The Transgression Of Disgrace In Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter

Guilt and shame haunt all three of the main characters in The Scarlet Letter, but how they each handle their sin will change their lives forever. Hester Prynne’s guilt is publicly exploited. She has to live with her shame for the rest of her life by wearing a scarlet letter on the breast of her gown. Arthur Dimmesdale, on the other hand, is just as guilty of adultery as Hester, but he allows his guilt to remain a secret. Instead of telling the people of his vile sin, the Reverend allows it to eat away at his rotting soul. The shame of what he has done slowly kills him. The last sinner in this guilty trio is Rodger Chillingworth. This evil man not only hides his true identity as Hester’s husband, but also mentally torments

In the beginning of the story, Hester leaves the prison with the scarlet letter etched on to her clothing. From then on, she is looked down at. The “A” stitched onto her clothes stands for adultery, which was a huge sin in the Puritan society back then. Since she left the prison holding her baby along with the scarlet imprinted on her, she has been facing the consequences severely. The hatred people showed towards her was quite horrid. Also, it seems that the rest of the town envies her for the crime. they think she didn’t get a big enough penalty and that she is very beautiful. All the people, mainly women, envy her. This doesn't help her with her problem. It only adds on to the intensity of it all. People avoided her; they judged her. She was quite isolated. Even her own daughter didn't get along with her at times. As time passed, however, she grew strong. All the things that life threw at her changed her for the better. She conquered many challenges, in my opinion. She got through all that was given to her. She took all of the blame, when she really shouldn’t of had. I think that a huge moment that helped form Hester into who she is today was that time when her and Dimmesdale were together and he apologized to her. I think this is very important because it shows that Hester is able to forgive. He did not take blame for his crime. He left Hester to suffer the consequences alone, when really, he should have been by her side every step of the way. This event showed how

Instead of confessing to the community, Dimmesdale, to try and seek forgiveness in another way than confessing, tortures himself to the brink of death. Whilst talking to Hester in the forest, Dimmesdale says: “Had I one friend, —or were it my worst enemy! —to whom, when sickened with the praises of all other men, I could daily betake myself, and be known as the vilest of all sinners, methinks my soul might keep itself alive thereby. Even thus much of truth would save me! But now, it is all falsehood! —all emptiness! —all death!” (288-289). Dimmesdale is depressed in the way that the only thing keeping him alive is his sin. Hester after seven years, is seen as a sort of hero in the community, which is shown when the town calls her “our Hester” (244). Dimmesdale is not able to confess and be forgiven, in relation to Hester already being forgiven and living a relatively decent life. Dimmesdale also must look to other methods for forgiveness while Hester lives with a static punishment. Dimmesdale physically whips himself to attempt to achieve forgiveness, he also does not have anyone to counsel about his feelings, which leads to much depression. Dimmesdale also must deal with physical and mental pain, while Hester deals with

Secrets can destroy even the most respected people. Sometimes is not the secret itself that drives people into exhaustion, but the emotional baggage that comes with it. In Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter, Reverend Dimmesdale physically deteriorates because of his guilt caused by a dishonorable sin. The Puritan society in which the story is set discourages the idea of the private self, which Hawthorne shows by creating distinctions between the characters’ private and public lives, specifically Dimmesdale’s.

Dimmesdale, before the Scarlet letter, was a most beloved Reverend, but after the Scarlet letter, it wasn't that simple. After Dimmesdale commits adultery, he faces isolation from the townspeople, who all think he is innocent. With the townspeople, the isolation is more of an internal thing within Dimmesdale. As their pastor, Dimmesdale is still responsible for their preaching; so while The whole town is condemning Hester, they are getting their spiritual fill ups from the other person in need of equal condemnation. Dimmesdale is forced to put up a facade of his emotions from his townspeople so they will not grow suspicious. The quote "No man for any considerable period can wear one face to himself and another to the multitude, without finally getting bewildered as to which may be the true."(145). Shows that Dimmesdale will eventually come out but, even after he admits to the adultery, the people to not believe it to be true.

Reverend Dimmesdale was a renowned, prideful man stricken with sin and extreme guilt.  From the time Hester and Dimmesdale made love, he was grievous of his sin but he also felt a great love towards her.  Dimmesdale's stubborn pride troubled him greatly, and although he tried many times, he could not confess his sin to his religious followers.  Dimmesdale felt guilt so strongly that he scourged himself on his breast and patterned an “A” into his own flesh, yet he could not confess his sin until his grief grew so great it caused him to perish.  Reverend Dimmesdale's sin was greater than Hester's because he let his pride conflict with his repentance, and let his life be ruined by his anguish.

