XXI. The New England Holiday Practice Quiz — The Scarlet Letter
by Nathaniel Hawthorne — tap or click to flip
Practice Quiz: XXI. The New England Holiday
What public event brings Hester and Pearl to the marketplace in Chapter 21?
The installation of a new Governor on Election Day, a public holiday when the community gathers to watch a procession of officials.
How is Hester dressed on Election Day, and what effect does her clothing have?
She wears a coarse gray cloth garment that makes her fade out of sight, while the scarlet letter brings her back into moral visibility.
What new emotion does Hester display beneath her marble composure?
A quiet sense of triumph, as she faces the crowd voluntarily for what she believes will be the last time before escaping Boston.
What does Hawthorne compare Hester's years of suffering to?
A cup of wormwood and aloes that she feels compelled to drain one last time, suggesting her pain has become part of her identity.
How does Pearl's clothing contrast with her mother's?
Pearl is dressed in bright, airy, gorgeous attire that seems an inevitable outward expression of her nature, contrasting sharply with Hester's somber gray.
What does Pearl compare to a diamond that sparkles and flashes?
Hawthorne compares Pearl herself to a diamond displayed on her mother's breast, her restless energy reflecting Hester's concealed agitation.
What pointed observation does Pearl make about Dimmesdale's behavior?
She notes that he holds their hands at night on the scaffold and speaks with Hester in the forest, but refuses to acknowledge them publicly in daylight.
How does Hawthorne contrast Puritan celebrations with their English heritage?
He notes the settlers descended from the Elizabethan era of stately pageantry, but compressed their public joy into austere, barely merry holidays.
What types of entertainment are present at the Election Day celebration?
Wrestling matches in Cornish and Devonshire styles, quarterstaff bouts, and an attempted broadsword exhibition on the pillory platform that the beadle stops.
Why does the town beadle stop the broadsword exhibition?
He considers it an abuse of the pillory, a consecrated place of law, and refuses to permit the majesty of the law to be violated by such an exhibition.
What groups of outsiders are present in the marketplace besides the Puritans?
Native Americans in embroidered deer-skin robes with wampum and feathers, and rough sailors from a Spanish Main vessel.
How do the sailors behave differently from the townspeople?
They freely smoke tobacco, drink wine and aqua-vitae from pocket-flasks, and transgress rules of behavior without fear, taking advantage of the license given to seafarers.
What does Hawthorne mean by the "incomplete morality of the age"?
Puritan society held strict moral codes on land but tacitly tolerated lawlessness at sea, allowing sailors near-piratical behavior that would be criminal in later times.
Who is seen in close conversation with the ship's commander in the marketplace?
Roger Chillingworth, which foreshadows the devastating revelation that he has arranged to travel on the same ship as Hester and Dimmesdale.
What is the "magic circle" that forms around Hester in the marketplace?
A small vacant area where no one ventures to stand, symbolizing the moral isolation the scarlet letter imposes even after seven years.
What shocking news does the shipmaster deliver to Hester?
That Chillingworth has booked passage on the same ship, claiming to be part of Hester's traveling party and a close friend of the gentleman she mentioned.
How does Hester outwardly respond to the shipmaster's news about Chillingworth?
She maintains a mien of calmness despite being in utmost consternation, telling the shipmaster only that Chillingworth and Dimmesdale have long dwelt together.
What does Chillingworth's smile at Hester across the marketplace convey?
A secret and fearful meaning, signaling that he knows about the escape plan and has moved to block it.
What is the significance of the chapter returning to the marketplace setting?
The marketplace is where Hester first stood on the scaffold in Chapter 2, creating a circular structure that suggests escape from public judgment is impossible.
What does Pearl mean when she calls Dimmesdale "a strange, sad man with his hand always over his heart"?
She observes his habitual gesture of clutching his chest where his own secret mark of guilt mirrors Hester's scarlet letter, though Pearl does not fully understand its meaning.
How does the chapter use dramatic irony?
The reader knows Hester plans to flee with Dimmesdale, making her composed farewell to the scarlet letter poignant, while the shipmaster's casual revelation about Chillingworth delivers a devastating reversal.
What metaphor does Hawthorne use for Hester's face in the marketplace?
He compares it to a mask and to the frozen calmness of a dead woman's features, reflecting how social punishment has deadened her outward emotional life.
What does the shipmaster's description of Chillingworth as "of your party" reveal?
That Chillingworth has deliberately deceived the shipmaster to position himself on the escape vessel, ensuring Hester and Dimmesdale cannot flee his psychological torment.