Isolation In The Scarlet Letter

By revealing this small, hidden regret, he exposes Hester’s tortured state of mind. Unable to reach salvation in the town she desired to live in, she regretfully decided to leave and abandon her sorrows. The burden society placed on her with the scarlet letter was too demanding for her to handle any longer. Similarly, Arthur Dimmesdale was distressed from his ignominy. Afraid of societal repercussions, Dimmesdale had been “overcome with a great horror of mind, as if the universe were gazing at a scarlet token on his naked breast” (102). Society’s extensive honor toward him exacerbated his pain, thus causing society to trap Dimmesdale; this prevented him from revealing his dark secret and reaching salvation. Additionally, he began to picture his surroundings as an obstacle designed to hinder his path to redemption. His shortcoming to reach salvation agonized Dimmesdale to the point where he was incapable of recalling “[any] text of Scripture, nor aught else, except a brief, pithy, and, as it then appeared to him, unanswerable argument against the immorality of

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

Psychology can play a major role in novels and the mental state of a character can reveal inner thoughts and desires. A character’s mental state can be classified under multiple psychological instances because they are based on the external influences. Each character’s case is unique and effects them in varied ways. In Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter, characters face isolation of Hester, Pearl and Dimmesdale to present his novel as an impact of that isolation.

Isolation is an individual or place being separated, to be or remain alone or apart from others. In “The Scarlet Letter,” by Nathaniel Hawthorn, Reverend Dimmsdale and Hester Prynne committed an unacceptable sin during the prutain times, adultery. The major punishment Hester had to face was to serve many months in prison, attach a scarlet letter, “A” on her chest, and stand on the scaffold for couple of hours under public scrutiny. "Thus the young and the pure would be taught to look at her, with the letter flaming on her chest…. as the figure, the body and the reality of sin"(73). Holding onto the sins you’ve committed can lead to isolation and alienation.

During the 17th century, a Puritan commonwealth presided over Boston and was known for its strict adherence to religious, moral and social codes. In The Scarlet Letter, Nathaniel Hawthorne utilizes rhetorical strategies in order to denounce the Puritan system of beliefs and bring to light the hypocrisy of the Puritan community as he tells the agonizing story of a young woman who was condemned by society.

Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale, the popular, gifted, young clergyman and in which no expected, was Hester Prynne’s secretive lover. The citizens of Boston saw him as the perfect man, who could do no wrong. Little had they known, his sin was just as bad as Hester’s. Just like Black’s quote stated, Reverend Dimmesdale, acted on his light side, and used his sins to preach his best of sermons. Hawthorne stated on page 131, ‘To the high mountain-peaks of faith and sanctity he would have climbed…”. As many can observe, the young clergyman was a tremendous minister. He preached wonderful sermons and truly showed himself to be a man of God. Dimmesdale was a talented young man with a dark side that few people knew of. “…Mr. Dimmesdale was thinking of his grave, he questioned with himself whether the grass would ever grow on it, because an accursed thing must be there” (Hawthorne 131). This shows while he was preaching tremendous sermons, his health started to deteriorate, due to his inner guilt he was holding within himself. Perhaps if his lingering sin had not expended him, he would have been able live a happier, healthier life. However, unfortunately for him, the secret he was keeping was eating at him from the inside out and his darkness was prevailing. Dimmesdale’s sin of keeping the

Hester accepts her sin and takes responsibility for her her actions. Society accepts Hester also and sees her as part of society again. There are dire consequences though when someone rejects the sin that they have committed and can ultimately ruin someone's life. Chillingworth and Dimmesdale both are examples of how hiding your sin can ruin your life. Dimmesdale tries to hide that he is the father of Hester’s child and that he committed adultery. Dimmesdale’s health starts to suffer terribly due impart to him hiding his sin from society and that Chillingworth is seeking revenge on Dimmesdale for what he is doing to Hester. They both, in the long run, get weaker and their health starts to worsen due to them committing sin and trying to ignore what they have done. “The scarlet letter burned on Hester Prynne's bosom. Here was another ruin, the responsibility of which came partly home to her” (Hawthorne 161). The quote before this shows that Hester took all of the blame for the sin that Dimmesdale had committed and that she was covering up Chillingworth’s sin. This quote also shows that Hester was the face of sin while the other two men were the face of faith and the face of medicine in town. Dimmesdale and Chillingworth were to avoiding sin and act like nothing happened, but

All societies and people have secrets. Everyone has another side to them that they do not show in the eyes of the public. Hawthorne uses the symbol of darkness to show throughout his literary works that all people sin. Archetypally, darkness represents chaos, mystery, death, evil, fear. Darkness in the novel, The Scarlet Letter, shows the author's point of view on the Puritan society. Hawthorne’s use of archetypal symbolism of darkness to describe Puritans suggests Hawthorne’s view on Puritan society was anything but pure and that all societies should be less critical of their members.

