romance, The Scarlet Letter, the author Nathaniel Hawthorne, displays many accounts of deception and secrecy that have destructive consequences for many of the book's characters. Roger Chillingworth, Arthur Dimmsdale, Hester and Pearl Prynne, all major characters in the book, are entwined in plots and subplots involving secrecy and deception throughout the book.

Hester Prynne kept a very important secret from Roger Chillingworth. As a result, Roger suffered many unhealthy side affects. His physical appearance changed.

there came a glare of red light out of his eyes, as if the old man's soul were on fire, and kept on smoldering duskily within his breast, until, by some casual puff of passion, it was blown into a momentary flame (148).

Roger was being deceived and yet was also deceiving.


The world is full of people whose lives are tangled with secrets and deceit that when uncovered, must suffer the consequences. For the characters in The Scarlet Letter, lives were torn apart, relationships were destroyed and love was forbidden. Hester and Pearl, the victims, became stronger people as the result of what they were forced to endure, yet those involved in Hester's deception and secrecy suffered the ultimate consequence-death.

He was Hester's husband yet would not tell. He longed to know Pearl's father and spent his life in the pursuit of punishment and torment of the person he suspected.

His eventual discovery that he was the object of Roger's torment began the unraveling of the web of secrets and deception. This discovery was a major event in the novel that tied many of the subplots together. In the end, Hester and Arthur were finally brought together, because Arthur was brave enough to reveal his secret. Yet the consequence of this

Some common words found in the essay are:
Roger Chillingworth, Arthur Dimmsdale, Hester Arthur, Reverend Dimmsdale, Pearl Prynne, Hester Pearl, Hester Roger, , Scarlet Letter, Nathaniel Hawthorne, deception secrecy, scarlet letter, hester pearl, pearl prynne, hester's deception, torn apart, roger chillingworth, throughout book, hester's deception secrecy, arthur dimmsdale,

Approximate Word count = 648
Approximate Pages = 3 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: Novels

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