Scarlet Letter Conflict

Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter conveys the war between passion and responsibility, and how it concerns moral duty. Conflicts which Reverend Dimmesdale faces show readers how difficult it can be to come forward and reveal your sins. The circumstances which victimized Dimmesdale made it harder for him to accept responsibility publicly, which is the foundation of much of this novel. Hawthorne uses Dimmesdale’s character to convey the true struggle between passion and responsibility in The Scarlet Letter. While Dimmesdale yearned to face his sins, his passion overpowered him and took over the

Hester was her own person, she didn't care what any of the townspeople thought about her choices. She did her own thing and wore clothes that stood out from the crowd. Hester was very brave to act like she did when she was completly embarassed by the whole town. While everyone looked at her like a "hussy" as the women called her, she didn't let it get to her. She wore the "A" on her shirt like it didn't bother her at all. "Streching forth the official staff in his left hand, he laid his right upon the shoulder of a young woman, whom he

The very scarlet letter from which the novel’s name is derived from is a symbol of sinning; the scarlet letter represents how Puritan society views sinning as unforgivable and something for public speculation. Hester is punished by wearing hers out for the world to see. The letter is “so fantastically embroidered” that one townswoman argues that its intricacy and design defeat the entire purpose of wearing it. The scarlet letter serves as an

This article is going to cover an internal conflict within, The Scarlet Letter. The internal conflict shall be about Hester, and Dimmesdale. Hester is shamed by the Puritan village for having an affair, and concieving a child. For this Hester is forced to wear a scarlet 'A' on her breast till the day she dies. The Puritans force Hester away from the village making her live almost in solitude.

Not being honest has its serious lethal consequences internally and causes confusion in the heart of who a person really is under the lies. In the novel, Dimmesdale is not only deceiving others by hiding the truth but is also deceiving himself which leads to him having inner confusion of his true nature. Hester and Dimmesdale are in the forest going over their plans to run away when

In Nathaniel Hawthorne’s novel The Scarlet Letter, the young Arthur Dimmesdale is a highly respected reverend in 17th century puritanical Massachusetts. However, he is the most morally ambiguous character in the novel because of the one great sin he commits and fails to readily confess. For this, he suffers an internal affliction that destabilizes his physical and spiritual composure. Dimmesdale’s sin was detrimental, but this action cannot qualify him as a bad person because in all other aspects, he is as righteous as the Puritans came. This moral ambiguity of Dimmesdale plays a pivotal role in the novel because it allows the reader to distinguish between true good and evil.

Hester put herself through all of this because she committed a sin that she could not forgive herself for. For the rest of the book she only takes off the scarlet letter once, in the

Throughout the book many symbols were shown, the main symbol being the Scarlet Letter forced upon Hester Prynne for committing adultery. When the scarlet letter was forced onto Hester Prynne the community thought she deserved more than just having to wear a cloth on her. Though she tried to hide the gold embroidered A, the community began gossiping loudly and even said that she deserved to be stoned. Hester Prynne kept her adultery a secret and in the end the sin back fired and hurt her more than she expected it to.

Hester Prynne and Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale are the two main characters of the Scarlet Letter. While Hester’s husband is away, the two commit adultery and keep their affair a secret from the rest of the town. When the town officials realize that Hester is with child, they imprison her until the trial. The townspeople want to know who the baby’s father is but Hester refuses to tell them, even when her former husband inquires about it. As her punishment, the officials make her wear a scarlet letter “A” so everyone will know what sin she committed.

Chillingworth was a old scholar and intellectual. He was Hester Prynne’s husband, but had sent her to Boston by herself after marrying her. He had ignored his wife, but still expected her to love him when he did not spend much time with her. Hester married him not out of love. But she did love and had an irrepressible desire for Arthur Dimmesdale.

Keeping a lie for seven years caused Dimmesdale to be mentally unstable, so he would often privately punish himself. Dimmesdale has proved himself as a weak individual, through his sin. Dimmesdale keeps his identity a secret from everyone, to keep his elevated status. The townspeople

Pearl’s entire existence is in the shadow of the letter, Chillingworth's life mission is to find the man guilty of putting the letter on Hester, and Dimmesdale is being tortured by the guilt and shame of responsibility of putting the letter on Hester. All the characters feel the letter but Dimmesdale is truly destroyed and drained by the letter. First, Dimmesdale is seen as righteous and an outstanding man to the Puritan society. How could the all holy minister ever commit such a crime and a sin to Puritan morales?

     Throughout the novel The Scarlet Letter there are many symbols. One of the biggest symbols of the novel is the scarlet letter A that Hester Prynne is sentenced to wear after she commits adultery. It is a symbol that is sewn onto her clothes for everyone to see. It is a punishment that is meant to humiliate her for the duration of the time that she stays in Puritanical Boston. During the novel, the scarlet letter changes and evolves from meaning adultery to meaning ability and even physically changes its form.

        Chillingworth and his connection to the scarlet letter may be the worst of all in the Puritan community. He, in some way, is always identified as the devil’s missionary or the devil himself, this trait shown from the moment he finds the wound on Dimmesdale’s bosom. “But what distinguished the physician’s ecstasy from Satan’s was the trait of wonder in it” (126). Pearl sees him first as a devilish figure; then, before him and Hester’s last confrontation before her confessing to Dimmesdale who he is, she sees him in the form of a satanic figure, a bat. “Chillingworth’s character displays the evilness of heart, if there is heart in him” (Ryskamp). His deformity of body finally represents a deformity of character which heart and soul play little part. His “A” could also stand for alchemist or artist, since he is both. His art, contrasting much from Hester’s creative art, is black art or black magic. In the end, though, bent over on the ground, he looks more along the lines of a snake than he does a human.

The scarlet letter could also be looked as a quality of Hester's character. This quality defined the views of the townspeople regarding Hester, and in time also changed in meaning. It was at the beginning of the book that the letter embroidered on her bosom only stood for adultery, and the common consensus of the people, in respects to Hester's actions, was "this woman has shamed us all and ought to die" (50). In time, and through the actions of Hester Prynne, the letter 'A' upon her chest was understood to be something different, and "many people refused to interpret the