Dimmesdale Forgiven In The Scarlet Letter

Contrarily, Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale chooses to conceals his sin which leads to the deterioration of his physical and spiritual health, and ultimately leads to his death. Dimmesdale is given several opportunities to confess his sin but refrains from doing so, looking for penitence - fasting and whipping himself - but finds no solace. After years of bearing such guilt, Dimmesdale tells the townspeople that he is Hester’s secret lover and Pearl’s father before his death. Confessing his sin allows Dimmesdale to find peace before death however, the overwhelming guilt was too much to bear. One wonders, would admitting to adultery in the beginning have prevented Dimmesdale’s demise?

Secrets can destroy even the most respected people. Sometimes is not the secret itself that drives people into exhaustion, but the emotional baggage that comes with it. In Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter, Reverend Dimmesdale physically deteriorates because of his guilt caused by a dishonorable sin. The Puritan society

Guilt, shame, and penitence are just a few of the emotions that are often associated with a great act of sin. Mr. Arthur Dimmesdale, a highly respected minister of a 17th century Puritan community, is true example of this as he was somehow affected by all of these emotions after

The third example of Dimmesdale is the worst sinner than Chillingworth is because he doesn’t have responsibility for what he has done. After Hester is out of prison, she is punished and she takes all the blame and their shared sin while Dimmesdale chooses to hide behind her. Dimmesdale let Hester and Pearl go through hash criticizing, disparaging, and insulting from everyone in the towns. People disparaging Hester by saying “This woman has brought shame upon us all, and ought to die. Is there not law

Dimmesdale has a largely different approach to dealing with his sin. Arthur Dimmesdale handles his terrible guilt by concealing it to himself. To overcome it he would whip himself, and take long walks into the forest. Dimmesdale’s act of concealing his guilt shows that he is not brave enough to tell all and there for he must live fearfully and cowardly. This guilt he has chose to endure is much worse than any shame he would have felt had he just confessed his sin of adultery with Hester. Since he was a moral leader in his town he felt an obligation to keep it a secret but like in many cases where guilt is concealed, the sinner eventually reasons enough to confess. Dimmesdale does the same and confesses his sin to the townspeople. “He longed to speak out from his own pulpit, at the full height of his voice, and tell his people who he was.”

Another effect on Dimmesdale, seen as his guilt slowly wears him down, is how he compares his actions to those of Roger Chillingworth. This is clearly seen when Dimmesdale claims to Hester, "We are not, Hester, the worst sinners in the world. There is one worse than even the polluted priest! That old man 's revenge has been blacker than my sin. He has violated, in cold blood, the sanctity of a human heart. Thou and I, Hester, never did so!” (Hawthorne 185). Even in the privacy of the forest, he did not want to accept the full reality of his actions. This is a step forward for him, however, because he chooses to actually say aloud that what he did was wrong, just not as wrong as Chillingworth’s terrorizing of him. Eventually, Dimmesdale is able to confess to the public his sin, and this is due to his longing to escape the torture Chillingworth has been putting him through. Dimmesdale is no longer affected by the guilt that his actions brought about, so Chillingworth has no reason to aggravate him anymore. Sadly for the reverend, the shame

The Guilt of Dimmesdale in The Scarlet Letter   God does not like the sin of adultery. He does not like lying. He does not like hypocrisy. There are two roads that one can choose. In the end, what may seem like the easy way may have far greater

Dimmesdale has yet to reveal the truth, which, so far, has been devouring him,physically and mentally. Since this good reverend is so spiritual, he cannot reveal his truths to the town so simply. He is of the Puritan faith and being a follower of that, the sin of adultery is a very grand sin. The whole town would look down on him as if he were a hypocrite. Which in fact, he is, but his sin of adultery in that town would have been scoffed at just as Hester’s has. The reverend is so well liked by the townsfolk that

In Dimmesdale's first speech he uses accusatory appeals to further humiliate and set an example to the rest of the community. Dimmesdale publicly put Hester on the scaffold to make a example of her, to show the other citizens what would happen if they sin." If thou feelest it to be for thy soul's peace, and that thy earthly punishment will thereby be made more effectual to salvation"( Hawthorne 57). This quote by Dimmesdale shows that Hester's earthily punishment, by Public humiliation, will be effective in her deliverance from sin. The whole reason for Hester's public punishment is to show her that she could not recover from the sin. The public punishment is more for Hester than for the community. Hester being put on blast at the scaffold insure that she believes she is forever going to be an outcast in society. In Dimmesdale's second speech his appeal changes from accusatory to remorseful. Dimmesdale's use of remorseful appeals in his second speech helps him say his confession. Dimmesdale's confession in the end has people feel bad for him because they saw how keeping the secret was hurting him. " ye, that have loved me!- ye, that have deemed me holy!- behold me here, the one sinner of the world!"( Hawthorne 208). This quote shows that the people of the community loved Dimmesdale and he knew that. So, for Dimmesdale to betray them the way he did, he felt bad. So he confessed publicly to help himself with the

A reader may label Dimmesdale the purest of the sinners. Adultery, in the Christian world, is the one of the greatest sins a man can commit, second only to premeditated murder. In a Puritan society, it must be close to the same. Dimmesdale tries to purge himself of this evil sin by scourging and self-denial. However, he shies away from public confession, rationalizing the good he can instill in other men and women with his sermons. We find this illogical reasoning on page He endures Chillingworth's revenge and hatred while trying to preach what he doesn't practice. At his weakest point, Hester tempts him to cave in to the sin and do it all over again. Out of desperation to flee from the torture, he crumbles

Essay #1 In the novel, The Scarlet Letter, Hawthorne shows sins of several different kinds in numerous people, as well as the consequences and remedies of their sins. Arthur Dimmesdale, bares the most brutal effects of his sins. Hester Prynne recognized her sins and accepted them. She wore the letter

This scene in the book makes the reader feel as though Dimmesdale’s salvation is a reality because of all the opportunities he had to confess his sin but didn’t until now. Also during this scene, Dimmesdale not only asks for God’s forgiveness for himself, but Chilling worth too because he discovered that Dimmesdale is Hester’s partner. "May God forgive thee!" said the minister. "Thou, too, hast deeply sinned!" (23.28-29) In this part of the book, Dimmesdale makes it appear that he and God have a type of an abusive relationship, but Dimmesdale thinks he deserves every bit of it. "God knows; and He is merciful! He hath proved his mercy, most of all, in my afflictions. By giving me this burning torture to bear upon my breast! By sending yonder dark and terrible old man, to keep

Punishment between characters in The Scarlet Letter Words can change things in the moment, while actions can change the course of one's life, especially when society questions your actions. In The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne, the case of actions changing the course of one’s life is especially relevant. A minister,

The guilt that plagues Arthur Dimmesdale, leads to the climax of the novel, in which Dimmesdale overcomes his inner conflict. Throughout the entire book, Dimmesdale has struggled with trying to reveal what he has done. At first he is to cowardly to do this, but eventually Dimmesdale realizes the only way to redeem himself is to confess his sins and repent. Knowing it is the only way to redemption, Dimmesdale goes before the whole town, with Hester and Pearl, and reveals his sin to the people. Dimmesdale’s

To make a decision, one weighs the benefits and the downfalls, and concludes by judging the factors of each alternative. One's choice of whether to conform to society's demands or submit to personal impulses is difficult, especially under strenuous circumstances. Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter is a profound romance in