Dimmesdale And Hester Prynne In The Scarlet Letter By Nathaniel Hawthorne

At this point in the book, Dimmesdale is well respected by the townspeople, and looked up to by many. He has a superior reputation and worries about ruining it. Dimmesdale urges Hester on the scaffold to tell the officials and the community the name of Pearl’s father. Though he does not have the courage to, since Dimmesdale is Hester’s spiritual mentor and pastor, he is obligated to question Hester about the crime. He knows that if he admits to his sin, he will lose the respect of the townspeople. The speech is two fold, meaning something different to both Hester and the townspeople. Dimmesdale starts contradicting himself, wanting Hester to name the father, but at the same time also not wanting her to: “Even in the first scaffold scene Hawthorne shows forth the deep ambivalence of Dimmesdale’s position: the minister would like to be named and known for what he is, an adulterer” (Twayne 3). Dimmesdale encourages Hester to give up his name when he says, “What can thy science do for him, except tempt him—yea, compel him, as it were—to add hypocrisy to sin?” (Hawthorne 26). According to his ability to keep in his true emotions, Dimmesdale seems unafraid to the community. Dimmesdale is a healthy Reverend, but his confidence slowly deteriorates as his sin consumes

The Scarlet Letter, by Nathaniel Hawthorne, consists of multiple characters that are all important to the novel: Hester Prynne, Pearl Prynne, Roger Chillingworth, and Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale. Hester Prynne is the protagonist who has a affair with Reverend Dimmesdale behind her husband’s, Roger Chillingworth, back thus creating Pearl Prynne, the outcome of Hester and Dimmesdale’s affair. Since Hester was pregnant, she was charged for committing adultery, and her punishment is to wear a Scarlet Letter on her bosom. Though, the whole novel surrounds that idea of who the father is, because Hester and Dimmesdale won't reveal their sin, which creates conflict and tension between all the characters. Though Dimmesdale, in particular, caused chaos

In the novel, “The Scarlet Letter”, a woman named Hester Prynne commits a sin. She commits the sin of adultery which results in the birth of her daughter Pearl. Hester now has to wear a scarlet letter on her chest for the rest of her life. Unbeknownst to everyone else except Hester, Dimmesdale, is the father of Pearl. Hester’s husband, Roger Chillingworth, now seeks revenge for what Hester has done to him. He learns that Dimmesdale is the father but tells no one because he wants to have something over Dimmesdale. Dimmesdale reveals his sin to the public of Boston and dies. Pearl and Hester leave to make a life for themselves.

Hester faces conflict with Puritan society again when she cannot use her elaborate seamstress skills to make bride veils. Although Hester is very talented she is restricted from anything that would offend the Puritan society, which becomes evident when it is stated, “But it is not recorded that, in a single instance, her skill was called in aid to embroider the white veil which was to cover the pure blushes of a bride” (73). The moral sin of Hester Prynne leads to conflict with the Puritan way of life.

When Pearl enters the novel, Hawthorne uses specific details when describing her. He describes her physical appearance as; “beauty that became everyday more brilliant, and the intelligence that threw it’s quivering sunshine over the tiny features of this child.” (81-82). Combining with her ravishing beauty, are the exquisite dresses that Hester has made for her to wear. With Pearl’s adorable looks and charming clothing,other children viewed her as unusual and strange.

            Dimmesdale's instantaneous response to the sin is to lie.  He stands before Hester and the rest of the town and proceeds to give a moving speech about how it would be in her and the father's best interest for her to reveal the father's name (67).  Though he never actually says that he is not the other parent, he implies it by talking of the father in third person (67).  Such as, "If thou feelest it to be for thy soul's peace, and that thy earthly punishment will thereby be made more effectual to salvation, I

The sin between Hester and Dimmesdale affected the whole town, but has affected Chillingworth more. Chillingworth in the beginning of the book has been pronounced dead, but he is, in reality not dead. He comes back to the town with Hester as she is getting punished for committing adultery. Chillingworth later talks to Hester in the prison to try and get the information of who Pearl’s father is. In this scene he asks Hester to not reveal that he, her husband, is alive. Chillingworth then swears to get revenge on whoever has committed the sin with Hester. We know that Chillingworth was not the best husband to Hester. He ignored his wife when they were together, as well as, he expected Hester to love him back even if he did nothing that

In the story “The Scarlet Letter” we were asked, are Hester and Dimmesdale forgiven or not? The answer to that is simple. No, they were not forgiven.

In Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter, Pearl, Hester Prynne and Arthur Dimmesdale’s child, acts not as a normal girl, but rather as representation of the scarlet letter. In all of Pearl’s interactions with her father, it appears that Pearl has a mission of making Dimmesdale confess. Additionally, from her birth, Pearl causes and reminds her mother of the anguish that the scarlet letter brings. However, in the end of the novel, upon Dimmesdale’s confession of his adultery and his death, Pearl is released from her position as tormentor. In the passage describing Dimmesdale’s death, both the word choice of the writing and Pearl’s grief demonstrate that Pearl has completed her job of making her father come to justice and causing her mother

The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne paints a picture of two equally guilty sinners, Hester Prynne and Reverend Dimmesdale, and shows how both characters deal with their different forms of punishment and feelings of remorse for what they have done. Hester Prynne and Reverend Dimmesdale are both guilty of adultery, but have altered ways of performing penance for their actions. While Hester must pay for her sins under the watchful eye of the world around her, Reverend Dimmesdale must endure the heavy weight of his guilt in secret. It may seem easier for Reverend Dimmesdale to live his daily life since he is not surrounded by people who shun

In her harsh Puritan society, Hester is forced to wear the infamous letter “A” as a means to bear her sin in public humiliation. She becomes a figure of shame within

For instance in the woods Hester and Dimmesdale were able to be around each other and express emotions such as "solitude, and love, and aguish"(Hawthorne 434) without having the fear of being seen and judged by religiously driven society. When they saw each other they were able to tell each other things that they couldn’t dare to tell anyone else because they would be looked down upon. However since they shared the same feelings caused by the same sin they were able to be open with one another and let the weight of their shoulders. Another example is the fact that the woods and its surroundings start to effect Hester, Dimmesdale, and Pearl allowing their brains to step out of religious thinking and starting to think like how savages would have in their town.

        Pearl primarily serves the role of silently urging Dimmesdale to overcome the pressures to conform to society, and to allow his guilty inner-self to emerge and receive retribution for his sins. She exists as a constant and living reminder and product of the sin Hester and Dimmesdale committed, and acknowledges the false innocence Dimmesdale tries so desperately to maintain. Her inquisition, "Why does he not wear [a scarlet letter] outside his bosom as thou dost?" (ch 16) to her mother concerning Dimmesdale is evidence of this. Pearl has no chance to conform to society because at birth she is regarded

Hester’s battle with herself can only be understood by taking a glimpse into her daily life with her beloved daughter, Pearl. Pearl is the physical manifestation of her sin, of the adultery that Hester committed with her secret lover; with every waking hour, Pearl is always alongside Hester, constantly reminding Hester of her transgression. Whenever Hester sees Pearl, she sees a young and energetic girl, who also possesses the same attributes that she loathes about herself, the difficult and wild side of herself that would never give up. Hawthorne writes that Pearl, “lacked reference and adaptation to the world into which she was born. [Pearl] could not be made amenable to rules” (Hawthorne

Hester and Dimmesdale aren’t all too different. They are both parents to Pearl, and they both committed adultery. Hester and Dimmesdale are both kind people with hearts that could never