Hester and Arthur

What do you think of Hester and Arthur Dimmesdale? Who do you like better? Why? What do you think of the way they react to their situations, Pearl, Roger, the townspeople? How does Hawthorne want us to feel about them? Why?

Setting Symbolism

What's the significance of the setting in ch. 16 & 17 (Hester meets Dimmesdale in the forest)? How do the characters interact with the setting and in what ways is the interplay between characters and nature symbolic?

Who's Responsible?

In ch. 14 Roger Chillingworth says to Hester, "'And waht am I now?'...'I have already told thee what I am! A fiend! Who made me so?'" Hester responds that it was her who made Roger a "fiend". Agree or disagree.