Scarlet Letter Chapter 13 – Flashcards

The general public had a sense of respect for Hester now that it was a few years later and she had served her punishment gracefully.

The general public had forgiven her and started acting kind towards her, but the community leaders had taken longer to forgive her. They had prejudices formed towards her that were harder to get out of their heads, so they were taking longer to forgive her.

In this chapter, Hawthorne described the social change of forgiveness. The common people as well as the community leaders had forgiven or started the forgiveness process towards Hester. As for philosophical changes, the people now believed that Hester's sin was a blessing in disguise, and that it had led to many good deeds afterwards

This quote is basically saying that it is ironic that the world's most bold thinkers often end up being the really quiet people in society. In Hester's case, she always had bold thoughts and wasn't afraid of them, but because of Pearl, she held back from doing anything daring.

The initial intent of the Scarlet letter was to stand for Adulterous. This was the label that would describe Hester because of her actions. It was supposed to be a punishment that made Hester remember what she had done wrong, but instead of Hester dwelling on her sin, she had a positive outlook on life. She would give money to the less fortunate, and sew them clothing to help them out. She was very helpful in society, which had caused th

Hawthorne's point in comparing Hester's and Dimmesdale's reactions to their sin was to show how sin destroyed a person. Because Hester's sin had been publicly acknowledged and she had been punished for it, it was a sort of relief to her.

The image of Chillingworth digging up roots and leaves in the forest represents evil and the devil. The way his body had started decaying and his face had gotten uglier and uglier reflects upon his ugly personality. Also, in puritan society, the forest represented the devil, so the fact that he was in the forest collecting roots, similar to the way a witch would, shows that he is in some way like a devil.

Hester resolved to help free Dimmesdale from the clutch or Roger Chillingworth. She no longer felt that she was no match against the man, and knew that he was destroying her lover, so she decided she was going to do something about it.

a very poor person who has no money to pay for food, clothing, etc.

a major division, separation or difference between two people, groups, etc.

to drink (something)

a ruler who has total power and who often uses that power in cruel and unfair ways

the state of being somewhat like something but not truly or fully the same thing

resembling heaven : seeming to belong to another world

to utter taunting words

the leaves of a plant or of many plants