Chapter 8 Summary

The company of the Governor is prestigious, indeed. His company includes no less than John Wilson, the elder clergyman as well as the Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale and Roger Chillingworth, physician and well-hidden husband of Hester.

While John Wilson playfully speaks with Pearl, this is only prelude to a more serious conversation. Should Pearl be taken away from Hester, a disgraced adulteress?

But Dimmesdale comes to her rescue. It is precisely Hester, who though fallen, is now steeped in penance, who is capable of conveying a sense of perfect rectitude to her child. The Governor and his associates, including Wilson, seem to accept this idea. Hester is liberated from the fear of separation. Chillingworth, at one point, playfully suggests he analyze the child in order to discern who the father is but the Reverend Wilson protests. He decries the use of "profane philosophy in...