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Romantic features in the scarlet letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne
Theme of sin and redemption in scarlet letter
Theme of sin and redemption in scarlet letter
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Dimsdale’s Decision By Aurora Tennant Have you ever had to make a really hard decision? This was exactly the position Dimsdale was in. We know that adultery was committed. I believe that he should have confessed in the beginning. Conversely some believe, he should not have confessed in the beginning.
Which reveals that God forgave Dimmesdale for his sins. Dimmesdale was then finally kissed by Pearl on the lips. Pearl’s role as consciousness was fulfilled. At the end of chapter 23, Hawthorne states; “"Shall we not meet again? "
There is always a defining moment in every novel revealing how a certain character will be shown. These moments are “first” seen through the initial action of each character and then ended by their “last”. Each “first” defines how someone is seen, but there is always a turning point in each novel that changes at least one character for the better. The “last” of Reverend Dimmesdale from The Scarlet Letter shows how much he has changed since the beginning of the novel into a better, more dauntless man. At the beginning of the novel Reverend Dimmesdale acted cowardly, not being strong enough to reveal the truth of his sin thus allowing the guilt to destroy him inside out.
GRADE Man is not what he thinks he is, he is what he hides. – André Malraux. Everyone agrees that Dimmesdale deserved to be punished for his actions. However some believe that Hester should have revealed his identity, while other believe that she should not have.
Hester, Pearl, and Dimmesdale were all forgiven by god. Hester breaks free from all the negativity and her beauty finally shows. Dimmesdale is still lived by all the citizens. Pearl becomes rich and lives a great life. Hester and Dimmesdale were no longer tortured by god.
Hester and Dimmesdale have a very unique love for eachother. Their love is reminiscent of Romeo and Juliet in the way that they are not able to pursue it. They are people who have been hardened and hurt by their past mistakes. They share that connection with each other unlike anyone else. Hester and Pearl go to meet up with Dimmesdale in the forest in complete effort to keep their relationship a complete secret.
Essay #1 Dimmesdale’s concealment of his sin of adultery caused him to almost entirely go insane, if not completely. He would punish himself for his sin by torturing himself. For example, he would whip himself with a “bloody scourge”, but he almost seemed to enjoy it, as he would laugh while whipping himself. He refused to seek outside help, and his undertaking of care from Chillingworth would eventually lead to his death.
In Chapter 9 Hester and Pearl were going out to the forest to meet up with Dimmesdale. Dimmesdale has not found peace, only but pain and sadness. Even though Hester was suppose to keep secrets she told Dimmesdale right in his face that the doctor Chillingworth was Hester’s husband, then she went on and told Dimmesdale all about the doctor that she was suppose to keep a secret. Hester took off the scarlet letter and called out for Pearl to say that the minister was her father. She reacted very different because she wanted to be a public thing not a secret.
Philosopher William Shakespeare said, “The eyes are the windows to the soul.” He based this statement off of something Matthew said in the Bible. To summarize, Matthew said that healthy eyes suggest that the body is full of light and if your eyes are unhealthy, your body is full of darkness. Not just the eyes, but the appearance of a person can tell a lot about his or her innermost feelings. This can be seen in the characters in Nathaniel Hawthorne's book The Scarlet Letter.
Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter followed the lives of Hester Prynne and Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale. Their daughter Pearl represented the guilt and gifts brought upon them during their time together in Boston. Hester and Dimmesdale’s sinful actions resulted in the birth of Pearl. In the beginning of the story, the Bostonians condemned Hester for committing adultery.
The narrator states, "Arthur Dimmesdale gazed into Hester's face with a look in which hope and joy shone out, indeed, but with fear betwixt them, and a kind of horror at her boldness, who had spoken what he vaguely hinted at, but dared not to speak" (Hawthorne 138). Nevertheless, his moral development continuously stays at Stage 1 "Obedience and Punishment Orientation" because yet again his actions are selfish. He is more considerate about his
Dimmesdale starts to see the ramification of holding in his sin and starts to feel culpable when seeing Hester take the blame for something they both did. In the beginning of the novel, Hester and Dimmesdale both had committed adultery, which is against the Puritans belief of sin. Hester is on the scaffold refusing to reveal the father of her child to the people, in order to save Dimmesdale’s reputation as a preacher. As punishment for the sin, Hester had been sentenced three hours on the scaffold and must always wear the scarlet letter. Since nobody knows that Dimmesdale also committed the sin, he is delegated to reveal Pearl’s father from Hester, but she refuses to reveal it.
After seeing Mr. Dimmesdale upon the scaffold, Hester was shocked. His condition had been so reduced from the man she had known before. She could readily infer that a terrible devil had been plotting against Mr. Dimmesdale’s well-being. And thus, due to the link of mutual crime between them, Hester decided that Mr. Dimmesdale had a right to her aid. Much had changed since she had first stood upon the scaffold.
Secrets have the power to destroy reputations and endanger people’s livelihoods. In The Scarlet Letter, Hester Prynne has an affair which leads to her having a child. However, she refuses to ever reveal the identity of the child’s father and has to face all punishment on her own. Roger Chillingworth arrives in Boston the day Hester has to stand on the scaffold, but decides to not expose that he is her husband from Europe that everyone thought was dead. Lastly, readers discover that Reverend Dimmesdale is the father to Hester’s child, but he does not announce this until years later.
Dimmesdale develops because in the beginning of the novel, he is a devout Puritan, and as the reader gets more into the novel, they recognize that Arthur Dimmesdale does not truly know himself and “have it all together” the way that every other person thinks that he does. Dimmesdale, the human depiction of "human frailty and sorrow," is young, pale, and physically unhealthy. He has large, sad-looking eyes and a constantly trembling mouth, suggesting that Dimmesdale is sensitive. As an ordained Puritan minister, he is well educated, and he has a philosophical train of thought. He is obviously fully devoted to God, passionate in his religion, and effective behind a minister’s podium.
