The Scarlet Letter Quizzes

The Scarlet Letter Quiz 1

By J. Nicholas Smith · Edited by Soman Chainani, August 15, 2007, and Adam Kissel, · Last reviewed September 30, 2007

1 Hawthorne completed The Scarlet Letter in what year?

1850

1950

1820

1900
2 Why did Hawthorne write the Custom-House introduction to the novel?

he wanted to write an autobiographical short story

he was interested in the economic side of adultery

he wanted to describe how he "discovered" the manuscript

he thought The Scarlet Letter was too short to print by itself
3 The prison door best represents which of the following?

the strength of Hester's determination to live with her crime

Puritanical severity of law and the authority of the regime

a dirty, rusted old door separating Hester from her daughter

an escape route for Hester
4 The rosebush outside the prison door is a symbol of all of the following except:

the wilderness surrounding Boston

Puritanical punishment for moral crimes

Hester's passion

Ann Hutchinson's tolerance of other religions
5 The blossoms of the rosebush are metaphors for:

Pearl and the moral of the story

Hester's passion and her marriage to Roger Chillingworth

Pearl and the crime of the story

Dimmesdale's love for Hester
6 Hawthorne's portrayal of the Puritanical society is one of:

support for the Puritan way of life

contradictory images and hypocrisy

disgust with the Puritan way of life

none of the above
7 Hester has embroidered what symbol onto her dress?

a rose blossom

a round pearl

a bird for freedom

a scarlet letter A
8 What gesture does Reverend Dimmesdale make throughout the book?

rubs his brow

places his hand over his heart

pulls at his shirt sleeves

raises his eyes to heaven
9 All of the following ironies occur in the first scaffold scene except:

the irony that Dimmesdale is called upon to ask Hester who the father is

the irony that Hester is married to Chillingworth but has had a child with another man

the irony that Pearl will bring Hester and Dimmesdale back together

the irony that Chillingworth chides Hester from the crowd, asking her to reveal the father
10 Chillingworth pretends to be of what profession?

a clergyman

a doctor

a lawyer

an infantryman
11 After she is released from prison, Hester goes to live where?

in another city in the colony of Massachusetts

within the city of Boston

with Roger Chillingworth

on the outskirts of Boston
12 How does Hester earn a living?

by healing other people

by growing crops

by selling wood in Boston

by her needlework
13 What is the first thing that Pearl sees as a baby?

the inside of a prison cell

the scarlet letter on Hester's chest

the rosebush

Hester
14 What does Pearl best represent throughout the novel?

the living embodiment of Hester's sin

a young innocent child

a form of punishment for Hester

the unifying force that will bring Hester and Dimmesdale together at the end
15 When John Wilson asks Pearl who her maker is, Pearl replies:

that she was plucked off of a rose bush

that sin made her

that Hester and Dimmesdale made her

that God made her
16 Mistress Hibbins, the sister of Governor Bellingham, is reputed to be:

a witch

a good mother

a cruel lady

a Puritan
17 Hawthorne draws strong parallels between what three images?

Pearl, Hester, the red rose

the prison door, the scarlet letter, Pearl

the prison door, the red rose, Pearl

Pearl, the red rose, the scarlet letter
18 To whom does Hawthorne apply the term "The Leech"?

Dimmesdale

Pearl

Chillingworth

Hester
19 How does Chillingworth figure out who Pearl's father really is?

Dimmesdale tells him

Hester tells him one day in the woods

He never finds out

Chillingworth becomes Dimmesdale's doctor and guesses the secret
20 What illuminates the first scaffold scene where Hester, Dimmesdale and Pearl are brought together?

a torch

a fire

a meteor

a lantern
21 The fact that this scaffold scene is illuminated can be understood as:

divine intervention

Hawthorne's desire to be melodramatic

bad luck

success for Chillingworth
22 Pearl's role changes towards the end of the novel. She starts to "punish" which character?

Bellingham

Dimmesdale

Chillingworth

Hester
23 What is Hester's response when she learns that the Puritan council might allow her to remove her scarlet letter?

she indicates that only God can remove her letter

she is very happy

she immediately takes the letter off and goes into town without it

she is furious
24 Hester tries to convince Dimmesdale to do what during their walks in the woods?

to adopt Pearl

to get rid of Chillingworth

to run away and live elsewhere

to marry her
25 What does the forest stand for?

A wild, uninhibited place where passion can flourish

An evil place where the Dark Man lives

A dark, sinister place where lives are ruined

A bright place where flowers grow

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