Hester Prynne And Arthur Dimmesdale

Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter depicts the flaws in the human nature of both Hester Prynne and Arthur Dimmesdale. Although each character possesses their own belief and values, both played their part in the sin committed. However, there is always a cause for an individual’s wrong doing and in the case of both Hester and Dimmesdale it, “had been a sin of passion, not principle, nor even purpose” (Hawthorne 152). The character Hester Prynne represents the human nature aspects of desire for love and passion, which often leads a person to their wrong doings, in effect causing them pain and belief that the world and eventually themselves are “evil”. Hester was punished, ridiculed, and viewed as the human embodiment of “evil” forcing her to despise the townspeople and view them as hateful and

However, both Hester’s and Dimmesdale’s “sinful” instinct was not about being immoral or moral, evil or good, since it eventually depended on how their actions were perceived by others. Their sinful pursuit was publicly judged by the puritan community, evidence that society more than often sets the moral of “evil and good”, taking the role as a guide for acceptance. In addition, Arthur Dimmesdale serves to the notion that striving for approval and taking upon the values imposed by society often destroys one’s life. Throughout the story Dimmesdale, “was suffering under bodily disease, and gowned and tortured by some black troubled soul” but “achieved a brilliant popularity in his sacred office. He won it, indeed, in great part by his sorrows” (Hawthorne). The puritan minister Dimmesdale was not willing to accept his moral responsibility and confess to the puritan society that he had committed a sin. As a result, his choice to be a sinner depicted him as the