- The scarlet letter was her
passport ...sl18.html#g02
- The chapter starts with an attempt to answer the last
question of the previous chapter, why Dimmesdale did not speak
himself, but let Hester speak for him. We then are treated to the
narrator's view of each. Hester is viewed as in a previous
chapter, as isolated as much as the pagan Indians from the
Puritan code, and thus by habit she had turned to making her own laws
freely. (We will let this pass without criticizing it as
exaggeration.) While this freedom sounds good, the narrator
points out that there might be something wrong with it. Although
shame, sorrow, isolation might be productive of new ideas, these
new ideas must be tested further before put to use. But what
Hawthorne is saying here is that the scarlet letter is doing its
work by serving to make Hester confront and think about many
things that other Puritans did not. It then allows her
imagination to help her travel to mental places others cannot go.
While feminists might admire a strong woman, the author is
pointing out that this is not enough. Her moral view is compared
to that of the pagan Indians in its freedom and lack of rigid
laws, and ability to get along with Nature practically.
Meanwhile, Dimmesdale is approaching the situation from the
opposite side--he is closed in as a minister and used to orthodox
solutions. He is actually afraid of his emotions. Although he is
a man, he is not strong like Hester. He must always be watchful
of the passion he let carry himself away before with Hester.
He cannot control it, it seems, and it might even be evil or the
work of the Devil. His view of the Indians is like Eliot, he
feels kindly toward them and wishes to save them, but his
approach is not practical--at any moment he must feel they could
break in on him, or that if he did escape it would not be to a
place with better laws, but rather to one that was lawless,
like he considered the Indians to be. It seems that Dimmesdale
agrees in silence to the plan to escape with Hester, not so much
because he likes it or thinks it a good idea, but rather that just
now he can think of nothing better.
- mystic token ...sl18.html#g11
- Meaning mysterious symbol. Why does Hester take it off
now? Does she now feel free of the Puritan laws? Or is it
because when she escapes she will not need to wear it any
longer? Or is it just an emotional response to what has just
happened between them--that they can go back to being together
without shame?
- All at once...forth burst the sunshine
...sl18.html#g01
- This is a wonderful pictorial description of a great emotion,
where every word counts, as much for its sound as its
meaning. One might be happy in the wilderness and not have to
shut oneself up in a room in penance, as long as there is love.
If Hester and Arthur did not say these words together or think
these thoughts they should have.
- A wolf, it is said,--... ...sl18.html#g01
- The narrator returns to the Romantic and improbable
embroidery, but pulls up short when he goes as far as telling
the wolf story. We hear another little aside and regain a
little distance after the intense emotional closeness of
the preceding pages. We then relook at Pearl, wondering
what will be her fate, and what she represents for this
relationship--and Pearl sees the clergyman, and starts
wondering too.
Summary. From here until the end of the book
we expect you to write your own summaries, following the models
of preceding chapters. E-mail to EricEldred@usa.net
your summary (after reading the chapter carefully). You will
get in return e-mail similar summaries made by others, which you
may then compare with your own to see if you have understood
the chapter. Use "Ch. 18 SL Summary" as the Subject:
line.
Suggested MLA citations to this web page,
HTML code and text.
Use as in ?Help? page citation guide.
Eldred, Eric. <cite>Notes to Ch. 18, The Scarlet
Letter.</cite> <br />
1999. 23 Sep. 1999. <br />
<<a
href="http://eldred.ne.mediaone.net/nh/sl18-n.html">http://eldred.ne.mediaone.net/nh/sl18-n.html</a>>
(<a
href="http://eldred.ne.mediaone.net/nh/sl18-n.html">Eldred</a>)
Eldred, Eric. Notes to Ch. 18, The Scarlet
Letter. 1999. 23 Sep. 1999.
<http://eldred.ne.mediaone.net/nh/sl18-n.html>
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