Help on The Scarlet Letter?

Question

When I first started to read the book, I have hardly any idea what it was talking about. I was wondering if there is anything that can help me understand the book. Thanks in advance.

Answer 1

Text with notes at

http://www.eldritchpress.org/nh/sl.html

Study Guide at

http://www.pinkmonkey.com/booknotes/monk...

Summary and Analysis at

http://www.cliffsnotes.com/WileyCDA/LitN...

Spark Notes at

http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/scarlet/

Notes by Harvard Students at

http://www.gradesaver.com/classicnotes/t...

Cliff Notes at

http://www.cliffsnotes.com/WileyCDA/LitN...

School Video at

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IhamtsFlT...

Answer 2

Not much to understand.  Hester Prynne did the nasty with the Reverend and now he's her baby daddy.  It was frowned on in that time period, and Hester was forced to wear a huge red "A" on her chest standing for "adultery" as she was not married to said Reverend.  

I think they have some Cliff's Notes for it.  Been a long time since I was forced to read that one.

Answer 3

Do you mean The Customs House chapter? It's supposed to be that he - the narrator, at a much later date - found the preserved scarlet letter and the story of Hester Prynne. The narrator proceeds to tell the story.

Hester Prynne committed adultery and had a baby from that adultery, then was forced to wear the scarlet letter on her chest as punishment for her sin.

Yahoo Education http://education.yahoo.com/homework_help... has a lot of good information about The Scarlet Letter that may help. It describes The Customs House chapter and then includes a summary of each chapter and commentaries.

I hope that helps.

Answer 4

It is a story about a married woman, whose husband is a way, has an affair with a minister. She becomes pregnant, refuses to tell who the father is and is branded with a scarlet letter A which stands for adultery and is forced to wear the letter at all times.