Chillingworth Vs Dimmesdale In The Scarlet Letter

Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale takes the easy way out and does not tell the community that he is the one that committed adultery with Hester Prynne, which led to more pain than he saved. Him and Hester Prynne committed adultery together and as a result of that, they have a

The narrator reveals that Hester is still “so passionately,” (Hawthorne 190) in love with Dimmesdale in chapter seventeen when she makes the decision to reveal Chillingworth’s identity. It is proven that Dimmesdale shares these feelings later on in the same passage when he forgives her for not revealing Chillingworth’s identity sooner and they reminisce on their sin. Dimmesdale tells Hester, “I have not forgotten!” (Hawthorne 191) This is in reference to their love for one another when they committed their sin seven years ago. Hester’s willingness to abandon New England and take off with Dimmesdale and their daughter towards the end of the novel shows that Dimmesdale was the one who truly held her back from leaving, not her sin. While the sin played a part in her own guilt, Dimmesdale was the one she truly stayed for. Their emotions towards one another are extremely complex, but had Chillingworth not ruined their potential escape plan, I believe that they would have lived out the last of Dimmesdale’s sickly days as a

            The agony that Reverend Dimmesdale was feeling throughout the novel had many origins.  For example, his conscience had a great negative effect on him.  By keeping his sin a secret, he internalized the pain that is inevitably a consequence of sinning.  The anguished Dimmesdale struggles to pacify his conscience as it consumes his very being.  "With every successive Sabbath, his cheeks grew paler and thinner, and his voice more tremulous than before."  This shows that while Hester's pain was a mental anguish, the Reverend had to deal with both mental as well as physical pain.  Each time Dimmesdale stood in front of his congregation, he felt weaker and more ashamed.  Dimmesdale's pain could be seen not only in his demeanor but also by the clutching of his chest.  Throughout the novel, the Reverend could be seen placing his hand over his heart, as if the pain of seeing Pearl, or talking to Hester, or merely realizing what he has done, was too much for him to bear.  Pearl often times is quoted noticing the Reverend's strange habit- "A strange, sad man is he (Dimmesdale), with his hand always over his heart!"  An analogy can be made that the Reverend covers his heart from eyes that can see

Dimmesdale yearns for nothing more than to confess his sin, yet he hid it from the world. He chose instead to let his inner demon destroy him before they could destroy his town. If the town found out their strongest foothold on their Puritan religion was a sinner, the townspeople’s faith would fall apart to leave the town’s backbone broken. There is also a component of fear: fear of death, fear of losing everything, fear of Governor Bellingham and Reverend John Wilson actively ignore the large probability that Dimmesdale has committed adultery with Hester, resulting in Pearl; the “good old boys” system protects Dimmesdale from the death penalty. [quote] Hester stays in Boston because she feels responsible for Dimmesdale’s suffering and sees right through his facade. Chillingworth devotes himself to torturing Dimmesdale with the secret sin. [quote]. Pearl needs no physical evidence: when she was a baby on the scaffold, her first time in contact with Dimmesdale [quote]. The more Dimmesdale vigorously detaches his sin from his physical appearance, the more his emotions show through sickness, even

Mr. Dimmesdale commits a sin but does not confess for fear of humiliation and hatred. By not confessing, he pays the price physically and emotionally. By physically hurting himself, he presumes it replaces the conflict of not exposing his true self to the community. He is held accountable for his actions at a personal degree of suffering. On the other hand, the community and townspeople are accountable for a high degree of the reverend’s actions. On the scaffold the night Mr. Dimmesdale stood with Pearl and Hester, he rejected holding his daughter’s hand in public because “...all the dread of public exposure that had so long been the anguish of his life had returned upon him; and he was already trembling at the conjunction...” (Hawthorne 149). He feels like he has to conform to society to be accepted, and it results in the failure of taking Pearl’s hand in public and divulging the truth. The townsfolk are more responsible for Dimmesdale’s actions because they create a life where wrongdoing is the ultimate sin, and forgiveness is omitted.

