"Men do not tell secrets because these are the men that deceive themselves". ... It tells us that the characters had committed a sin of passion, which they could not confess. Proctor and Dimmesdale's hearts were aching with guilt because of what they had done. ... In the tale pertaining to Hester Prynne, she was thrown aside and marked with the scarlet "A" for having done a wrong that should have been only her business. ...

• Word Count: 577
• Approx Pages: 2
• Grade Level: High School

Judge Me Not, Love Me, Seek No Revenge Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter, a dark tale of sin and redemption, centers on the small Puritan community of Boston during the seventeenth century. ... Hester tells Pearl that, "in days to come he will walk hand in hand with us. ... Dimmesdale tells Hester that "the old mans revenge has been blacker than my sin. He has violated, in cold blood, the sanctity of a human heart." (1345) This statement shows how demonic Chillingworth has become, and he will follow them to the ends of the earth to fulfill his longing for vengeance. ...

• Word Count: 759
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: High School

The narrator uses this rosebush to symbolize a "sweet moral blossom" in his story, and to provide some relief in the "tale of human frailty and sorrow."   ... The old man, who calls himself Roger Chillingworth, tells her he would not poison her. ... Meanwhile, venerable Reverend Dimmesdale's body starts to waste away from a mysterious heart condition. ... Dimmesdale clutches his heart instinctively and admits to Hester that he hates Chillingworth. ... The next morning one of the townsman tells Dimmesdale, at church, that one of the minister's gloves was found near the scaffold. ...

• Word Count: 3653
• Approx Pages: 15
• Grade Level: High School

With a penitent heart, Hester travels through the story becoming only a shadow of her former passionate loving self. ... She kept her word in carrying her husband's secret identity, and she tells the minister the truth only after she is released from her pledge. ... Symbols Wild Rose Bush: Located just outside the prison door, it is the only sign of life near the prison, and has a single red blossom on it.The rose may serve, let us hope, to symbolise some sweet moral blossom that may be found along the track, or relieve the darkening close of a tale of human frailty and sorrow?.... She ...

• Word Count: 1015
• Approx Pages: 4
• Grade Level: High School