Hester Prynne's Motivation In Scarlet Letter

The actions of people come from a variety of sources. Normally, a drive stimulates a person to act upon a desire. However, the unconscious motivation of individuals becomes apparent through unsightly consequences. As a result, guilt then becomes the driving factor for actions regarding the original motivation. In Nathaniel Hawthorne’s 19th century historical fiction novel, The Scarlet Letter, Hawthorne takes a psychological approach to reveal the hasty results of the unconscious motivations of his characters. Therefore, people must take care not to let their internal conflicts overtake their sense of right and wrong due to the fact unconscious desires will result in everlasting guilt. Desires to avoid the past in order to rid the body of

As a result of following the wrong path of sin and remorse, all other actions become muddled with doubt and questioning. Arthur Dimmesdale, a man of respectable influence, decides to call out Hester Prynne in hopes of his own salvation, “Believe me, Hester, though he were to step down from a high place, and stand there beside thee, on thy pedestal of shame, yet better were it so, than to hide a guilty heart through life” (Hawthorne 49). Hawthorne reveals the inevitable flight within people from accepting their past mistakes. Dimmesdale, the priest of the town, ultimately breaks his honors by having an affair with Hester Prynne, showing how even the mightiest cave when struck with a difficult situation. Dimmesdale’s unconscious overtakes his ability to repent his sins and instead looks to have Hester reveal the truth, in hopes for some alleviation from his guilt. Following his affair with Miss Prynne, Dimmesdale decides the best course of action, rather than come clean to the people of the town, should include denial of his sin. Hawthorne’s use of ignorance in Dimmesdale reveals how personal appearance of the individual trumps inner integrity. Dimmesdale, despite his duty to uphold the title of town minister, “is guilty by virtue of biological fact alone,” and therefore supports the truth that “he who dances must pay the piper, even if that person is a dignitary” (Ruetenik

Arthur Dimmesdale takes it upon himself to reveal to the world that he too commits sin and makes fatal mistakes. In order to finally formally pay for all the sin his unconscious motivation causes, Dimmesdale tears “away the ministerial band from before his breast,” revealing his mark of adultery to all of Boston (Hawthorne 161). Through which, Hawthorne shows how the unconscious guilt resides within all individuals and will ultimately drive the individual to either revisit the past to repent sin or find a way to bury the guilt away from society. However, as seen through Dimmesdale, many people fail to control their underlying urge to reveal their past. As a result, the truth awakens and people commit actions with intentions to conceal or reveal the dark past. In addition, a sense of rejuvenation and cleansing may stand as the motive for people’s behavior following their wrongdoings, just as Dimmesdale’s dramatic move to repent atop the scaffold. However, the ability for some to cope with their sin may result similarly to Dimmesdale’s, awkward repenting followed by declaration of self-pity and worthlessness, ultimately leading to his demise. Seeing that Dimmesdale is “a victim of feelings he can neither understand nor control,” one may not find surprise in his eventual dramatic actions upon the scaffold(Crews 317). Crews supports the