According to Hawthorne, the consequence of sin is mental deterioration as represented by Reverend Dimmesdale. Dimmesdale is a priest that has committed a vile crime, although only a scanty amount of people know about it. Dimmesdale has not publically announced his sin, which in turn worsens his mental health due to guilt. Dimmesdale stood in front of the town when his past lover, Hester, was being publically humiliated and never uttered a word, only placed “his hand upon his heart” (59). The consequence of not admitting his immoral sin was ultimate guilt.
I believe Dimmesdale did enough for forgiveness because in the end of the story, he stood on the scaffold with Hester and Pearl. In the Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne in chapter 23 Hawthorne states; “Hester Prynne," cried he, with a piercing earnestness, "in the name of Him, so terrible and so merciful, who gives me grace, at this last moment, to do what--for my own heavy sin and miserable agony--I withheld myself from doing seven years ago, come hither now, and twine thy strength about me! Thy strength, Hester; but let it be guided by the will which God hath granted me! This wretched and wronged old man is opposing it with all his might!--with all his own might, and the fiend's! Come, Hester--come!
In The Scarlet Letter, by Nathaniel Hawthorne, adulteress Hester Prynne must wear a scarlet A to mark her shame. Her lover, Arthur Dimmesdale, remains unidentified and is wracked with guilt, while her husband, Roger Chillingworth who seeks revenge. In June 1642, A young woman named Hester Prynne was found guilty of adultery in the Puritan town of Boston. Then a crowd gathered to witness the punishment and now she must wear a scarlet A on her dress as a sign of shame.
Erin Joel Mrs. Janosy English 2H P 5 22 October 2015 Quote Explication Dimmesdale is trying to overcome a conflict within his own soul, defying his own religion, and choosing to do wrong by keeping his sin to himself. In a theocracy type community like Dimmesdale's, God is known as the supreme civil ruler, and a crime would be known as a sin. On the other hand, Hester’s sin was made known to the public, receiving the public shame and ridicule she deserved. During the duration of time when the public knew Dimmesdale was hiding his sin, “the agony with which this public tortured him” (Hawthorne 119).
The driving maxim of the story, “The Scarlet Letter,” is that recognising and dealing with our weaknesses makes us stronger. Hester Prynne embraces her scarlet letter and her child, the symbols of her sin, and in turn it allows her to grow and be embraced by the townspeople. Reverend Dimmesdale, however, keeps his sin concealed within him, his guilt consumes him and only made him weaken throughout the years to the point of his death. The town as a whole is portrayed to be a negative place, and only becomes better, seeming when they embrace the town adulterer, Hester, not as a sin, but as an able member of the community.
Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter is a novel that focuses on sin in the Puritan society. Hawthorne revolves the theme around the four main characters Hester Prynne, Arthur Dimmesdale, Roger Chillingworth., and Pearl. Hester Prynne is forced to wear the scarlet letter ‘A’ after committing adultery against her husband Roger Chillingworth, with the minister Arthur Dimmesdale. As a result an odd child is born.
Thesis: Dimmesdale, a naturally “dim” individual, neither has moral strength nor courage to face the consequences of his sin. I. Dimmesdale is completely “dim”, or unaware of Chillingworth’s true intentions toward him. A. Dimmesdale is continually tormented by guilt that is exacerbated by Chillingworth’s wicked, prying heart. B. Chillingworth harbors suspicions that Dimmesdale is Pearl’s father, and uses the friendly relationship he has with Dimmesdale to increase Dimmesdale’s mental anguish. II.
Within Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter, antagonist Hester Prynne is subjected to the opinions and treatment of 17th century’s Massachusetts Bay Colony as a result of her sinful act of adultery. In the Puritan colony, it was important to be faithful, both to thine spouse, and most importantly, to God. Hester’s adultery issued her public ridicule and shunning, and a physical reminder to be forever worn; an embroidered ‘A’ placed upon her bosom. The symbol served to alert all of her faithless act, “It had the affect of a spell, taking her out of the ordinary relations with humanity and enclosing her in a sphere by herself” (page 74). Throughout the novel, Hester’s treatment is obvious, and she makes many efforts to not let her choice, and her illegitimate child Pearl, define her.
Does lying to a community make a person feel better as a sinner? Does acting to a community help hide one’s true self? Arthur Dimmesdale, a hypocrite, depends on lying to survive. He loves but cannot show it in public; he is depressed but tries to hide his pain within his sermons. In Nathaniel Hawthorne’s
In 1964, Lawrence Kohlberg, a psychologist introduced the idea that humans evolved through different stages of morality. In the novel, The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne male characters exemplify a moral development as the story unfolds. In particular, Arthur Dimmesdale’s morality differs from the beginning of the novel to the ending of the novel. His morality undergoes continuity and change by constantly changing from selfishness, social order, and social contract. Dimmesdale undergoes the morality maintaining the social order and being considerate of others to eventually being selfish and only thinks about himself.
The book “The Scarlet Letter” by Nathaniel Hawthorne is a complex novel that has underlying themes of sin and the responsibility for sin. The novel takes place in a Puritanical society, but two people, Hester Prynne and Arthur Dimmesdale, fornicate with each other, even though Hester is married to someone else. Only Hester is punished, so Dimmesdale keeps his guilt inside, not revealing it to anyone. Hester’s husband, Chillingworth, then proceeds to ruin Hester’s partner in crime, corrupting his soul and being the ultimate cause for his death. Hester, on the other hand, leads a relatively happy life after she had repented for her sin.
The definition of guilt is defined as a feeling you have done wrong or failed an obligation, now imagine feeling that way for seven years. In The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne one of the main characters sits on secrets, lies and sins for almost a decade. Arthur Dimmesdale lives with a guilty conscience for not taking responsibility for his actions. He watches the woman he loves become outcasted by society and permanently branded. Dimmesdale’s health takes a turn for the worst, which puts him at death’s door for most of the novel.
Other characters that share some common points would be Arthur Dimmesdale and Billy Flynn. They have been able to manipulate their words to influence the crowds and have them believe whatever they tell them. In The Scarlet Letter, Dimmesdale used double entendre to give his confession about his acts of adultery to the people of the puritan community. To everyone in the crowd, it sounded like he was saying words to encourage the adulterer to come out but he was saying how he’d do it again with Hester. He had been visiting Hester at night for awhile and continued to lead on the community that he was innocent but he’s actually hurting from pain he’s selfinclicting.
When encountered with a woman charged with adultery, Jesus proclaimed, “Let any one of you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her” (John 8:7). As no man is truly without sin, humans cannot justly punish them for sins without holy guidance. They can, however, worsen their own sin to the point of being irredeemable. in The Scarlet Letter, by Nathaniel Hawthorne, Arthur Dimmesdale’s sin was the most unholy and dangerous of all those presented in the novel.
The Scarlet Letter is a romantic novel by Hawthorne Nathaniel. The novel is set at the time of Romanticism in America in the 17th century. The setting is Boston and the Puritan community. The Puritans are very intolerant of others, very strict and they have highly religious believes. One of the protagonists of the novel is Hester Prynne, who commits an adultery sin and society punished her by wearing a letter “A” and her daughter Pearl who is more a “living” symbol acts as a constant reminder of Hester and her father’s sin.
