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Irony In The Scarlet Letter

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Every time she saw him, a passion as white-hot as the sun hit her with more force than when the carpenter down the road smacked his hammer onto the head of a nail. He was dressed as a clergyman, yet a robe blacker than Satan’s soul adorned his body like a sinner’s cloak. The reader, I would say, might find this ironic, but irony in this situation is the key to what causes trouble in the first place. As she watched him walk down the dirt path, occasionally stopping to converse with those who greeted him, she noticed that he strode haughtily, yet it seemed like he tried hiding it. He did not want people to see him stroll proudly, for he was a minister, and it would be expected of him to walk with humility. One would be unable to tell how confidently …show more content…

Dimmesdale,” she heard an elderly man say to the minister as they passed each other, for it was Sunday, the Lord’s Day, and she had forgotten again. Either the minister had not heard the elderly man, or he simply chose to ignore the comment, as his gaze shot up to the woman who had been so intently staring at him. As their eyes locked, the woman, quickly looked down, and before she knew it he was standing directly in front of her. “Hester,” he said with a lightness in his voice, “I did not see thee at my homily this morning. That has been the third time now.” “I apologize Mr. Dimmesdale,” said Hester, who could not fast enough think of an excuse to say to the minister. “Nonsense,” he replied. “I’ll see thee for confession in private right now. Show me the path to thy abode.” He rested one hand on the small of her back and the other was outstretched, as if urging her to take the first steps towards her home. However for a second or two, Hester could not find the will to move her legs, as the hand that rested on her back seemed to burn right through the cloth of her dress. It was the same white-hot passionate desire that she felt every time she looked at him. A passion so deep that she desperately ached for the satisfaction that only one person could bring her. She, Hester Prynne, a married woman, wanted Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale, a minister, to be

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