Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale In The Scarlet Letter By Nathaniel Hawthorne

The Scarlet Letter, written by Nathaniel Hawthorne, is a novel set in colonial times based on the view-points of adultery during the 17th century. The novel is a romantic drama set during the 17th century, but was written in the 1840s in Salem, Massachusetts by Hawthorne and was published in 1850. The novel is set in Salem, Massachusetts. The narrator of the story is an unnamed civillian who surveys the lives of the main characters. the main characters of the novel consist of: Hester Prynne, Pearl, and Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale. Hester Prynne, at the beggining of the novel, is put on trial due to the fact that she has commited adultery. In the events prior to the trial Hester was sent over to the America's with her husband in hopes to start a civilization; however, Hester was not accompanied by her husband due to business. Once she arrived to Salem she awaited her husbands arrival for many months but he never returned to her. Under the circumstances Hester

As the story progresses, Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale is revealed as her adulterer. Dimmesdale, about halfway through the novel, starts to grow very ill and befriends a man named Roger Chillingworth who is a doctor and becomes Dimmesdale's roommate. Chillingworth is eventually revelaed as Hester's husband whom is plotting agaisnt Dimmesdale and Hester to try and reveal their secret to thre public. Dimmesdale grows to an even more ill and starts to bear a scar on his chest that is never revealed but, by collecting context clues the reader can easily come to the conclusion that the scar is an A as is Hesters patch that she bears on her dress. Dimmesdale also starts to torture himself mentally and physically and gives very uplifting sermons to the people that also play a part in his self torture through