He cowers in confidence by refusing to expose his sin and torments himself through starvation and whippings. The carving of the scarlet letter is a self-induced punishment manifested by the shame he feels and desires to release. The inscribed A signifies "the effect of the ever-active tooth of remorse." Dimmesdale and Hester are equally guilty of the same crime, yet denied his responsibility and left Hester to bear the blame of his punishment at "which the burden of shame and anguish departed from her spirit."(ch. 18) As Hester was able to confront her sin and become ostracized from the Puritan community, Dimmesdale continued to be the respected minister. His selfishness, deteriorating health, and cowardice actions reflected the secrecy of his

I do not want to bother you, for I know that you are always very busy. I am although, very concerned with the situation dealing with Mrs.Hester Prynne, and her young daughter Pearl. A child needs to grow up learning to communicate with others, and making many friends. A life of isolation is not suitable for a child. If Hester was to become ill or injured who would take care of Pearl? Lastly, how do we know if Pearl is being brought up right? Obviously Mrs.Prynne does not have the same morals as we do.

In a community, people understand and know each other. In most cases, individuals grow up together and share the same ideals and customs. When a new person shows up, people tend to flock and try to form a persona of the person. Many people expect him or her to fit into the community very fast and follow their laws and customs without complaint. Unfortunately, not everyone can act as a perfect person, and mistakes or problems can occur, which leads to the isolation and alienation of the person from the rest of the community. Through the use of a historical lens in the 1850 novel, The Scarlet Letter, Nathaniel Hawthorne explores how the isolation of people and alienation of the communities who enact the isolation occurs from the strict belief structure of the Puritan communities; therefore, people need to forgive the mistakes and wrongs of others if they show remorse for their actions.

This concealed sin is the center of his tormented conscience. The pressures on him from society are greater than those on Hester because he is a man in high standing, expected to represent the epitome of the Puritanical ideals. It is ironic that Dimmesdale, who is supposed to be absolutely pure and urges congregation to confess and openly repent their sins, is incapable of doing so himself. He knows the hypocrisy of his actions but cannot bring himself to admit his deed publicly. In resentment of this he punishes himself physically - he is "often observed to put his hand over his heart, with indicative of pain" (ch 9). Dimmesdale's resistance to be true to himself gradually destroys his well being as well as Hester's, and although he eventually declares the truth, his resistance ends him.

In the Puritan society the outlandish mindset of the leaders caused more harm than good with the witch trials in Salem to the events mentioned in The Scarlet Letter. Sin and evil the new world cloud the vision of the citizens, yet they are two separate actions and have different definitions. Hawthorne explains the difference between the two in the novel and also shows off his famous skill of questioning a society’s rules, regulations, and social structure. In The Scarlet Letter, Nathaniel Hawthorne uses his writing style of ambiguity, and ornate word choice to relay his opinion of the puritan society. Characters, quotes, and symbols give us a snapshot of the time and thoughts on events and ideas during the era. Hawthorne’s characters are a

The theme of isolation is highly present in Nathaniel Hawthorne’s “The Scarlet Letter.” Isolation Plays a very important role in the novel. Every main character finds themselves isolated in one way or another, but while some are absolutely and thoroughly destroyed by it, others gain loads of power. Characters Hester Prynne, Chillingworth, and Arthur Dimmesdale are all victims of isolation in the Puritan town of Boston, due to a different reasons such as Adultery, upbringing, and their past.

In Nathaniel Hawthorne’s, The Scarlet Letter, the contrast between light and darkness, or the absence of light, is prevalent. Hawthorne uses light to show society and what it favors, while he uses darkness and shadows to demonstrate what society does not like. The Puritans, a religious group in the 16th and 17th centuries in America, sought to “purify” the church and its believers from the traditional, Catholic ideals. They valued community over individualism and shunned all sinners. Hester Prynne, the main protagonist, commits adultery against her husband with one of the town’s ministers, Arthur Dimmesdale. Hester’s sin is revealed, due to the birth of Pearl, their daughter, while Dimmesdale’s sin is kept hidden. Each character struggles with the views of society and finding their true self in different ways; however, they all struggle with conforming to the ideals of the society. Therefore, light demonstrates the constriction of the true human nature by society, while darkness allows one to be unique and free from social constraints.