ipl-logo

Guilt Vs. Judgment In Nathaniel Hawthorne's Scarlet Letter

965 Words4 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Guilt in the scarlet letter essay

Guilt vs. Judgment in The Scarlet Letter In The Scarlet Letter Hester Prynne is judged by everyone in 17-century Boston, where everyone knows the crime that she has committed with her paramour Arthur Dimmesdale, who also is the town's Reverend. The townspeople are very harsh in their personal opinions of Hester. Some even go as far as to say that she should be branded by “the flesh of her forehead.” (Hawthorne 59) Throughout this paper you will see that guilt and judgment are not resolved without reoccurring conflict. Whether it be internal conflict or external conflict. The Puritan use of ignominy and blame was meant to initiate guilt in a person's mind. When you would commit a crime the punishment was usually equally yoked between man and woman. Marvelous it may be to see and consider how some kind of wickedness did grow and break forth here, in a land where the same was so much witnessed against and so narrowly looked unto, and severely punished when it was known, as in no place more, or so much, that I have known or …show more content…

The townspeople want justice, even if they have to overlook the truth. Some may see Hester Prynne as a heterodox or maybe even petulant, but still many people continue to judge her. The townspeople show asperity toward Hester Prynne and also little pearl. Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale is a prime example of self-judgment. “...I witheld myself from doing seven years ago, come hither now, and twine thy strength about me!...Come, Hester, come! Support me up yonder scaffold! [sic]” (Hawthorne 235-236) Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale, finally, after seven years, is able to tell the truth. His punishment, unlike Hester Prynne's, is not cruel or unusual at all. Yes, Dimmesdale tortured himself for seven years because he did not want to step up and face his true punishment and whom also was the town

Show More
Related
576 Words | 3 Pages

Emma Riesner Mrs. Damuth Honors English 10 - 5th Hour 21 March 2023 Deadly Decisions Since 2019, there has been a 14% increase in deaths related to drunk driving (“Drunk Driving”). In the book, The Great Gatsby, one of the largest tipping points in the story occurred because of drunk driving, severely altering the ultimate fate of Jay Gatsby. Despite a century passed, drunk driving continues to remain a serious issue in the United States. In Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby, Myrtle gets run over by Daisy, who had been drinking all day.

Read More
551 Words | 3 Pages

Consequently, Arthur Dimmesdale is the cause of Hester Prynne's shame for he is the man whom Hester loves. No one knows he is the father of Pearl, Hester won't say and he isn't strong enough to speak up. He struggles with this knowledge that Hester is being punished and not him. The only truth that continued to give Mr. Dimmesdale a real existence on this earth was the anguish in his inmost soul, and the undissembled expression of it in his aspect, (Hawthorne 142). Being a minister of God the citizens look up to him, and he feels guilty about his hidden sin.

Read More
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.

Read More
319 Words | 2 Pages

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).

Read More
965 Words | 4 Pages

After this conclusion, Dimmesdale finds himself at the same platform where Hester was convicted of her sin at. He stands there thinking about everything that has happened to both him and Hester. When Pearl asks him if he will stand with them at noon, he is conflicted yet again thinking about the consequences of what that would lead too. He tells Pearl no, still wanting to keep his post as the town reverend.

Read More
791 Words | 4 Pages

Punishment of Puritans for their sins occurred harshly and frequently, and these punishments ranged from fines, branding, and severe whippings to hanging and death. Many of these penalties involved public humiliation of some kind, which made it extremely difficult for townspeople to accept by their peers after they had sinned. Because the Puritans believed religion was immensely important, the community was often reluctant to allow citizens that exhibited sinful behavior to achieve redemption (Cox). However, in the case of Hester Prynne, an adulterer in Nathaniel Hawthorne 's The Scarlet Letter, the townspeople eagerly made amends with her. This novel narrates the life of Hester Prynne, who committed adultery and courageously accepted the repercussions

Read More
918 Words | 4 Pages

The Guilt & Situations The feeling of guilt is when a person feels responsible for the outcomes of their actions negatively. It is a strong emotion that affects everyone differently. Guilt even plays a role in a lot of stories like The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne and The Crucible by Arthur Miller. The Scarlet Letter is set during the Puritan epoch. It is about a Reverend called Dimmesdale that commits adultery and impregnated the woman.

Read More
513 Words | 3 Pages

In Hester’s case, there was a lot more judgment coming from everybody because of what she did. It would be much easier to judge because we would know everybody’s faults. Then again, if we were to judge somebody he would judge us right back because he would also see our own faults. It would be hard to

Read More
696 Words | 3 Pages

Hester Prynne and Arthur Dimmesdale have both committed a dreadful sin with torturous consequences. They contrast one another by their different responses to the outcome. Hester courageously accepted sin and the punishments, causing her to be content in living her life. On the other hand, Dimmesdale denied his sin, which triggered an illness that eventually leads to his death. This denial of sin induces effects of guilt that can be lethal and detrimental to a person.

Read More
901 Words | 4 Pages

Nobody is perfect. Every action has a consequence. Whether that consequence is good or bad, that is based on the action. Typically, we correlate bad actions with bad consequences. However, sometimes society gives a bad consequence for a not-so-bad action.

Read More
1146 Words | 5 Pages

This effects her every day life going out in public and getting ridiculed by all the towns people she is surrounded by. Hester Prynne doesn’t just have to live with a mistake right on her shirt, but people also help her remember past. She does have her daughter or her “sole treasure.” The young girls name is pearl and she is not exactly like the others. It isn't easy because her and her mother are considered different in the community so she is lonely but very

Read More
577 Words | 3 Pages

as Hester stands on the scaffold for her first, alone punishment. Hester is humiliated for her faults while standing by herself, yet she was not the only one who committed them. As a result of his cowardice, Dimmesdale is unable to confess his faults to Pearl during the second scene. His urge of

Read More
433 Words | 2 Pages

Hawthorne described three things in The Scarlet Letter. Sin, guilt, and redemption. Hawthorne uses people to symbolize them. Hester Prynne was one. Hawthorne allows the reader to get a better understanding by using biblical references.

Read More
743 Words | 3 Pages

In Dimmesdale not confessing and facing a punishment in the eyes of the church as well as the townspeople, causing him to take to his own means, while Hester is able to face a punishment. Dimmesdale does what he believes is right for his punishment by doing acts that damaged his mind and body. Dimmesdale, in creating his own punishment, holds vigils that last all night, fasted to the point that he barely ate anything at all, beat himself, and lost the will to live. Dimmesdale's sin stays with him throughout the book, and the readers see his mind and body deteriorate through his mysterious sickness, while the readers see Hester become a closed off outcast trying to repent. The townspeople in the book see DImmesdale's sickness, and how devoted he is to his faith and begin to believe that he is holy, and an angel sent to sent to save them, while Hester has repented and become able, as well as an

Read More
936 Words | 4 Pages

In the “Scarlet Letter,” Nathaniel Hawthorne portrays hypocrisy of the Puritan society, where the protagonist Hester Prynne face many consequences of her actions and the how she tries to redeem herself to the society. During the seventeenth puritans believe that it is their mission to punish the ones who do not follow God’s word and it is their job to stop those from sinning. Therefore, the hypercritical puritan society punishes Hester harshly for committing adultery, but in Hester’s mind, she believes that what she did was not a sin but acts of love for her man. Eventually, she redeems herself by turning her crime into an advantage to help those in need, yet the Puritan society still view her as a “naughty bagger.” (Hawthorne 78)

Read More

More about Guilt Vs. Judgment In Nathaniel Hawthorne's Scarlet Letter

Related Topics

Open Document