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Guilt In Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter

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There are my literature novels that are written that include many messages from the events in a novel. The Scarlet Letter is a novel that is written by Nathaniel Hawthorne to express the events of characters to live a spontaneous life. Guilt is an immersive aspect that is described in The Scarlet Letter. All of the characters in this novel including, Hester Prynne, Roger Chillingworth and Arthur Dimmesdale, experience the feeling of guilt based upon their actions that eventually caught up to themselves, and they ended up getting hurt or initially hurting somebody else. Throughout this novel, Hawthorne explains how these characters are constantly being challenged with repercussions of their actions. Hawthorne describes guilt as being a feeling …show more content…

When the townspeople find out that Hester was pregnant and that the baby is not her husband's child, Roger Chillingworth, the whole community shames her. In chapter two Hawthorne says, “Be not silent from any mistaken pity and tenderness for him; for, believe me, Hester, though he were to step down from a high place, and stand there beside thee, on thy pedestal shame, yet better were it so, than to hide a guilty heart through life” ( II 48). Hawthorne portrays Hester Prynne as being this independent woman who does not let the thoughts of the townspeople influence her life. In chapter two, Hawthorne says “In a moment, however, wisely judging that one token of her shame would but poorly serve to hide another, she took the baby on her arm, and, with a burning blush, and yet a haughty smile, and a glance that would not be abashed, looked around at her townspeople and neighbors. On the breast of her gown, in fine red cloth, surrounded with an elaborate embroidery and fantastic flourishes of gold thread, appeared the letter A” (II:45). By Hawthorne saying this he is showing that she is not going to let anyone bring her …show more content…

Hester Prynne did not know if she would ever see Chillingworth since she had to come by herself. In Hester’s defense, when she decided to get intimate with Dimmesdale, she did not know that her husband would ever come back to find her. Not only was Dimmesdale feeling guilty, but o wa Chillingworth. Hawthorne explains the Chillingworth is showing signs of him being guilty, “To his features, as to all other objects, the meteoric light imparted a new expression; or it might well be that the physical was not careful then, as at all other times, to hide the malevolence with which he looked upon his victim” (XII:129). By Chillingworth saying this, he is explaining that not only are the people who have committed inappropriate actions feeling guilty, but the guilt is also on the person who got hurt. Chillingworth is trying to do everything that he can do in order to try to make Hester and Dimmesdale’s life miserable, which is why he was looking so

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Hester wants to reveal the secret, but Chillingworth wants to keep it concealed in order to torture Dimmesdale even more (Hawthorne, 1994, pp. 118-119). This shows the devious aspect of his character. The association between Chillingworth and Hester transitions from a professional to personal relationship as the truth of Chillingworth’s real intentions comes to the

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Hester is less of a sinner than he is, and so is her lover. There are many different explanations about why Chillingworth is more degenerate than Hester and Dimmesdale. One explanation is that Hester and Dimmesdale made one mistake, and they are both being punished in different ways. Each of them learned from this mistake and in turn became better people. Chillingworth, however, took his plot of revenge and became a very vile person.

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When Chillingworth visits Hester in prison, he claims that “his [the adulterer] fame, his position, his life, will be in my hands” (53). Chillingworth makes a vow to Hester that he will find the man who enticed her and will destroy the individual’s life and soul. As the novel progresses, Chillingworth establishes himself as the town doctor and Dimmesdale develops a mysterious illness that perplexes and worries the townspeople. His illnesses leads to Roger Chillingworth becoming his medical advisor, “as not only the disease interested the physician, but he was strongly moved to look into the character and qualities of the patient, these two men...came gradually to spend much time together” (84). Chillingworth takes advantage of the fact that Dimmesdale needs medical attention and establishes himself as a friend, with the intention of finding out personal information about Dimmesdale.

