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The Scarlet Letter Justice and Judgment Quotes Page 1
Citations follow this format: (Chapter.Paragraph)
| Quote #1 "The magistrates are God-fearing gentlemen, but merciful overmuch,—that is a truth," added a third autumnal matron. "At the very least, they should have put the brand of a hot iron on Hester Prynne's forehead. Madame Hester would have winced at that, I warrant me. But she, —the naughty baggage, —little will she care what they put upon the bodice of her gown! Why, look you, she may cover it with a brooch, or such like heathenish adornment, and so walk the streets as brave as ever!" |
Why are these townswomen so cruel? And what role do you think the "young wife" plays in this moment? Here we see what the absence of sympathy can do.
| Quote #2 Here, she said to herself, had been the scene of her guilt, and here should be the scene of her earthly punishment; and so, perchance, the torture of her daily shame would at length purge her soul, and work out another purity than that which she had lost; more saint-like, because the result of martyrdom. (5.3) |
If we were Hester, we would want to book it out of town with Pearl on the next ship. However, Hester takes a different approach. She embraces her punishment in order to purify herself. How is her approach different from or similar to Dimmesdale’s approach?
| Quote #3 This feeble and most sensitive of spirits could do neither, yet continually did one thing or another, which intertwined, in the same inextricable knot, the agony of heaven-defying guilt and vain repentance. (12.2) |
Our Shmoopster brains just can’t help but stare at the phrase "heaven-defying guilt" here – what does that mean? Does it mean that the guilt Dimmesdale endures will ultimately prevent him from getting into heaven? Or does it mean that the guilt he imposes upon himself is not necessarily the kind of guilt that heaven endorses?
