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The Scarlet Letter Isolation Quotes Page 1
Citations follow this format: (Chapter.Paragraph)
| Quote #1 Measured by the prisoner’s experience, however, it might reckoned a journey of some length; for, haughty as her demeanor was, she perchance underwent an agony from every footstep of those that thronged to see her, as if her heart had been flung in the street for them all to spurn and trample upon. (2.17) |
Can you imagine having to walk across town with people staring at you the whole way? It’s interesting that we never know a Hester who isn’t isolated from the rest of society. The only Hester we know is an outcast. What do we know about her previous life? How would the story be different if it began when Hester first arrived at the Massachusetts Bay Colony?
| Quote #2 From the intense consciousness of being the object of severe and universal observation, the wearer of the scarlet letter was at length relieved, by discerning on the outskirts of the crowd a figure which irresistibly took possession of her thoughts. (3.1) |
Take note, friends. If you ever find yourself forced to stand on a scaffold while hundreds of people stare at you, stare right back at them (and imagine that they are chickens wearing underpants). The word “outskirts” shows up a lot in The Scarlet Letter, and so, whenever we see it, we sit up and pay close attention. When we first meet Chillingworth, he is literally on the outskirts of the crowd. He and Hester seem to have more in common than they’d like to admit – both are outcasts.
| Quote #3 While this passed, Hester Prynne had been standing on her pedestal, still with a fixed gaze toward the stranger; so fixed a gaze, that, at moments of intense absorption, all other objects in the visible world seemed to vanish, leaving only him and her. (3.14) |
Hester is pretty amazing in that she can block out all of the Puritans glaring at her. Or, maybe this “stranger” is worse than 1,000 Puritans. What was Hester and Chillingworth’s relationship like before they sailed across the big blue sea?
