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Dimmesdale's Chest Symbolism In Scarlet Letter

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The Red Mark on Dimmesdale’s Chest In the Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne what was Dimmesdale’s mark, and what caused him to constantly put his hand over his heart? The red mark on Dimmesdale’s chest represents the same thing Hester’s scarlet letter did. The red mark on Dimmesdale’s chest represents adultery in the beginning, guilt in the middle, and pain and death in the end. The stressor that made Dimmesdale feel worse was Hester’s first husband Chillingworth. Hester who was caught committing adultery was condemned with standing on a scaffolding with a scarlet letter A the rest of her life. Though the male adulterer was never caught Hester’s husband Chillingworth sought out to make this person's life a living hell. This person was …show more content…

Dimmesdale and Hester met in the woods and planned to run away together after Hester told Dimmesdale about Chillingworth being the husband. After they agreed, and they left the forest, he become even darker. Wanting to create pain and havoc wherever he went. He almost felt freer of not needing to hide his sin from everyone anymore. When their plan was finally in effect the ship to take them to England was inhabited by Old Roger Chillingworth who looked terrible now. By this time Chillingworth’s sin is almost as bad as Dimmesdale’s. Dimmesdale has prepared a sermon for everyone to hear for the New England Holiday. Hester and Pearl stood on the scaffold which after the sermon was over Dimmesdale also ended up. Dimmesdale said “At last- at last!- I stand upon the spot where, seven years since, I should have stood, here, with this woman, whose arm, more than a little strength wherewith I have crept hitherward, sustains me at this dreadful moment, from grovelling down upon my face!” (Hawthorne 153). He admitted everything to all the people and stood with Hester and Pearl on the scaffold. He told Chillingworth, who didn’t want him to confess because he would lose all his power, that his sin was also great. Pearl give Dimmesdale a kiss before he died from guilt, and the people couldn’t believe their favorite clergymen had committed adultery. The people then realized in his flesh a scarlet

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361 Words | 2 Pages

Dimmesdale and Chillingworth both have secrets that make them look and act differently, their secrets affect their character and how they do their job. Dimmesdale is the father of Pearl but he doesn 't want to face the same humiliation as Hester did for his sins. Because of his secret he self punishes and fasts, he also preaches better than he did before although his health is failing. Chillingworth’s secret is that he was the husband of Hester while he was away, before she cheated on him. Chillingworth gets uglier and uglier driven by the need to get revenge on Pearl’s father.

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285 Words | 2 Pages

Chillingworth came to Boston to dig up who impregnated Hester. He seemed to have very little interest in Hester, his main goal was to find out the truth about Pearl’s father. As he does this, he twists the mind of Reverend Dimmesdale and becomes toxic. He becomes obsessed with trying to get vengeance on Dimmesdale for impregnating Hester. As the years go on, even the physical

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561 Words | 3 Pages

Everyone comes across something in their life that speaks to them--a symbol as it will be called. In the book, The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne, there are many symbols, but there is one that really stands out above the rest, and that is the mark on Dimmesdale’s chest. The Scarlet Letter’s primary focus is on the life of Hester Prynne, who had an affair with someone and was accused of the crime and forced to wear a scarlet letter A for the rest of her life. The mark on Arthur Dimmesdale’s chest (although it was never truly stated what the mark actually was) can be seen as guilt in physical form which slowly begins to show over time.

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1158 Words | 5 Pages

In Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter, Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale commits a mortal sin by having an affair with a married woman, Hester Prynne. As a man of the cloth in Puritan society, Dimmesdale is expected to be the embodiment of the town’s values. He becomes captive to a self-imposed guilt that manifests from affair and his fear that he won’t meet the town’s high expectations of him. In an attempt to mitigate this guilt, Dimmesdale acts “piously” and accepts Chillingworth’s torture, causing him to suffer privately, unlike Hester who repented in the eyes of the townspeople. When Dimmesdale finally reveals his sin to the townspeople, he is able to free himself from his guilt.

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1227 Words | 5 Pages

Hester can wear her scarlet letter in public, and has adjusted enough to continue living a normal life. Dimmesdale, on the other hand, lives in secret with his scarlet letter affecting him more every day. He envies how Hester has managed to embrace her scarlet letter, while his guilt is only increasing. At one point, Dimmesdale feels so much envy that he says, “Happy are you, Hester, that wear the scarlet letter openly upon your bosom! Mine burns in secret!

