Arthur Dimmesdale; Scarlet Letter In the Scarlet Letter, Hester Prynne is an attractive woman who has jumped into a loveless marriage with a man named Roger Chillingworth. He sends her to America to live in a Boston town however, to her knowledge, he disappears. She is considered to be a widow after two years without any trace of Chillingworth, and finds true love with the Puritan minister, Arthur Dimmesdale. In their passionate affair, they conceive a child named Pearl. The town is infuriated at Hester’s sinfulness and demands to know the father, although Hester refuses to release his identity. Hester’s husband then returns under a false identity and discovers Pearl’s father is Dimmesdale. He uses this knowledge to stay in a close proximity to the poor minister and torture his already guilt-ridden mind. While Hester is branded with her infamous flaming red “A” upon her breast and alienated from everyone, Dimmesdale must suffer in silence with only his secret to keep him company. …show more content…
Puritans did not believe that acting in a moral way or doing good would earn your way into heaven. To them, God predetermines salvation, and those destined to join the Heavenly Kingdom would not commit sins. They were destined to be good and pure. It is clear to the reader that Dimmesdale is devoted to his religious beliefs, and his sermons are described as having an impact on his congregation. However, he believes that while he has taught only good things, his sin is unforgivable and indicates that he is not chosen to go to heaven, that he is
In the 21 century adultery is not considered unacceptable . However in a 16 century Puritan society adultery is a very bad and serious sin. In the novel, The Scarlet Letter, Arthur Dimmesdale is a powerful religious figure in town. Arthur Dimmesdale is a Puritan preacher that committed adultery with Hester Prynne. Dimmesdale went through the whole novel, over the course of seven years, without confessing his sin and it was mentally killing him. Dimmesdale changed from accusatory to Hester to remorseful to god, this change is showed by his use of diction, his purpose of each speech, and his use of appeals.
The Scarlet Letter is a novel about a woman named Hester Prynne that had an affair with a minister named Arthur Dimmesdale and had a baby, which caused Hester’s husband, Roger Chillingworth, which was gone at the time on business, to get revenge on both Hester and Dimmesdale. Chillingworth makes their lives miserable and soon, Hester
Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale, a main character in Nathaniel Hawthorne’s novel The Scarlet Letter, proves to be a sinner against man, against God and most importantly against himself because he has committed adultery with Hester Prynne, resulting in an illegitimate child, Pearl. His sinning against himself, for which he ultimately paid the
In society one is told to be individualistic, but is shamed for acting out of customary behaviors. Customary behaviors include, routines, societal rules, and organized religion. The individual believes they are responsible for their outcomes; although, various factors play into who is responsible for the results. In The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne, Mr. Dimmesdale is a figure of hypocrisy which Hawthorne uses to prove that organized religion has consequences, and to corroborate that Dimmesdale is partially responsible for his actions while the townspeople hold a higher power for forcing him into his actions.
In The Scarlet Letter, Hester Prynne has an affair with Arthur Dimmesdale, a reverend, and becomes pregnant. The townspeople demand to know the name of the father, but Hester, not wanting to destroy Dimmesdale’s reputation, refuses tell them. The punishment she receives is the wearing of a scarlet “A” for adultery on all her garments and public humiliation. Her strong willpower allows her to endure suffering to protect the reverend. Eventually, Hester acknowledges her adultery only after her companion Dimmesdale reveals publicly he is the father of her baby and dies. In The Crucible, John
"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!" said by Arthur Dimmesdale in chapter three . Dimmesdale knew that Hester had a husband that was going to be on the next boat after her. When the townspeople found out about Hester having Pearl he did not say anything about him being the father of Pearl. Dimmesdale ignored Hester and Pearl until he was about to die. Out of Hester, Chillingworth, and Dimmesdale the one who is at most fault is dimmesdale because he knew Hester had a husband, by not telling the townspeople when they found out about Hester having Pearl, and by how he ignores them till he was about to die.
In the story “Scarlet Letter” by Nathaniel Hawthorne there were characteristics and ways that distinguished Hester from Dimmesdale. On pages 68 and 69 Nina Baym made the statement that Dimmesdale depends on the opinion of the society while Hester stands alone throughout her trials and tribulations. If the author put it clear as possible on the situation at hand and the circumstances that favored Dimmesdale more than Hester while she faced her consequences head on while he hid from them. There is a tremendous amount of overloading evidence and information throughout the story proving this statement.
