The Reverend Dimmesdale allows Hester the chance to repent in order to save her soul, but she refuses, "I will not speak! ... Before the judgment seat, thy mother, and thou, and I must stand together! ... Once labeled an adulterous by her "A,"" Hester was now an angel and apostle to the women of the town; through her story, she reveals a truth about "the whole relation between man and woman on a surer ground of mutual happiness."" ...

• Word Count: 492
• Approx Pages: 2
• Grade Level: High School

But Chillingworth assembles a huge sin by marrying Hester so he could take her youth; he admits: "Mine was the first wrong, when I betrayed thy budding youth into a false and unnatural relation with my decay."... I have said it. But, up to that epoch of my life, I have lived in vain."... Thou and I, Hester, never did so."...

• Word Count: 794
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: High School

Like Hawthorne, I believe that evil is the nature of man but that there are different magnitudes of evil; some choose to fight it, like Hester, and some choose to give in, like Chillingworth. ... He committed it when he married her and took away her youth; he admits: "Mine was the first wrong, when I betrayed thy budding youth into a false and unnatural relation with my decay" (15). ... Thou and I, Hester, never did so!" ...

• Word Count: 1211
• Approx Pages: 5
• Grade Level: High School