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Throughout the book Chillingworth reminds Hester of her wrong doing an example of this is when the novel states, “As he spoke, he laid his long forefinger on the scarlet letter, which forthwith seemed to scorch into Hester’s breast, as if it had been red-hot. ”(Hawthorne 64) Chillingworth's efforts to please himself by making Hester feel guilty for her actions during his absence sways the way many things happen in the book, like at the end when he decides to join the voyage that Dimmesdale and Hester planned to escape

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This very message is repeated all throughout the book with Chillingworth, he was once a good man, but transformed due to the guilt he has set upon himself from marrying Hester, although he doesn’t blame her, he is after the sinner who didn’t fess up to the deeds. Visually to Hester, she has witnessed the alterations of a man who

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Chillingworth is given a session with Hester as a mean to calm her down. In this session, Hester states that she has wronged Chillingworth by committing adultery. Then Chillingworth states that they have both wronged each other, his being the first as he took advantage of Hester’s youth and then married her, thus creating a broken love.

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Chillingworth knew that Hester was not in love with him, that the marriage was forced against her will, and he made no effort to repay her or to even commit. There was no reason

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“(Hawthorne 109). His moral stage continues to be at stage 1 “Obedience and Punishment Orientation” because his selfishness still makes an overall reflection on his personality. He is more concerned about his own feelings than everyone around him opposed to his morality at the beginning of the novel. He expresses signs of jealousy because Pearl called out for him. Next, at the beginning of Chapter 18 after Hester has declared to Dimmesdale that Chillingworth is her real husband and he becomes upset, eventually he forgives her and sees Chillingworth as the real sinner.

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During the time at which the novel The Scarlet Letter, by Nathaniel Hawthorne, was written, people were help to higher standards regarding what was viewed as acceptable in a society, mostly shown through religious moral standards. Hawthorne was also able to show the effects of guilt specifically during that time, following a sin that was seen as completely unacceptable in this society, and how it would affect someone in their life, especially if kept private. Hawthorne uses literary devices to show how private guilt causes more personal damage than public guilt and how it can become an everlasting punishment. Through the use of diction, Hawthorne is able to show how private guilt causes more personal damage and can have a great internal punishment

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Throughout The Scarlet Letter, Hawthorne exposes the blindness of the Puritan people through the treatment of Hester, Chillingworth, and Dimmesdale’s external characters. Hester Prynne is labeled as an adulteress and mistreated by society because of their unwillingness to see her true character. Chillingworth, the husband of Hester, leads the town to believe he is an honorable man and skillful doctor, when his true intents root from his vindictive nature Finally, Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale, Hester’s lover and the father of her baby, acts as the perfect man therefore the town views him as an exemplar model, while he is truly a sinner. In the novel, Hawthorne portrays Hester as a strong, resilient woman, though the members of her community

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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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The Scarlet Letter, written by Nathaniel Hawthorne, shows the internal conflict mankind might experience throughout their lives. This novel outwardly speaks about the guilt many carry around, seen or not, and the struggle between doing what is right or choosing to keep quiet and protect their pride, making it a good example to use. Keeping guilt hidden inside will only do more harm than good, and that through the truth peace can be found. Allowing unresolved guilt to dig its claws into your humanity and morality only furthers the downfall of a person. This may be accounted to the fact that they are afraid of how the people around them will react, or the fear that their reputation might be completely ruined.

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When Hester confronts the evil he has done, he asks, "what evil have I done the man?" Chillingworth sees Dimmesdale as the guilty man and believes he has been merciful, sparing Dimmesdale from death. Chillingworth becomes so consumed with vengeance that he is unable to see the evil of his actions. Chillingworth also exclaims, “that [Dimmesdale] now breathes and creeps about on earth is owing all to me!” Chillingworth is so deluded that he sincerely believes that he has saved Dimmesdale from death.

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Chillingworth wants revenge towards Hester´s lover and he won´t rest until he finds him. Roger tells Hester not to tell anyone that he is her husband, he doesn´t want people to know that Hester is his wife because people would think of him as the betrayed husband and he would live in shame. Chillingworth pretends to be a doctor, that way he won´t drag too much attention since the town is small and the people living in it don´t have access to good

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