The Scarlet Letter: Chapter 3 Summary & Analysis

Suddenly as Hester looks out into the crowd she recognizes Roger Chillingworth, her husband, standing beside an Indian at the edge of the crowd. She clutches her baby in alarm. It cries out in protest.

Chillingworth is "civilized and savage." He is small, intelligent looking, and somewhat deformed, with one shoulder higher than the other.

Chillingworth's face becomes horrified when he sees that the woman on the scaffold is Hester, his wife. Chillingworth and Hester's eyes lock. He quickly places his fingers to his lips to silence her.

Chillingworth asks a man about Hester's identity and crime. The man is surprised Chillingworth hasn't heard about Hester's notorious sin. Chillingworth lies that he's been held captive by Indians. He asks the man to explain Hester's crime.

The stranger tells Hester's history. She had been married to a scholar from England (Chillingworth), but had arrived in Massachusetts alone while he remained in Amsterdam. She lived alone in Boston for two years before falling into sin and scandal.

Chillingworth asks who fathered Hester's child. The man says that the child's father remains a mystery and suggests that Hester's husband come from Europe to investigate the matter himself. The man also notes that Hester did not receive the full "extremity of righteous law," which would have punished her with death. Chillingworth says Hester's sentence makes more sense because now Hester will serve as a living "sermon against sin."

Chillingworth predicts that the man who fathered Hester's child will eventually be revealed and repeats the phrase, "he will be known!"

Mr. Wilson, an elderly local reverend, addresses Hester and calls on her pastor, Arthur Dimmesdale, to question her about her sin. Dimmesdale demands that she reveal the identity of her baby's father, but she says she will never reveal his name. Mr. Wilson then delivers a fiery sermon about sin, after which Hester returns to her prison cell.