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1464 Words | 6 Pages

Dimmesdale’s guilt from the sin he executed, is not known to anyone besides, Roger Chillingworth and Hester. He is in panic and terror at all moments that the Puritans will discover the sin he has done. Being in such an important position in the Puritan lifestyle, as a minister, he knows the consequences for which his sin will make if publicized. He tries multiple methods to try and rid himself of the guilt. Whenever he feels threatened by the guilt he places “His hand upon his heart,” (65).

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573 Words | 3 Pages

Dimmesdale is the biggest jerk of The Scarlet Letter. From the beginning of the book, Dimmesdale is a hypocrite. Although it is implied that he preaches against premarital sex as a Puritan pastor, Dimmesdale commits adultery with Hester. After getting Hester pregnant, he avoids visiting Hester and his daughter for seven years.

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555 Words | 3 Pages

Dimmesdale's guilt overtakes him. With the stress from the congregation viewing him as someone who is "holier-than-thou", and Mr. Chillingworth bating him, he becomes conflicted with his feelings of sinfulness and feels the need to keep this a secret from the congregation. The more his guilt overtakes him, the better his sermons got. Because he is so overwhelmed with remorse and shame his sermons have become famous. he connects more with the audience because he believes that he is more sinful than they are.

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707 Words | 3 Pages

Pearl.” (Hawthorne 248). When urging Pearl and Hester to join him, Dimmesdale redeemed himself of his sin while upon the scaffold a second time. As Dimmesdale, Hester, and Pearl ascended the scaffold, Chillingworth urged the reverend to not confess and live the rest of his life with this sin “followed. . .

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523 Words | 3 Pages

Dimmesdale changes his views on the repentance of sin throughout the The Scarlet Letter, especially during the beginning, when he is in denial; middle, when Chillingworth makes Dimmesdale turn obsessive of his sin; and end, when

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978 Words | 4 Pages

Now, in Chapter 12 after dealing with Chillingworth's remarks and hate towards Dimmesdale, he is evidently fed up with his presence. As he, Hester, and Pearl are on the scaffold and Pearl points towards Chillingsworth. He makes this remark toward Hester, “ ‘Who is that man, Hester?’...’I shiver at him! Dost thou know the man? I hate him, Hester!’

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878 Words | 4 Pages

Hester and Dimmesdale each are equivalent in the sin that they commit, but their lives and fates are different because Hester had to repent for her crimes while Dimmesdale bottled up his guilt inside. The indirect result of Dimmesdale’s concealment of the truth was Chillingworth’s torture, which played a large role in Dimmesdale’s untimely death. Chillingworth snapped when Hester did not reveal Dimmesdale’s crimes. Hester, in part, helped Dimmesdale in

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796 Words | 4 Pages

The Consequences of Sin Sin is defined as “an offense against religious or moral law”. The idea of sin and being ostracized for your sins was extremely relevant during the Puritan period when religion was the greatest component of daily life. The Puritans believed that they had entered a covenant with God and therefore any sin, such as crime and adultery were considered a breach of their covenant with God. This view led to the church punishing people who committed sin in order for God not to punish the church as a whole. The consequences and effects of sin is shown through the character development in Nathaniel Hawthorne’s, The Scarlet Letter.

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1404 Words | 6 Pages

Because of the effects that Dimmesdale’s sin has on Chillingworth, the town suffers as well. The betrayal of their pastor leads them to refuse to see the truth when he pleads for the public to see his guilt at the end of the novel, and his secrecy from the people that adore him is one of the slyest and vile parts of his sin. The blind faith that the public has in their reverend is mislead by his deceit, which causes his sin to grow to a scale that Hester’s never did. Dimmesdale also harmed Pearl, by not standing with her and Hester on the day they were condemned. When she is grown, she asks, “Doth

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686 Words | 3 Pages

As the moving of story, the “side effect” of the hidden sin has reveal. Dimmesdale become more sick and powerless. As the end of the story, Dimmesdale concede the sin and died as the winner of the fight with hidden sin. Dimmesdale as a combination of saint and sinner, his sin is not committed adultery, but it is that he cannot face the sin and admit it. He wanted to be all perfect in the eyes of the masses, but destroyed his perfectly in the eyes of God.

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