Guilt In Nathaniel Hawthorne's 'The Scarlet Letter'

Adriana Miller

Miss O’Reilly

Honors American Literature, period 2

15 December 2022

Guilt is the Theif of Life

In Puritan society, shame and guilt are universal feelings citizens experience. These two domineering traits of Puritan society become prevalent when an individual's actions do not adhere to societal command. The critical difference between the two is that shame is a public feeling while guilt is private. Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter goes in-depth about the negative consequences associated with sin. Hester Prynne and Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale, the protagonists, have both committed adultery, but the nature of their punishment is quite different. Prynne faced imprisonment, was isolated from her entire town, and wore a

Dimmesdale submits to his wrongdoing by wearing “one face to himself and another to the multitude” and reaches a point where he does not know “which may be true” because of the frequent changes in his personality due to his surroundings (Hawthorne 206). Dimmesdale's difficulty compensating for both of his facades develops an internal conflict. Devoting much of his time pretending to be somebody else, the different masks within himself clash, and he can no longer keep track of himself or the person he wants to become together. As an act of penance, Dimmesdale “piled [a whip] on his shoulders… but rigorously, and until his knees trembled beneath him” as a different outlet to release the guilt he associates with his sin. Engaging in this form of self-punishment, he attempts to relinquish the repentance he undergoes, but this action does not satisfy his sin. Acclaimed critic Kenneth Pimple notes that during sermons, Dimmesdale commutes how he feels indirectly, but “he means what he says-- he feels vile --he is heard to be commenting on the human condition, rather than on his condition,” creating a substitution for himself. While Dimmesdale preaches, there is an inclination that Dimmesdale wants the Puritans to know about his sinful actions, speaking with an undertone of guilt and an eagerness for forgiveness to compensate for his incapability to reveal the truth, though the deed does not compare to the liberating feeling of telling the truth. The only option Dimmesdale has is to confess the crime he committed, leading him to die a "death triumphant of ignominy before the people [-] had either of these agonies been wanting, [he] would be lost forever" (Hawthorne 242). Confessing his crime, Dimmesdale experiences the shame Hester lived through the majority of those years, and because of his stance on religion, this confession brings him to his deathbed. The effects of guilt