The Double Life Exposed in The Scarlet Letter Essay

In Nathanial Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter, the deceptive Roger Chillingworth could most certainly be considered a morally ambiguous character. Throughout the novel, Roger Chillingworth everlastingly remains misleading as to whether he lies on the side of good or evil. Even at the end of The Scarlet Letter, the knowledge of Roger Chillingworth is extremely nebulous. The mysterious Roger Chillingworth, although ultimately emanating to be evil, attests to be a challenge when determining his morality. Roger Chillingworth attempts to beguile us by enacting the role of a physician, and ensconces his relationship with Hester Prynne. He lives with Arthur Dimmesdale, vindicating that he is serving Arthur Dimmesdale a helpful medicine, while

In his book, The Scarlet Letter, Nathaniel Hawthorne tells of a story where a young woman has had an adulterous relationship with a respected priest in a Puritan community. Typical of Hawthorne's writings is the use of imagery and symbolism. In Chapter 12, The Minister's Vigil, there are several uses of imagery when Dimmesdale, the priest, is battling with confessing his sin, which has plagued him for seven years. Three evident techniques used to personify symbolism in this chapter are the use of darkness versus light, the use of inner guilt versus confession, and lastly the use of colors (black versus white).

In The Scarlet Letter Hypocrisy is evident everywhere. The characters of Hester, Dimmesdale, Chillingworth, and the very society that the characters lived in, were steeped in hypocrisy. Hawthorne was not subtle in his portrayal of the terrible sin of hypocrisy; he made sure it was easy to see the sin at work , at the same time however, parallels can be drawn between the characters of The Scarlet Letter and of today’s society.

The Scarlet Letter Introduction The Scarlet Letter is a classic tale of sin, punishment, and revenge. It was written in 1850 by the famous American author Nathaniel Hawthorne. It documents the lives of three tragic characters, each of whom suffer greatly because of his or her sins. Shot Plot The story begins with Hester Prynne, a resident of a small Puritan community, being led from the town jailhouse to a public scaffold where she must stand for three hours as punishment for adultery. She must also wear a scarlet A on her dress for the rest of her life as part of her punishment. As she is led to the scaffold, many of the women in the crowd complain that

A common theme throughout literature is religion and how the author feels about his or her faith. Nathaniel Hawthorne uses rhetorical devices to draw comparisons between characters and events in The Scarlet Letter and Biblical figures and accounts. A few of the devices found in this novel that connect it to the Bible are symbolism, paradox, allusions, and characterization. It is important to first look at the characters and how they are described through characterization.

“Reality is easy. Deception that's the hard the hard work” -Lauryn Hill. In the novel the Scarlet Letter, Nathaniel Hawthorne uses literary elements such as symbolism, irony and conflict to show deception and secrecy can lead to self-destruction. This relates to the Scarlet Letter because in the book the protagonist character commits an act of sin that was more than just frowned upon. Not only does the community gossip and turn their cheek to the sinner but a sickness comes along from keeping a secret from the community.

"Life is hard, but accepting that fact makes it easier." This common phrase clearly states a harsh fact that Rev. Dimmesdale, a character in Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter, had to face. In this story of deception and adultery set in the Puritan era, Hawthorne introduces Dimmesdale as a weak and cowardly man who refuses to take responsibility for his actions.  The Rev. Dimmesdale is a transitional character in that he is, at the beginning of the novel, outwardly good but inwardly deceitful and by the end of the novel he becomes both outwardly and inwardly truthful.

In the fictional novel The Scarlet Letter, the contrast between public and private truth is made quite clear. The three main characters of this book make perfect examples of this overarching theme. The characters in this book are the pastor Mr. Dimmesdale, the doctor Roger Chillingworth, and the adulteress Hester Prynne. First, Mr. Dimmesdale, who seems like devout clergyman to the public, has a big secret that could get him killed if it were made known. Next, Roger Chillingworth, a harmless doctor in the eyes of the public, is actually a man on an evil and vengeful mission. Finally, Hester Prynne’s public truth is that she is unimportant outcast while in private the complete opposite is true. In conclusion, Mr. Dimmesdale, Roger Chillingworth, and Hester Prynne all are prime examples of the theme, public versus private truth, that Hawthorne tries to convey in The Scarlet Letter.