As the story continues, Hester Prynne continues to be plagued by guilt and embarrassment. Every look from a fellow citizen seems to make the scarlet letter burn on her chest. Throughout all this though, Hester Prynne remains true to herself and becomes stronger because of all her trials. Reverend Dimmesdale on the other hand, becomes weaker and weaker

In The Scarlet Letter, Nathaniel Hawthorne exhibits how three very unique characters are evidently brought together by the sins that they have perpetrated and how they manage to perform acts of atonement in the puritanical Boston society. Hester Prynne sins by committing the shocking transgression of adultery. Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale, who as well engages in adultery with Hester, abandons her and their daugher because of his own cowardice and hypocrisy. Roger Chillingworth grows to become a maleficent being who tries to corrupt the very soul of Reverend Dimmesdale. Although Hester Prynne and Arthur Dimmesdale do sin greatly, it is Roger Chillingworth who sins to the most ferocious degree.

Carissa Larriuz Mrs. Gordon English 11 29 April 2018 The Value of Shame In modern culture, it is often used as a great threat and punishment to be “publicly shamed,” multiple judges of the court even sentence this as a punishment. When the term is used loosely, it appears an inappropriate alternative to jail time, yet when speculated closely, public shame is in some ways worse than being put away in a cell. This can be argued due to the behavior spectators display with involvement in the situation firsthand. I believe that although in some cases public shame could be excessive and not fit the ‘crime’ correctly, that public shaming is an effective and influential form of punishment for certain crimes.

Hester’s selflessness shows in this because she willingly gives up her life for the sake of Dimmesdale’s. Along with ruining her image for the sake of Dimmesdale’s, Hester Prynne’s selflessness is also shown when she provides him with comfort. Dimmesdale has been majorly impacted as a result of keeping this sin inside of him. He has begun to go crazy and spirals downhill because of his lack of courage and honesty with rest of the town. Upon seeing this side of Dimmesdale, Hester immediately sympathizes for him and tells him that “(t)hou art crushed under this seven years’ weight of misery” (178).

Hester Prynne’s ability to sustain her stability and strength of spirit is the express result of her public guilt and penance. She was Arthur Dimmesdale’s partner in adultery, but she is used by Hawthorne as a complete foil to his situation. Unlike Dimmesdale, Hester is both strong and honest. Walking out of prison at the beginning of the novel, she decides that she must “sustain and carry” her burden forward “by the ordinary resources of her nature, or sink with it. She could no longer borrow from the future to help her through the present grief” (54). Hester openly acknowledges her sin to the public, and always wears her scarlet letter A. In the forest scene, she explains to Dimmesdale that she has been truthful in all things except in revealing his part in her pregnancy. “A lie is never good, even though death threaten on the other side” (133). Even Dimmesdale himself realizes that Hester’s situation is much healthier than his own when he states, “It must needs be better for the sufferer to be free to show his pain, as this poor woman Hester is, than to cover it all up in his heart” (92-93). This life of public shame and repentance, although bitter, lonely, and difficult, helps Hester retain her true identity while Dimmesdale seems to be losing his.

To start off, public shaming can cause harmful effects that can be long lasting and many people think it should not be a punishment that is used in the justice system for criminals. There are a few reasons why public shaming is bad. It can negatively affect job opportunities, the victim might not stop committing the crimes, and it can cause social and emotional problems. There is a lot of controversy with public shaming. Some people think it is a good punishment and others think it is wrong. Public shaming negatively affects people and should not be used to punish criminals.

There were different interpretations of how to react and how to respond to Hester’s sin committed. Additionally, different characters dealt with their own sins in different ways. Hester payed hers publicly, she stood on the scaffold with her young daughter and wore the “A” everyday, without ever complaining. However, on the other hand, Dimmesdale kept his sin secret until the last little section of the book. He dealt with them privately, by hurting himself physically and going through so much emotional pain.

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.

Guilt, shame, and penitence are just a few of the emotions that are often associated with a great act of sin. Mr. Arthur Dimmesdale, a highly respected minister of a 17th century Puritan community, is true example of this as he was somehow affected by all of these emotions after committing adultery. Due to the seven years of torturous internal struggle that finally resulted in his untimely death, Mr. Dimmesdale is the character who suffered the most throughout Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter. Mr. Dimmesdale’s ever present guilt and boundless penance cause him an ongoing mental struggle of remorse and his conscience as well as deep physical pain from deprivation and self inflicted wounds. The external influence of the members of