Reverend Dimmsdale’s development through the text of “The Scarlet Letter” was that of positivity and peace. Dimmsdale was the secret father of Pearl and the secret lover of Hester Prynne. He was the reason for Hester’s torment and it showed on him through the book. Dimmsdale’s progression through “The Scarlet Letter” was a positive one because in the beginning he was unempathetic, in the middle of the book he was guilt-ridden and sympathetic, and at the end he was joyful and relieved.
At the beginning of the story, Reverend Dimmsdale was introduced as a judge at Hester Prynne’s public shaming. He repeatedly asked her who the father of her newborn child was knowing that it was himself all along. He did not join Hester on the scaffold when he was just as deserving of the punishment. This kind of behavior showed just how harsh his personality was to be able to stand there and watch the public display of his secret lover. The book also described him as “stone faced,” showing no emotion towards Hester as he was constantly harassing her with questions that he already knew the answer to. In this way it is also easy to see just how cowardly the young Dimmsdale was at the beginning of
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He is now starting to come down with an illness not of the body, but of the mind and heart. Guilt has consumed the young Dimmsdale and it is starting to show in his attitude. The book says that Dimmsdale is starting to constantly whip himself in the place where his scarlet letter should have been. The book also talks about the numerous vigils that Dimmsdale is holding, perhaps the most telling one being the night that he, Pearl, and Hester were standing upon the scaffold one night because of his overwhelming cowardice and guilt. The book even talks about how when Dimmsdale looked up that night he saw a meteor make the letter “A” in the sky, to him this was a divine sign that God knows his sins. His demeanor then changes one