The Scarlett 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

The first most important scene is in the beginning of the book when Hester is introduced and when her sin is described. The sin she committed was adultery. For committing this sin, she must stand on a scaffold outside of the prison holding her baby in her arms while the Puritan women judge and shame her. The women are

Dimmesdale who is one of the main character in the Scarlet letter by Nathaniel hawthorne, appeared to be sick and haved sinned. Dimmesdale and hester prynne both have commit the sin adultery. Hester was punished but Dimmesdale had hid his sin for only Hester knew until her husband came and found out.

Hester Prynne is the main character of the book. She is still young when she has her child, Pearl. She is a strong and determined, and uses her past sin, and the “A” as something to learn from rather than something to be ashamed of. After the shame of getting the “A,” she moved into the outskirts of town and became a seamstress. The way she was able to move on from her sin and continue her life, even after being scorned and

Dimmesdale as an individual and through his secret actions symbolize how self-centered and egotistical he is. Both Dimmesdale and Hester committed adultery, but Hester was the one who got all the hatred and disrespect from everyone in the Puritan town. She went through some awful situations with the scarlet letter, and it changed her so much. While she was going through all this pain, Dimmesdale was hiding his sins. This was a selfish act by Dimmesdale towards Hester and Pearl, but not admitting the sin bit him right in the butt. He was torturing himself and receiving physical pain in various ways; he whipped himself, stared at the mirror for periods of time, and starved himself. Even though he didn’t reveal his sin to the public, his heart was still “making itself guilty of such secrets” (127). He felt very guilty for the agony that Hester has been through. She has experienced hatred from herself mentally and from the Puritan people verbally. He didn’t want the people to treat him like they treated Hester; he loves how he gets respect from the townspeople. The only pain he has received was from himself mentally and physically, but not verbal and emotional pain like Hester. He doesn’t want to experience those dreadful moments that she had gone through. This action proves to the readers how Arthur Dimmesdale symbolizes self-centered

While wallowing in his own self grief and guilt in secrecy, Dimmesdale continuously weakens himself. The effect which hypocrisy of sin and guilt has on Dimmesdale is uncovered throughout thorough description of the self harm and mental abuse he puts himself through. Hawthorne describes the effect on Dimmesdale stating, “Poor, miserable man! what right had infirmity like his to burden itself with crime? Crime is for the iron-nerved...This feeble and most sensitive of spirits could do neither..” (129-130). In the Puritan society, sin is comparable to a crime which seems to tear Dimmesdale’s already weak soul to shreds. Hawthorne clearly reveals that Dimmesdale is not the type of man who can handle the intensity of crime/sin. He is so afraid of the community’s judgement and rejection, that he cannot even begin to process how difficult managing the sin in secrecy is going to be for him. Dimmesdale’s “feeble and most sensitive” spirit, is completely contrary to Hester’s spirit of great resiliency. While Hester stands upon the scaffold bearing the harsh shame of the Puritan society, she shows her true character and the lack of frailty in her soul. Hester stands proud and tall, holding her daughter Pearl tight to her bosom and remains accountable for her adultery while standing in front of

Being the unknown father of Hester Prynne’s daughter, Pearl, he blatantly ignores the dark secret of his act of adultery. He does this because of his higher social status as the reverend. The people praised and worshipped him by saying, “QUOTE ABOUT SOCIETY PRAISING DIMMESDALE”. Even though readers appear to think that game may be a good thing, Hawthorne illustrates how the the actions of the church members negatively affect Dimmesdale. Accordingly, Dimmesdale’s sermons grow more empowering because of his personal experience with sinning.

“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 charge thee to speak out the name of thy fellow-sinner and fellow-sufferer!” (Hawthorne 62). Dimmesdale feels it is best for Hester to reveal his identity to the Puritan society, so they can suffer the punishment of sin together. However, Dimmesdale’s lack of courage-- and Hester's loyalty to him-- prevents the truth of the sin from being revealed. Consequently, Dimmesdale deals with a heavy weight of guilt throughout the book.

The Scarlet Letter, a novel written by Nathaniel Hawthorne, deals with adultery, sin, and morals. The main character, Hester Primm, commits adultery with Reverend Dimmsdale. A child is born from this sin. Hester is left to raise her child on her own due to Dimmsdales pride and ego. Hester's daughter, Pearl, is a symbol for everything under the sun.

While her husband was doing his business in England, Hester has an affair with a man of her age, Arthur Dimmesdale. She has a baby that she called Pearl, but it obviously becomes public, and soon the whole city knows it. The unfair woman is exposed on a scaffold in her city so she is ashamed of what she did and to warn people

Dimmesdale delivers a wonder sermon on the town’s election day, but as unfortunately for him, the bad things keep snowballing. Dimmesdale takes Hester by the hand and brings her up on a familiar scaffold with him, and he finally confesses his sin of committing adultery with Hester. Dimmesdale then reveals a scarlet letter “A” on his chest, put there by himself or as a sign from God, therefore revealing his shame and guilt by letting everyone see. Shortly after, while still on the scaffold, he dies. Dimmesdale may have had a lot of bumps in the road on his journey through life, but did he end by doing the right thing. By bringing Hester up on the scaffold with to finally confess his sin he finally practices what he has preached that those who sin must be punished, thus the scarlet letter. It also shows, although not displayed at the beginning of the story because of his cowardness to confess sooner, that Dimmesdale is courageous enough to display his wrong doings to the public instead of hiding it furthermore. Dimmesdale had his ups and downs throughout life, but did still prove that he was a man of God and stood by his

The first major scene in Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter is the first few sceness of the book. Here, in the first few scene, we are introduced to everything that we need to know about this novel. We establish our main characters, Hester Prynne, Hester 's daughter Pearl, Reverend Arthur

In the beginning of the book Hester Prynne is standing upon a scaffold in front of the whole town with an infant

Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter captures the power of unrepented guilt and its ability to dominate the thoughts and actions of an individual. The destructive influence of guilt manifests itself through the suffering of Arthur Dimmesdale, a highly respected Puritan minister who is guilty of committing adultery with Hester Prynne. As a consequence of their illicit affair, Hester gives birth to their daughter Pearl, who serves as a living reminder of their crime. Although Dimmesdale’s sin remains undisclosed to the public, he is repeatedly tormented by Hester’s former husband, Roger Chillingworth, and falls victim to the mental anguish brought about by his guilty conscience. The minister continually attempts to atone for his sin and

First of all, the story is wonderful because a marriage has to be for the rest of your life, and if the main talk in a marriage is money and food, the relationship is not going to exist more.