The Scarlet Letter Quizzes

The Scarlet Letter Quiz 1

1 Hawthorne completed The Scarlet Letter in what year?
1900

1950

1850

1820
2 Why did Hawthorne write the Custom-House introduction to the novel?
he wanted to describe how he "discovered" the manuscript

he thought The Scarlet Letter was too short to print by itself

he was interested in the economic side of adultery

he wanted to write an autobiographical short story
3 The prison door best represents which of the following?
a dirty, rusted old door separating Hester from her daughter

Puritanical severity of law and the authority of the regime

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

an escape route for Hester
4 The rosebush outside the prison door is a symbol of all of the following except:
Ann Hutchinson's tolerance of other religions

the wilderness surrounding Boston

Puritanical punishment for moral crimes

Hester's passion
5 The blossoms of the rosebush are metaphors for:
Hester's passion and her marriage to Roger Chillingworth

Dimmesdale's love for Hester

Pearl and the crime of the story

Pearl and the moral of the story
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?
places his hand over his heart

raises his eyes to heaven

rubs his brow

pulls at his shirt sleeves
9 All of the following ironies occur in the first scaffold scene except:
the irony that Chillingworth chides Hester from the crowd, asking her to reveal the father

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 Pearl will bring Hester and Dimmesdale back together
10 Chillingworth pretends to be of what profession?
a lawyer

an infantryman

a doctor

a clergyman
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 her needlework

by growing crops

by selling wood in Boston

by healing other people
13 What is the first thing that Pearl sees as a baby?
the scarlet letter on Hester's chest

Hester

the rosebush

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

the unifying force that will bring Hester and Dimmesdale together at the end

the living embodiment of Hester's sin

a young innocent child
15 When John Wilson asks Pearl who her maker is, Pearl replies:
that she was plucked off of a rose bush

that Hester and Dimmesdale made her

that sin made her

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

a good mother

a witch

a cruel lady
17 Hawthorne draws strong parallels between what three images?
the prison door, the scarlet letter, Pearl

Pearl, Hester, the red rose

Pearl, the red rose, the scarlet letter

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

Dimmesdale

Hester

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

He never finds out

Hester tells him one day in the woods

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 fire

a lantern

a meteor

a torch
21 The fact that this scaffold scene is illuminated can be understood as:
success for Chillingworth

Hawthorne's desire to be melodramatic

divine intervention

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

Chillingworth

Bellingham

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

she indicates that only God can remove her letter

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

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 marry her

to run away and live elsewhere
25 What does the forest stand for?
A dark, sinister place where lives are ruined

A wild, uninhibited place where passion can flourish

A bright place where flowers grow

An evil place where the Dark Man lives