Dimmesdale uses hypocrisy as a way of repressing the truth as well as a way of protecting his reputation and deceiving his congregation. Hawthorne uses stylistic elements such as allegorical representation and unconventional perspective to communicate the deceptiveness of hypocrisy and its devastating effects on a person such as arthur Dimmesdale. Who, demonstrated how hypocrisy leads to inner anguish and decay of a once irrefragable identity. Though Arthur impacted his community with powerful sermons about the repercussion of guilt, in the end he couldn't handle it himself. His weakness forced him to succumb to the guilt and hypocrisy. Dimmesdale's demise was the most tragic out of all the lives in the scarlet letter. Easily corrupted his intentions were only benign. Though Nathaniel Hawthorne depicts him as weak and unable the minister only wanted to do right by the eyes of god. Dimmesdale, the most humanized character full of pathos. Sacrificing his own identity to a lifetime of guilt in order to save his beloved congregation. He could have confessed at anytime but was fully aware of the consequences it would bring and the chaos it would unleash upon the society. He maintained a false pretense and an estranged relationship from the woman and child he loved in order to serve

It is said that the physical, mental, and spiritual wellbeing are interconnected among spiritual men. Should the spiritual wellbeing be compromised, through sin or some such disconnect with God, mental and physical health declines. In Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter, a similar degeneration of health, both physical and mental, is undergone by the tortured minister, Mr. Arthur Dimmesdale. Dimmesdale is the secret lover of Hester Prynne, the young, passionate protagonist of the novel. Having sinned, he cannot reveal himself to the townsfolk, and thus is resigned to suffer with it himself for years. His subconscious guilt is constantly agitated by Roger Chillingworth, and as he becomes more and more guilt-ridden, he becomes untrusting and frail, melancholy and beaten. His mental and spiritual health diminish to the point of his untimely death in the finale of the book. Indeed, The Scarlet Letter is a psychological novel, illustrating the steady dissolution of Arthur Dimmesdale from a healthy, young, and enthused minister to a frail, sickly, and defeated shadow of his former self due to his inability to cope with his actions.

The setting of Nathaniel Hawthorne’s “The Scarlet letter” is crucial to the understanding of the event that takes place in the story. The setting of the story is in Salem, Massachusetts during the Puritan era. During the Puritan era, adultery was taken as a very serious sin, and this is what Hester and Dimmesdale committ with each other. Because of the sin, their lives change, Hester has to walk around in public with a Scarlet Letter “A” which stands for adultery, and she is constantly being tortured and is thought of as less than a person. Dimmesdale walks around with his sin kept as secret, because he never admits his sin, his mental state is changing, and the sin degrades his well-being. Chillingworth

Theology and Human Qualities Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter explores the elaborate theocracies of a seventeenth-century Puritan town in which the character Hester Prynne resides. Hawthorne suggests that human nature and its ability to make mistakes are caused by humanity’s innately imperfect nature. He shows the disbalance of power towards Puritan religious leaders as they control and shame those whose mistakes become visible. If one does not stay within the socially constructed borders, he or she becomes a threat to Puritan social order.

The Puritan society lived strictly by the laws of God, as depicted in the Bible. If one was to break a law, in their minds, one had disobeyed the word of God. They believed they were ‘pure’ people that could not succumb to such blasphemy as other people may have. They were often self-righteous in condemning the people they considered to be sinners, as they were in fact sinners themselves. In The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne, the hypocrisy of the Puritan society is exemplified through the actions of Dimmesdale, and the society’s interactions with Hester and Mistress Hibbins.

A major universal idea that touches upon every part of The Scarlet Letter is the feeling of hypocrisy. Displayed on the board is a black mask, which represents how characters had two sides throughout the story. Not only were characters such as Dimmesdale, Chillingworth, and Hester hiding a secret from others in the novel, but dramatic irony happened various times. The three clothespins in the middle of the board have a baby invitation, a heart, and a cross hanging which represents how everything could quickly be dropped and changed for the worse within the blink of an eye, The baby invitation that says “Welcome to the world baby Pearl” which symbolizes how Pearl being born proves that Dimmesdale is a hypocrite. The heart symbolizes how Hester

Claire Butler Ms. Aldana American Literature Period F 21 November 24, 2014 Hypocrisy in the Scarlet Letter The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne takes place in the seventeenth century in Puritan Boston. It is a story about Hester Prynne, and how she deals with committing adultery. Hester was originally married to man she did not love, and was forced to prepare her life with him in Massachusetts.