Arthur Dimmesdale in the Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne is one of the most quickly judged characters. Many readers originally dislike the man who Hester cheated on her husband with. Questions arise from his absence in the beginning of the book of why he did not reveal himself or help Hester escape from Salem. When Arthur Dimmesdale is revealed as the man Hester had an affair with, readers may judge him as an evil man. As the book speaks about Arthur’s experience, Hawthorne makes his story so tragic that readers may pity Dimmesdale instead of hating him, based on the evidence that Dimmesdale is physically affected by his sin, how he is being tortured by Hester’s ex-husband, and how he wants to confess but is unable to.
In the same way symbolism strengthens Pearl’s character, the meaning behind Arthur Dimmesdale’s name helps to reveal his personality and identifies his importance to the novel. By carefully observing Dimmesdale’s name, a reader can discover that it is associated with the definition of the words “dim” and “dismal.” The word “dim” connotes Dimmesdale’s weak character and his ignorance to his surroundings. Throughout The Scarlet Letter, Dimmesdale is described as a person without much strength and one that begins to deteriorate at the expense of his hidden guilt. He is a weak character who becomes ill as the story progresses and suffers continual pain; the narrator reveals that “he [is] often observed . . .
A Dreadful Secret An old Scottish proverb reads, “Open confession is good for the soul.” In Nathaniel Hawthorne’s story, The Scarlett Letter, Arthur Dimmesdale was a guilt-ridden man keeping a dark secret. Everyone agrees that Dimmesdale choice about whether to confess his sin was an extremely difficult decision to make, however some believe that he should confess his sin, while others believe that he should not confess. Arthur Dimmesdale was a young and articulate minister serving in a Puritan settlement in the early mid-17th century. He had an adulterous relationship with the married woman he loved, Hester Prynne.
Dimmesdale’s reluctance to confess his crime to his community is the greatest factor of his physical and psychological demise. When Hester and Dimmesdale meet in the woods, she finally explains to him that Chillingworth, the man who had feigned being Dimmesdale’s trusty physician, was in fact her ex-husband. This rattles Dimmesdale, making him feel even more guilty than before. Hester observes him in his current state: “...The frown of this pale, weak, sinful, and sorrow-stricken man was what Hester could not bear, and live!”(161). Hawthorne pairs the adjectives, “pale” and “weak,” with “sinful.”
Hester Prynne and Arthur Dimmesdale are the two main characters in the novel the scarlet letter. As parents to Pearl, the daughter out of adultery, these two go through the journey of shunning and hatred, but not together. Their stories are very different, and yet, so very similar.
In The Scarlet Letter, Hawthorne analyzes Hester, Dimmesdale, and Chillingworth. In the story, Hester is the main character of the story and was called Mistress Prynne (Hawthorne 70). Dimmesdale, in the story was referred to as Reverend Dimmesdale (Hawthorne 90). Chillingworth was originally named, Roger Prynne but later in the story he changed his name to Roger Chillingworth. In the story, Hester committed adultery with Dimmesdale against Chillingworth and in the beginning she got punished and sent to prison and later she got to get out of prison but with the exception of having to wear the letter A on her breast every time she went out in to town.
The scarlet letter is the Puritan’s method of broadcasting Hester’s sin to the world, but it also has an internal effect on Dimmesdale. Puritanism is a strict religion where pleasure is strictly forbidden and is punishable. When Hester Prynne is discovered to have committed adultery, she is forced to wear a scarlet A, which is short for ‘adultery’. When this is first revealed, Hester stands in the jail carrying baby Pearl and, with the people jeering, is asked by Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale if she would tell the world who the Pearl’s father is; Dimmesdale is relieved when the answer is ‘no’– and it is later revealed that Dimmesdale is the father. Over the course of the novel, Dimmesdale’s
After being found guilty of adultery, Hester is forced to wear a scarlet letter “A” on her clothing as a public sign of shame. Her long lost husband, now under a new name to remain unknown, reappears after being presumed lost at sea. With revenge on his mind, a drama explodes around Hester. Over many years, her lover Dimmesdale falls ill and the new town physician Chillingsworth spends many hours by his bedside, only to start believing that Arthur is the father of Pearl, Hester’s out-of-wedlock child. When pleading with Dimmesdale, Hester begs him to leave for Europe so that they can start a new life together. This plan fails when Hester discovers that Chillingsworth is also to be a passenger. Eventually, Dimmesdale dies in Hester’s arms, and losing an opportunity at revenge, Chillingsworth dies shortly after. With a large amount of money left to her, Pearl and her mother relocate to Europe to start a new life (Hawthorne).