Instead of confessing to the community, Dimmesdale, to try and seek forgiveness in another way than confessing, tortures himself to the brink of death. Whilst talking to Hester in the forest, Dimmesdale says: “Had I one friend, —or were it my worst enemy! —to whom, when sickened with the praises of all other men, I could daily betake myself, and be known as the vilest of all sinners, methinks my soul might keep itself alive thereby. Even thus much of truth would save me! But now, it is all falsehood! —all emptiness! —all death!” (288-289). Dimmesdale is depressed in the way that the only thing keeping him alive is his sin. Hester after seven years, is seen as a sort of hero in the community, which is shown when the town calls her “our Hester” (244). Dimmesdale is not able to confess and be forgiven, in relation to Hester already being forgiven and living a relatively decent life. Dimmesdale also must look to other methods for forgiveness while Hester lives with a static punishment. Dimmesdale physically whips himself to attempt to achieve forgiveness, he also does not have anyone to counsel about his feelings, which leads to much depression. Dimmesdale also must deal with physical and mental pain, while Hester deals with

Even though most people wouldn’t admit that they know Hester and Pearl because Hester committed adultery, and Pearl was created through the act of adultery; Reverend Dimmesdale was brave enough to stand up for the family. When Bellingham is trying to take Pearl from Hester, Reverend Dimmesdale stands up and tells the crowd that first he was acquainted with them, second that he had befriended and guided them, and thirdly that he believed that a sinner was correct and not wrong. Through his actions he saved his mentor relationship that he has with Pearl and Hester, but he may have jeopardized his lifestyle and other

            Chillingworth stood with Hester Prynne within the confines of the prison, talking with her about how he would go about finding her lover. He says to her,

Dimmsdales sins affects his physical well-being, and his mental stability. Since he never publicly admits his sin, he has to keep his sins bottled up within him. He has no way to relieve himself of the burden of his sins, but to be shamed in public. He ultimately becomes a coward and he tortures himself . He was healthy before, but as the years go by, he becomes sickly, and he worsens his condition by abusing himself. Later on through the years, when he joins with Hester and Pearl in the forest , he becomes different, and when they decide what their plans will be, his health changes, and his energy seems as I it was back. He changes and transforms to another person. "The minister's own will, and Hester's will, and the fate that grew between them, had wrought this transformation. It was the same town as heretofore; but the same minister returned not from the forest." He changed to a new him.

From this sin came a very happy and energetic girl “Pearl”. So from the beginning, we see the sin that was committed. We only know half of who the sin truly belongs. “I thee to speak out the name of thy fellow-sinner and fellow-sufferer! Be not silent from any mistaken pity and tenderness for him; for, believe me, Hester, though he were to step down from a high place, and stand there beside thee, on thy pedestal of shame, yet better were it so, than to hide a guilty heart through life.” (Hawthorne 53) This is the first time we get a glimpse of guilt and the possibility that Dimmsdale is the fellow-sinner. As a preacher who speaks against sin, this is extremely hard for him. He wants to tell the truth but Hester won’t let him. This sin begins to completely consume one character the Reverend Dimmsdale. The guilt he feels drives him mad and causes him to carve an “A” into his chest and wonders the streets while asleep trying to let his sin be known. He even sits upon the gallows trying to tell people. The secret sin within this work was the sin of adultery not for Hester but her lover Dimmesdale. Throughout his works he speaks of different sins such is the case in the Ministers Black Veil.

Dimmesdale whips himself to punish himself for his sins, and as his sin grew inside of him and festered there, he became very ill, he started getting very sick, holding his heart even more than usual. Chillingworth one night after Dimmesdale had fallen asleep, sneaks into Dimmesdale’s room, rips open his shirt, and right over his heart, is the Black Man’s mark, the scarlet letter ‘A’. Dimmesdale becomes even more sick as time goes on, Hester and Dimmesdale plan to leave to go to England, but before that happens, Dimmesdale gives his final sermon, which was phenomenal, and as they are leaving the church, Dimmesdale gets onto the scaffold, asks Hester and Pearl to join him “He turned towards the scaffold, and stretched forth his arms. ‘Hester,’ said he, ‘come hither! Come, my little Pearl!’” (Hawthorne 376), as he declares that he is the father and that he loves them. Pearl grants him the kiss he has been wanting/needing from her, and right after, Dimmesdale collapses on the scaffold and dies. Dimmesdale is buried in a tomb and when Hester dies, she is then placed basically beside him, sharing a headstone to mark their love.

