Is Arthur Dimmesdale A Villain

Dimmesdale: Preacher or Sinner?

Actor Tom Hanks once said, “I think by and large a third of people are villains, a third are cowards, and a third are heroes. Now, a villain and a coward can choose to be a hero, but they've got to make that choice.” Unfortunately, for Arthur Dimmesdale in Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter, he is both a villain and a coward. As the reverend for a Puritan community in New England, Dimmesdale preaches Godly ways on a daily basis, yet is found by readers to be going against his beliefs to take part in an affair with Hester Prynne. As the affair becomes public through the demonstration of Hester, Dimmesdale watches as her lives a life of shame, exclusion and humiliation. Refusing to publicly admit his role

As Dimmesdale preaches to the townspeople he noticed “They heard it all, and did but reverence him the more. They little guessed what deadly purport lurked in those self-condemning words. ‘The godly youth!’ said they among themselves. ‘The saint on earth! Alas, if he discern such sinfulness in his own white soul, what horrid spectacle would he behold in thine or mine!’"(130). As Dimmesdale is preaching the townspeople worship him even more then they did before as they grasp each and every word. Dimmesdale also cares about what the townspeople think of him so he is afraid to confess. If he confesses he thinks the townspeople would no longer trust him as a person or listen to his words. Dimmesdale also questions confessing because he is the reverend and a puritan. Being a reverend he cannot commit a sin or break the rules or else he would get put in jail or even die and become not pure. As long as the church and the townspeople do not know what he has done his sin his secret is safe inside of him. Dimmesdale’s preaching also has the townspeople reflecting themselves and the way they live when he says, “No man for any considerable period can wear one face to himself and another to the multitude, without finally getting bewildered as to which may be the true."(197-8). Dimmesdale is basically addresses himself as

Dimmesdale and the puritans are so hypocritical of themselves and their community that they basically make their own rules and ways to live their lives. By having a false mask, Dimmesdale makes himself hide away and keep his mask on even though he knows he should not. It takes Roger Chillingwoth, Hester, and even little Pearl to try and get him to confess. Dimmesdale does not confess willingly or by force form someone else, Dimmsdale confesses through his guilt. If Dimmesdale had not needed to say his sermon, Dimmesdale would have died guilty. As Dimmesdale is dying he looks and Pearl and gives her a kiss. Even though Dimmesdale confesses through his guilt it was long overdue. You can always have more then one identity, but when you hide away in you false mask you are no longer your true