The Scarlet Letter Characters: Full List & Analysis

Who drives the story

Main characters

Hester Prynne

The adulteress: proud, independent, a needleworker of genius who wears her punishment in gold thread. She refuses to name her lover, raises Pearl alone, absorbs seven years of scorn into quiet charity, and years later returns to become a counselor to women.

Appears in:: Part 1: The Prison-Door and the Scaffold; Part 2: The Needle, the Elf-Child, the Leech; Part 3: The Midnight Vigil and the Forest; Part 4: Election Day and the Tombstone
Themes:: Public shame versus private guilt; The cruelty of legalism; Revenge that devours the avenger; Nature against the Puritan city

Arthur Dimmesdale

Boston's beloved young minister and Pearl's secret father, whose hidden guilt manifests as deteriorating health while sharpening his sermons. He cannot confess by day, only by night, until Election Day when he confesses and dies.

Appears in:: Part 1: The Prison-Door and the Scaffold; Part 2: The Needle, the Elf-Child, the Leech; Part 3: The Midnight Vigil and the Forest; Part 4: Election Day and the Tombstone
Themes:: Public shame versus private guilt; Revenge that devours the avenger; Nature against the Puritan city; Sin as a source of knowledge

Roger Chillingworth

Hester's elderly, misshapen scholar-husband, presumed lost at sea, who arrives under an alias and becomes a physician, dedicating himself to psychologically torturing Dimmesdale. Seven years of revenge make his face uglier and more devilish.

Appears in:: Part 1: The Prison-Door and the Scaffold; Part 2: The Needle, the Elf-Child, the Leech; Part 3: The Midnight Vigil and the Forest; Part 4: Election Day and the Tombstone
Themes:: Public shame versus private guilt; Revenge that devours the avenger

Pearl

Hester's wild, elfish daughter, named Pearl 'as being of great price—purchased with all she had—her only treasure.' She pelts the 'A' with flowers, asks questions about the letter and the minister, and will not cross a brook until the letter is back on and Hester's hair is down.

Appears in:: Part 2: The Needle, the Elf-Child, the Leech; Part 3: The Midnight Vigil and the Forest; Part 4: Election Day and the Tombstone
Themes:: Nature against the Puritan city

How they are connected

Key relationships

Hester Prynne Pearl
She refuses to name her lover, raises Pearl alone, absorbs seven years of scorn into quiet charity, and years later returns to become a counselor to women.
Arthur Dimmesdale Pearl
Boston's beloved young minister and Pearl's secret father, whose hidden guilt manifests as deteriorating health while sharpening his sermons.
Roger Chillingworth Hester Prynne
Hester's elderly, misshapen scholar-husband, presumed lost at sea, who arrives under an alias and becomes a physician, dedicating himself to psychologically torturing Dimmesdale.
Roger Chillingworth Arthur Dimmesdale
Hester's elderly, misshapen scholar-husband, presumed lost at sea, who arrives under an alias and becomes a physician, dedicating himself to psychologically torturing Dimmesdale.

Go deeper

The Scarlet Letter themes & symbols

Public shame versus private guilt · The cruelty of legalism · Revenge that devours the avenger · Nature against the Puritan city

Themes explained

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The full story act by act, the ending explained and a quick quiz.

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