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Scarlet Letter Guilt Quotes

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People often ask if guilt leads to repentance. Nathaniel Hawthorne shows that it does within his novel “A Scarlet Letter.” Through the novel, Reverend Dimmesdale is slowly eaten away by the guilt that resonates in his conscience from not admitting to his fowl play alongside Hester, as she carries the weight of the sin on her own throughout the novel by being excluded from the Puritan Society wearing a scarlet letter on her bosem. Overcome by guilt, grief, and self hatred, Reverend Dimmesdale conquers his subconscious fears by purifying his heart. Dimmesdale is filled with guilt throughout the entirety of the novel. The guilt begins with his hidden relationship with Hester, as he allows her to take on the heavy weight of the letter by herself. …show more content…

He hated himself for falling into Chillingworth’s trap, it made him disheveled in appearance and caused him to go have bipolar type mood swings. He had changed so much since Hester’s public opinion on the scaffolding, because at that time he had scolded her in front of everyone and spoke that she was doing everything wrong, but he later says that she is doing everything right with her daughter. He also speaks of how God's will was following what Hether was doing. Dimmesdale had a lot of hatred for himself for that day, he even secretly admits that Pearl was an example of both the fathers self hatred and guilt and the mothers, “‘...This child of it's father’s guilt and it’s mother’s shame hath come from the hand of God, to work in many ways upon her heart…” (Hawthorne, 1994, p. 78). His self hatred pushed him further towards the path of repentance and purifying of his …show more content…

His purification process began with the mending of his relationship with Hester Prynne. He meets her in the woods with Pearl and lets his guard down speaking of the fact that he loves her and wishes he could leave this haunted dreery past behind him and run away with both of them, but he knew he could not do that without asking for forgiveness and repenting to the society. When he announces his mistake to society he appears to be lighter and his body slowly drains as his soul becomes purified, “It seemed, at this point, as if the minister must leave the remainder of his secret undisclosed. But he fought back the bodily weakness, --and, still more, the faintness of heart,-- that was striving for the mastery with him. He threw off all assistance, and stepped passionately forward a pace before the woman and the child.” (Hawthorne, 1994, p. 174). As one of the final tellings of his now apparent sin he showed his own scarlet letter to the crowd, “With a convulsive motion he tore away the ministerial band from before his breast. It was revealed! But it were irreverent to describe that revelation.” (Hawthorne, 1994, p. 175). Finally he opens his heart up to Pearl just like she wanted and she showed him affection in return as he touches her cheek and she kisses him, “Pearl kissed his lips. A spell was broken. The great scene of grief, in which the wild infant bore a

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1158 Words | 5 Pages

Mentally, his guilt strains his mind, which causes his physical deterioration, and the weakening of his body. As Dimmesdale finally admits his sin to the townspeople, his guilt is lifted, and he is able to release himself from his captivity. Though he deteriorated both mind and body from his guilt, by telling the townspeople of his sin, it was as if “a spell was broken” (238). He no longer needed to force himself to hide his sin, which was what was hurting him. By finally dealing with his sin in a similar way to Hester, Dimmesdale was able to free himself of his self-imposed captivity and

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119 Words | 1 Pages

In the short story “The Minister’s Black Veil” and the novel The Scarlet Letter, Nathaniel Hawthorne tells the stories of two men who keep their sins secret and are hurt deeply. In The Scarlet Letter, Reverend Dimmesdale does not reveal his sin to the community and experiences far more pain than Hester, whose sin is revealed. Years after the original sin, Hester has healed and is accepted by the community, while Dimmesdale still feels guilty, as can be seen when he mounts the scaffold. Dimmesdale’s experience is similar to that of Reverend Hooper, who covers his face after a secret sin and is eschewed by the community. When we refuse to admit our faults, we will feel guilty

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475 Words | 2 Pages

In the chapter, “Revelation of the Scarlet Letter”, Hester and the crowd listen intently to Dimmesdale's confession of being the biological father of little Pearl. He quotes, “in the name of Him, so terrible and so merciful, who gives me grace, at this last moment, to do what--for my own heavy sin and miserable agony--I withheld myself from doing seven years ago, come hither now, and twine thy strength about me!” By doing so he tells the entire multitude about his true selfhood. Pearl then gives him a kiss for confessing. Continuing, he states, “is not this better,” murmured he, ”than what we dreamed of in the forest?”

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693 Words | 3 Pages

In The Scarlet Letter, by Nathaniel Hawthorne, both Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale. However, one suffered more than the other did because the punishments were different. Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale suffered more than Hester because, unlike Hester, he had nothing to live for and because of the guilt he had to keep hidden. Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale suffered greatly through his conscience and had nothing to ease it. Dimmesdale had nothing to live for because he didn’t have a family or someone that needed him.

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806 Words | 4 Pages

In the first chapter Hester Prynne was on the scaffold of three hours with Pearl in her arms and seeing Dimmesdale and did not confess who her husband was and he also was Pearl’s father, Dimmesdale when on the scaffold later in the story and finally confess some of his sins and punishing himself. Another example, Rev. Dimmesdale facial appearance also started to change throughout the story and the sins he did and he started looking evil his face was looking devilish. Arthur Dimmesdale, “Then and there, before the judgment-seat, thy mother and thou, and I what I seen and what I am” (Hawthorne 173). Dimmesdale was accountable for everything that happened to Hester and himself and he started changing into a devilish man and looking more evil. But Dimmesdale told his congregation that he was the worst sinner in the church but, Dimmesdale was smart and did not tell them what he exactly did.

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401 Words | 2 Pages

Once she had put on the Scarlet Letter, nature acted to show the sin of the Letter. Without it she was forgiven. God had light shine down upon her until she went back to the

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406 Words | 2 Pages

He would harm himself in many ways as penance for his sins. Although he had never revealed his sin, he was followed by guilt that turned his life into misery. The Scarlet letter demonstrated the moral consequences of both hidden as well as revealed sins through two prominent characters. Hester, whose sin had been revealed, went through a grueling life judged by her community for her sins until she was able to prove her compassionate nature.

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885 Words | 4 Pages

The Puritan belief and lifestyle plays a major role in Nathaniel Hawthorne’s novel The Scarlet Letter. The story takes place in Puritan New England, and opens with a scene presenting to the audience that a young woman named Hester Prynne has committed adultery. Wearing her punishment proudly, a scarlet letter “A” on her breast, Hester continues to live in New England where she raises her daughter and creates an embroidering business for herself. All the while, in the heart of the town, Hester’s lover and the child’s father, Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale silently suffers and is ultimately overcome with guilt from his secret sin until the point of death.

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554 Words | 3 Pages

Nathaniel Hawthorne uses his famous book, The Scarlet Letter, as a commentary on the Puritan way of life. In the novel, guilt resurfaces repeatedly as staples of the Puritans’ obsession with a pristine and uncontaminated life. The effect of this obsession is catastrophic for many of the characters in the novel, which fulfils Hawthorne’s wish to expose the negative aspects of the Puritans’ lifestyle and their oppressive methods of forcing repentance through guilt. Originally, the guilt forced on Hester Prynne and Arthur Dimmesdale was described as the worst punishment imaginable: Hester, doomed to isolation and its accumulating hardships; Dimmesdale to silent self-torment over his guilt.

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526 Words | 3 Pages

As a result, their own acceptance of their sins was dependent on the extent of their punishment. Hester, who was imprisoned for her adultery, faced the greatest public mortification - standing on the lonely scaffold in the unrighteous, unwarranted judgement of the equally as sinful Puritans. Eventually, however, