The Scarlet Letter Quizzes

The Scarlet Letter Quiz 1

1 Hawthorne completed The Scarlet Letter in what year?
1820

1900

1950

1850
2 Why did Hawthorne write the Custom-House introduction to the novel?
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

he wanted to write an autobiographical short story
3 The prison door best represents which of the following?
the strength of Hester's determination to live with her crime

an escape route for Hester

a dirty, rusted old door separating Hester from her daughter

Puritanical severity of law and the authority of the regime
4 The rosebush outside the prison door is a symbol of all of the following except:
Puritanical punishment for moral crimes

the wilderness surrounding Boston

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

Pearl and the crime of the story

Hester's passion and her marriage to Roger Chillingworth

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

support for the Puritan way of life

disgust with the Puritan way of life

none of the above
7 Hester has embroidered what symbol onto her dress?
a bird for freedom

a scarlet letter A

a rose blossom

a round pearl
8 What gesture does Reverend Dimmesdale make throughout the book?
rubs his brow

pulls at his shirt sleeves

places his hand over his heart

raises his eyes to heaven
9 All of the following ironies occur in the first scaffold scene except:
the irony that Pearl will bring Hester and Dimmesdale back together

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

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

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

a lawyer

a clergyman

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

on the outskirts of Boston

in another city in the colony of Massachusetts

within the city of Boston
12 How does Hester earn a living?
by healing other people

by her needlework

by selling wood in Boston

by growing crops
13 What is the first thing that Pearl sees as a baby?
Hester

the scarlet letter on Hester's chest

the rosebush

the inside of a prison cell
14 What does Pearl best represent throughout the novel?
a form of punishment for Hester

a young innocent child

the living embodiment of Hester's sin

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 Hester and Dimmesdale made her

that God made her

that she was plucked off of a rose bush

that sin 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

Pearl, the red rose, the scarlet letter

the prison door, the red rose, Pearl

the prison door, the scarlet letter, Pearl
18 To whom does Hawthorne apply the term "The Leech"?
Chillingworth

Hester

Pearl

Dimmesdale
19 How does Chillingworth figure out who Pearl's father really is?
Dimmesdale tells him

Chillingworth becomes Dimmesdale's doctor and guesses the secret

Hester tells him one day in the woods

He never finds out
20 What illuminates the first scaffold scene where Hester, Dimmesdale and Pearl are brought together?
a torch

a lantern

a meteor

a fire
21 The fact that this scaffold scene is illuminated can be understood as:
bad luck

Hawthorne's desire to be melodramatic

success for Chillingworth

divine intervention
22 Pearl's role changes towards the end of the novel. She starts to "punish" which character?
Dimmesdale

Hester

Bellingham

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

she is furious

she is very happy
24 Hester tries to convince Dimmesdale to do what during their walks in the woods?
to get rid of Chillingworth

to adopt Pearl

to run away and live elsewhere

to marry her
25 What does the forest stand for?
A dark, sinister place where lives are ruined

An evil place where the Dark Man lives

A wild, uninhibited place where passion can flourish

A bright place where flowers grow