More handpicked essays just for you.
The metamorphosis of dimmesdale in the scarlet letter
What were the sins of, dimmesdale in the scarlet letter
The metamorphosis of dimmesdale in the scarlet letter
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
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.
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!
Mentally, his guilt strains his mind, which causes his physical deterioration, and the weakening of his body. As Dimmesdale finally admits his sin to the townspeople, his guilt is lifted, and he is able to release himself from his captivity. Though he deteriorated both mind and body from his guilt, by telling the townspeople of his sin, it was as if “a spell was broken” (238). He no longer needed to force himself to hide his sin, which was what was hurting him. By finally dealing with his sin in a similar way to Hester, Dimmesdale was able to free himself of his self-imposed captivity and
Arthur Dimmesdale has experienced multiple changes during the novel. During the novel, Arthur Dimmesdale has been extremely convicted about the sin he has committed because he hasn't told anyone but Hester about it. Arthur is so extremely convicted that he intentionally tried to hurt himself every day in order to cope with his horrible sin. To avoid telling anyone, Hester, Pearl, and Arthur plan to board a Spanish ship headed to Europe. Arthur and Hester believe that in doing this, he will not be as convicted and will be able to live a happy and wonderful life with Hester and Pearl.
For seven years, Dimmesdale pretends he is innocent of adultery and gets praises for his faux act. Dimmesdale even says so himself that he feels extremely guilty and would rather share his crime than to keep it in secret. He obviously does not prefer sharing his crime with the public because he waits seven long years to do so. He was too obsessed with what others think and gossip about him.
He repeatedly asked her who the father of her newborn child was knowing that it was himself all along. He did not join Hester on the scaffold when he was just as deserving of the punishment. This kind of behavior showed just how harsh his personality was to be able to stand there and watch the public display of his secret lover. The book also described him as “stone faced,” showing no emotion towards Hester as he was constantly harassing her with questions that he already knew the answer to. In this way it is also easy to see just how cowardly the young Dimmsdale was at the beginning of
Dimmesdale should have come clean right at the start but he instead he covered it up and this opens a door for people to use it against you if they find out. This happens in to Dimmesdale when Chillingworth who at the time was Hester’s ex-husband and Dimmesdale’s doctor, he finds out that his suspicions were right about Dimmesdale being the person that was involved in the affair with Hester when he finds the letter A written on his chest. This opens a door for
The audience now understands Dimmesdale’s sinfulness, and although they do not reject him, they feel further distanced from him, as opposed to earlier when his confessions merely convinced his audiences that he was more pure. The effectiveness of Dimmesdale’s later speech demonstrates how once he has a sufficient course of action he is able to execute his plans more effectively than in the beginning of the novel, in which he was lost and therefore could prove nothing to his
However, Dimmesdale belittles Hester’s suffering while punishing himself out of shame, revealing his narcissistic tendencies. Dimmesdale is unsympathetic towards Hester, often belittling her pain and
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.
Dimmesdale has felt nothing but guilt
After the sin was committed, the development of guilt made Hester and Dimmesdale very miserable because they could not stop thinking about what they have done. Both of the characters kept going back to that moment, feeling remorse
Dimmesdale sinned with Hester Prynne by committing adultery. Although this was terrible and looked down upon, his crime was self inflicting and done out of passion. After Hester was punished for the crime, Dimmesdale was overwhelmed with guilt and sadness. This showed that Dimmesdale was a good person
Two of the main characters with many similarities as well as differences is Hester Prynne and Rvd. Arthur Dimmesdale. Hester and Dimmesdale are both characters in the book that had their identities set up in the beginning of the story, within the first 4 chapters. Hester and Dimmesdale are the parents of Pearl, who they had in an act of adultery and sin in the eyes of the townspeople. This book goes through the story of Hester and Dimmesdale's punishments, as well as repentance.
