IV. The Interview Practice Quiz — The Scarlet Letter
by Nathaniel Hawthorne — tap or click to flip
Practice Quiz: IV. The Interview
What condition is Hester in when she returns to her prison cell?
She is in a state of dangerous nervous excitement, requiring constant watchfulness to prevent her from harming herself or Pearl.
Why is the jailer Master Brackett unable to calm Hester?
Neither rebukes nor threats of punishment can quell her insubordination, forcing him to summon a physician.
What is wrong with baby Pearl in this chapter?
She writhes in convulsions of pain, having absorbed her mother's turmoil and anguish through breastfeeding.
Under what name does Hester's husband introduce himself?
Roger Chillingworth. This is a false name; the jailer announces him as a physician, and he is lodged in the prison while awaiting ransom negotiations.
Why is Chillingworth staying in the prison?
He is lodged there as the most convenient place to keep him while the magistrates negotiate his ransom with the Indian sagamores who had held him captive.
What medical knowledge does Chillingworth claim to possess?
He combines old studies in European alchemy with knowledge of medicinal herbs and roots learned during over a year spent among Native Americans.
How does Hester react when Chillingworth offers medicine for Pearl?
She repels the offered medicine, gazing at him with marked apprehension and whispering, "Wouldst thou avenge thyself on the innocent babe?"
What happens after Chillingworth administers the medicine to Pearl?
Pearl's moans subside, her convulsive tossings cease, and she sinks into a profound and peaceful slumber.
What classical references does Chillingworth make when preparing Hester's draught?
He mentions Lethe (the river of forgetfulness in Greek mythology), Nepenthe (a drug that banishes sorrow), and Paracelsus (the Renaissance physician and alchemist).
Why does Chillingworth say he wants to keep Hester alive?
He argues that keeping her alive with the burning shame of the scarlet letter blazing on her bosom is a more fitting punishment than death.
What does Chillingworth call his marriage to Hester?
A "false and unnatural relation," admitting he betrayed her budding youth by binding it to his physical decay and intellectual isolation.
How does Chillingworth distribute blame for the adultery?
He accepts shared responsibility, saying "Mine was the first wrong" for trapping Hester in an unsuitable marriage, and declares the scale between them "fairly balanced."
What does Hester say when Chillingworth demands her lover's name?
She looks firmly into his face and replies, "Ask me not! That thou shalt never know!"
How does Chillingworth describe his method of finding Hester's lover?
He says he will seek the man as he has sought truth in books and gold in alchemy, relying on a mysterious "sympathy" that will make him conscious of the sinner.
What does Chillingworth mean by "I shall read it on his heart"?
He vows to detect the hidden sin of Hester's lover through psychological observation, even though the man bears no visible letter of infamy like Hester's scarlet A.
What oath does Chillingworth extract from Hester?
He makes her swear never to reveal that he is her husband, so he can pursue her lover in disguise as an ordinary physician.
What reason does Chillingworth give for wanting his identity kept secret?
He claims he wishes to avoid the dishonor of being known as the husband of an unfaithful woman, though his deeper motive is to hunt Hester's lover undetected.
What symbolic action occurs when Chillingworth touches the scarlet letter?
When he lays his forefinger on the letter, it seems to scorch into Hester's breast as if it were red-hot, and he smiles at her involuntary flinch.
What is significant about the chapter being composed almost entirely of dialogue?
Hawthorne uses dialogue-driven characterization, letting Hester and Chillingworth reveal their attitudes and relationship through their own words rather than through narratorial summary.
What does Hester mean when she says Chillingworth's acts are "like mercy" but his words "interpret thee as a terror"?
She recognizes the contradiction between his outward kindness (healing Pearl, accepting blame) and his terrifying inner purpose (vowing to hunt and psychologically torment her unnamed lover).
What is the significance of Chillingworth's final line in the chapter?
When Hester asks if their bond will ruin her soul, he replies "Not thy soul. No, not thine!" — implying the ruin will fall on her lover's soul, and foreshadowing his own moral corruption.
How does this chapter establish the theme of secrecy as bondage?
Hester is now bound by two secrets: she protects her lover's identity and must conceal Chillingworth's identity as her husband, making her complicit in his revenge scheme.
What does the medicine/poison duality symbolize in this chapter?
It symbolizes Chillingworth's dual nature as healer and destroyer. His remedies genuinely cure, yet Hester's instinct to suspect poison reflects the underlying malice driving his medical knowledge.
How does Chillingworth's behavior foreshadow his relationship with Dimmesdale?
His combination of medical expertise, psychological penetration, and hidden malice prefigures how he will later embed himself as Dimmesdale's physician while systematically probing the minister's hidden guilt.