Summary—Chapter 17: The Pastor and His Parishioner
In the forest, Hester and Dimmesdale are finally able
to escape both the public eye and Chillingworth. They join hands
and sit in a secluded spot near a brook. Hester tells Dimmesdale
that Chillingworth is her husband. This news causes a “dark transfiguration”
in Dimmesdale, and he begins to condemn Hester, blaming her for
his suffering. Hester, unable to bear his harsh words, pulls him
to her chest and buries his face in the scarlet letter as she begs
his pardon. Dimmesdale eventually forgives her, realizing that Chillingworth
is a worse sinner than either of them. The minister now worries
that Chillingworth, who knows of Hester’s intention to reveal his
secret, will expose them publicly. Hester tells the minister not
to worry. She insists, though, that Dimmesdale free himself from
the old man’s power. The former lovers plot to steal away on a ship
to Europe, where they can live with Pearl as a family.
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Chapter 17: The Pastor and His Parishioner →
Summary—Chapter 18: A Flood of Sunshine
The scarlet letter was [Hester’s] passport
into regions where other women dared not tread. Shame, Despair, Solitude!
These had been her teachers, —stern and wild ones, —and they had
made her strong, but taught her much amiss.
(See Important Quotations Explained)
The decision to move to Europe energizes both Dimmesdale
and Hester. Dimmesdale declares that he can feel joy once again,
and Hester throws the scarlet letter from her chest. Having cast
off her “stigma,” Hester regains some of her former, passionate
beauty, and she lets down her hair and smiles. Sunlight, which as
Pearl has pointed out stays away from her mother as though it fears
her scarlet letter, suddenly brightens the forest. Hester speaks
to Dimmesdale about Pearl and is ecstatic that father and daughter
will be able to know one another. She calls their daughter, who
has been playing among the forest creatures, to join them. Pearl
approaches warily.
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Chapter 18: A Flood of Sunshine →
Analysis—Chapters 17–18
The encounter in the forest is the first time the reader
sees Hester and Dimmesdale in an intimate setting. Hester is moved
to call the minister by his first name, and the two join hands.
They refer to the initial days of their romance as a “consecration,”
which suggests that they see their “sin” as having been no more
than the fulfillment of a natural law. Up to this point, the narrator
withheld any sentimental and tender aspects of the couple’s relationship
from the reader, which enabled him to focus on issues of punishment
and social order. Now that the reader has had time to develop a
strong feeling about this society’s way of dealing with its problems,
the narrator begins to complicate his treatment of sin as a theme.
In previous chapters, the narrative has begun a subtle reevaluation
of what constitutes sin. Hester and Chillingworth have discussed
blame and responsibility, Mistress Hibbins has been introduced,
and the narrator has provided commentary throughout on the hypocrisy
of various figures. Here, though, Dimmesdale posits a hierarchy
of sin, as he directly proclaims that Chillingworth’s vengefulness
is far worse than any adultery. This is the first official recognition
in the text of any sort of alternative to the Puritan order,
be it natural or intellectual.
Because of her alienation from society, Hester has taken
an “estranged point of view [toward] human institutions.” She has been
able to think for herself, thanks to the scarlet letter and its
dose of “Shame, Despair [and] Solitude.” She seems to have developed
an understanding of a sort of “natural law,” and it is according
to her instinctive principles that she decides that she, Dimmesdale,
and Pearl should flee to Europe. A distinction is made between “sin”
and “evil.” Sin, as represented by Hester’s past, constitutes an
injury against the social and moral order but not against other
human beings directly. Although it leads to alienation, it also
leads to knowledge. It is a breaking of the rules for the sake of
happiness. Evil, on the other hand, can be found in the hearts of
those like Chillingworth, who seek no one’s happiness—not even their
own—and desire only the injury of others.
Dimmesdale reacts with “joy” to the planned escape, but
it is unclear whether they have made the right decision or are entering into
further sin. Because their two sets of principles differ drastically,
Pearl’s analysis of Hester and Dimmesdale is important in these
chapters. Uncontaminated by society, Pearl is strongly associated
with the natural world and therefore with truth. Hester believes
that Pearl will provide the cement for her illegitimate relationship
with Dimmesdale because, as their child, she naturally connects
them. Yet, when Hester beckons Pearl to come to her, the child does
not recognize her own mother. With her hair down and the letter
gone, Hester doubtlessly looks different, and Pearl may read her mother’s
abandonment of the scarlet letter as an omen of her own abandonment.
As Pearl is the one character in the narrative who has access to
“truth,” her unwillingness to respond to her mother suggests that
there is something wrong with Hester and Dimmesdale’s plan. One
could view the couple’s planned escape to Europe as a defeat—they
have succumbed to the society that polices them and to the “sin”
that has constantly threatened to overtake them.
