# The Scarlet Letter — Chapters explained

> Chapter companions for The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne.

- [Preface to the Second Edition](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_scarlet_letter_se/chapters/preface-to-the-second-edition.md): The author responds to public outcry over his introductory sketch of official life, defending its good-humor and accuracy while disclaiming any personal or political enmity, and resolves to republish it unchanged.
- [The Customhouse](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_scarlet_letter_se/chapters/the-customhouse.md): The narrator introduces himself as a Surveyor in the Salem Customhouse, reflecting on his Puritan ancestors, his own idleness, and the discovery of a manuscript that will become The Scarlet Letter. He describes the decay
- [The Scarlet Letter](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_scarlet_letter_se/chapters/the-scarlet-letter.md): Hester Prynne is publicly shamed on the scaffold for adultery, forced to wear the scarlet letter 'A' as a symbol of her sin. She refuses to name her lover, and her estranged husband, Roger Chillingworth, arrives in Bosto
- [I: The Prison-Door](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_scarlet_letter_se/chapters/i-the-prison-door.md): The chapter introduces the setting of a Puritan colony in Boston, describing the prison door and a wild rosebush beside it, symbolizing the tension between societal punishment and nature's compassion.
- [II: The Marketplace](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_scarlet_letter_se/chapters/ii-the-marketplace.md): Hester Prynne emerges from prison carrying her infant daughter, Pearl, and wearing the elaborately embroidered scarlet letter 'A' on her breast. She ascends the scaffold in the marketplace to endure public shaming, facin

> 23 more chapter companions — [open a free preview](https://www.betterreads.dev/reader?bookId=the_scarlet_letter_se_474kb&preview=1) to unlock the rest.

- [The Recognition](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_scarlet_letter_se/chapters/iii-the-recognition.md)
- [IV: The Interview](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_scarlet_letter_se/chapters/iv-the-interview.md)
- [Hester at Her Needle](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_scarlet_letter_se/chapters/v-hester-at-her-needle.md)
- [VI: Pearl](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_scarlet_letter_se/chapters/vi-pearl.md)
- [The Governor's Hall](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_scarlet_letter_se/chapters/vii-the-governor-s-hall.md)
- [VIII: The Elf-Child and the Minister](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_scarlet_letter_se/chapters/viii-the-elf-child-and-the-minister.md)
- [IX: The Leech](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_scarlet_letter_se/chapters/ix-the-leech.md)
- [X: The Leech and His Patient](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_scarlet_letter_se/chapters/x-the-leech-and-his-patient.md)
- [The Interior of a Heart](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_scarlet_letter_se/chapters/xi-the-interior-of-a-heart.md)
- [The Minister's Vigil](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_scarlet_letter_se/chapters/xii-the-minister-s-vigil.md)
- [Another View of Hester](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_scarlet_letter_se/chapters/xiii-another-view-of-hester.md)
- [XIV: Hester and the Physician](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_scarlet_letter_se/chapters/xiv-hester-and-the-physician.md)
- [Hester and Pearl](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_scarlet_letter_se/chapters/xv-hester-and-pearl.md)
- [XVI: A Forest Walk](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_scarlet_letter_se/chapters/xvi-a-forest-walk.md)
- [XVII: The Pastor and His Parishioner](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_scarlet_letter_se/chapters/xvii-the-pastor-and-his-parishioner.md)
- [XVIII: A Flood of Sunshine](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_scarlet_letter_se/chapters/xviii-a-flood-of-sunshine.md)
- [XIX: The Child at the Brook-Side](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_scarlet_letter_se/chapters/xix-the-child-at-the-brook-side.md)
- [The Minister in a Maze](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_scarlet_letter_se/chapters/xx-the-minister-in-a-maze.md)
- [The New England Holiday](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_scarlet_letter_se/chapters/xxi-the-new-england-holiday.md)
- [XXII: The Procession](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_scarlet_letter_se/chapters/xxii-the-procession.md)
- [XXIII: The Revelation of the Scarlet Letter](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_scarlet_letter_se/chapters/xxiii-the-revelation-of-the-scarlet-letter.md)
- [Conclusion](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_scarlet_letter_se/chapters/xxiv-conclusion.md)
- [Endnotes](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_scarlet_letter_se/chapters/endnotes.md)

HTML index: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_scarlet_letter_se/chapters