The town is just a breeding place of melancholy for Hester and Dimmesdale, their moment of true happiness was when they escaped the town into nature which reflects on. Hester’s estranged husband, Roger, starts with a pure mission- to bring the father of his wife’s child to justice and have him punished for the sin alongside her (Hawthorn 147), which might bring him some peace in the face of Hester’s affair. This desire for justice transforms him into a monster with eyes fastidiously looking for the man that Hester was in a relationship with, and he finds his victim, Arthur Dimmesdale (Hawthorn 351). Roger is full of rage which he masks with a friendly visage, he pretends to be Dimmesdale’s friend. Dimmesdale in return is consumed by guilt which makes him physically ill. Hester, with the letter, goes from a beautiful young woman (Hawthorn 105) to a banal lady with desolation painted on her face with her beauty only returned when the letter was removed (Hawthorn 405) No one is content, not even Pearl who is left fatherless and accused of being possessed (Hawthorn 183). The question is begged whether this suffering, of all parties, is necessary. In the end, the town loses a beloved preacher who did a lot of good things for them in the town’s eyes. Chillingworth’s whole life was so focused on revenge that after Dimmesdale’s demise he has nothing to live for. Hester is the

Though, it does not change the fact that one has sinned. Dimmesdale, eventually, sought to redeem himself of his sin by taking a place on the scaffold with Hester and Pearl where “...‘[he] should have stood’...” (Hawthorne 231) at the beginning of the Hester’s ignominy. In this way, Dimmesdale was redeemed of his sin before his death by doing what should have been done years ago. Roger Chillingworth, despite never admitting to having sinned, attempts to redeem himself of the vile torture he had inflicted on Arthur Dimmesdale. The old physician, left with no host to feed off of after Dimmesdale passed, willed a large “…‘amount of property’...” (Hawthorne 237) to Pearl, daughter of the man he so favorably took revenge upon. Chillingworth, in some way, had done this in compensation for long years of suffering he put Dimmesdale through by providing Pearl with what she needed to live a comfortable life. Afterall, Chillingworth may have realized, after all was said and done, held partial responsibility for taking the life of a young girl’s father, which resulted in Pearl never having a

When guilt and shame affect our inner personality, it molds and distorts the lives that surround one. It often occurs when guilt takes control of a situation, therefore the actions will not just only affect ones human behavior, but others as well. Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale is a respected, young, eloquent minister that kept quiet about the committed adultery with Hester. He stands upon his congregation teaching the principles of the Puritan religion, manifesting his hypocrisy and selfishness in the beginning for allowing Hester Prynne to experience being a complete outcast. In contrast with Hester, Dimmesdale slowly begins to neglect his own life as his shame crept deeply in his chest. Guilt, not being confessed, forced Dimmesdale to finally confront Hester and make amends with Pearl, his daughter, after so many years. Hester and Dimmesdale’s plan to flee back to England, to prevent future persecutions of the Puritan community if by chance they were revealed, was a magnificent idea. Shame did not allow this plan to go thus further, for Dimmesdale could not bear the clandestinely letter that lay upon his chest. With the force of guilt and shame, characters are compelled to reveal their true figure to avoid living a miserable life. Dimmesdale’s fatal death projects the weakness in his character. Guilt and shame, as Nathaniel Hawthorne describes it, “All that dark treasure to be lavished on the very man, to whom nothing else could so adequately pay the debt of

The town punishes Hester for what she has done, but they also, without knowing, that they also punish Dimmesdale for his guilt. In the start of The Scarlet Letter Hester is asked who she has committed adultery with by Dimmesdale. He know who should be up on the scaffold with her, but he asks to see if she will convulse the information to the town. She does not tell the town who the father is, so Dimmesdale’s guilt starts. Throughout the novel Dimmesdale’s physical and mental health decline. The main cause for this is him not sharing that he is Pearl’s father. He feels that he has let punished Hester more by having her suffer, not just her punishment, but also his. Dimmesdale displays his guilt during the scene when the governor wants to take Pearl away from Hester. Hester pleads against the governor saying that they should not take away the only thing she loves. Hester also says that Pearl may be the way that she can amend her sin. Dimmesdale throughout this section refuses to make eye contact with Hester. This action from Dimmesdale shows that he regrets not telling the town at the beginning what he did. Now the guilt has built up and he starts to have the effects of this mentally as well as physically change him. When Chillingworth starts to torture him he starts to become afraid of both what will happen to him as well as fear from the secrecy of Chillingworth. Chillingworth recites a story about a new herb he has found “I found the flowers growing on a