The Scarlet Letter - Summary of Chapter 1

The Scarlet Letter begins with a throng of bearded men inter-mixed with women who are all gathered in front of a prison door. The men are wearing “sad-colored garments and grey steeple-crowned hats.” Although some women are bare-headed, most of them are wearing hoods. It is not specifically announced, but it appears the crowd of Puritans is waiting for the release of a prisoner.

The prison door is made of heavy oak and studded with iron spikes. It is an ugly edifice, made even uglier by the rust on the ponderous iron-work that is on the prison door.

The founders of this new colony may have projected a Utopia of “human virtue and happiness'', but they “invariably recognized it among their earliest practical necessities to allot a portion of the virgin soil as a cemetery, and another portion as the site of a prison.”

This wooden jail appears old and is marked with weather-stains, indications of age. “Like all that pertains to crime, it seemed never to have known a youthful era.” Next to the prison is a cemetery.

Between the prison and the street is an overgrown grass plot full of “unsightly vegetation” that bore the “black flower of a civilized society, a prison.” Beside this plot of weeds is a wild rose-bush in full bloom, covered with its “delicate gems” in this month of June.

It might be imagined that the bush offered its “fragrance and fragile beauty to the prisoner as he went in, and to the condemned criminal as he came forth to his doom, in token that the deep heart of Nature could pity and be kind to him.”

The rose bush is growing “by chance” at the threshold of the prison. It had been “kept alive in history.” It is not known whether the bush simply “survived out of the stern old wilderness” or whether it “sprung up” under the feet of “the sainted Ann Hutchinson” as she entered the prison.

The narrator suggests that a flower be plucked and presented to the reader. “It may serve, let us hope, to symbolize some sweet moral blossom that may be found along the track, or relieve the darkening close of a tale of human frailty and sorrow.”

Analysis of Chapter 1 of The Scarlet Letter

The author sets the mood for the upcoming story by showing the ugliness of the physical surroundings and the dull, bleak dress of the throng. The throng, a group of gloomy dark Puritans, sets the mood for the story that follows.

The fact that the colony set aside land for both a cemetery and a prison as “practical necessities” indicates that the Puritans believed it was inevitable that people would sin, and they strongly believed those sinners needed to be punished.

The Puritans obeyed the laws passed down to them by earlier generations. These laws are strict and unbending, making it almost impossible not to sin. The punishment for the sinner will be either by imprisonment or death, thus the prison and cemetery were positioned adjacent to each other.

In contrast to the bleakness of the throng and the overgrown patch of grass, the wild, delicate rosebush at the entrance to the prison is a stark contrast to the rest of the scene. It offers some hope for overcoming the adversity of its surroundings since it pushes through without being nurtured.

The Scarlet Letter Chapter 1 Symbolism

The prison door is symbolic of punishment. It is “studded with iron spikes” and it appears to be so old that it never knew “a youthful era”, indicating that there was never a time that the prison was not in use.

The plot of weeds growing in front of the prison symbolizes Puritan society, a society that lives with stringent rules and strict punishments for those who do not follow them. The dark, drab clothing symbolizes the lack of pleasurable activities available to the Puritans, since almost everything pleasurable is considered a sin.

The decay and ugliness, the cemetery and the prison, foreshadow the sad and gloomy nature of the novel. The two landmarks symbolize the punishment and providence that dominate the Puritan culture and the story that is about to be told of The Scarlet Letter.

The flowering rose bush is a contrast to the stark ugliness of the rest of the scene. It offers some relief and freedom from the somber Puritan lifestyle. The rose bush has somehow persevered and survived, offering hope to the prisoners by “offering their fragrance and fragile beauty to the prisoner as he went in, and to the condemned criminal as he came forth to his doom…”

The Scarlet Letter Setting of Chapter 1

The novel is set in 17th century Boston. It is June, but the throng in front of the prison is drab and dour, consistent with the rigid religious beliefs of the Puritans.

The physical setting at the door of the prison amidst the decay and ugliness of the surroundings foreshadows the darkness of the novel. The prison looms as almost a character itself. The sainted Ann Hutchinson had entered its door and now the crowd appears to be waiting for something to happen, either someone to exit or someone to enter.

Purchase the Scarlet Letter Study Guide

The Scarlet Letter is on the reading list of almost every high school in the country. It helps students to have some guidance as they take on the task of reading this book that was published in 1850. Total Language Plus offers a comprehensive study guide as a downloadable pdf which is designed to assist high school students who are studying this book.

The guide is designed to help students understand the book, which is rich in symbolism. The guide summarizes each chapter and discusses the symbols, the themes, the characters, and important quotes.

The guide puts the book into historical context so the student understands the significance of the Puritan world and the effect its culture had on people like Hester Prynne, who was forced to wear the scarlet letter.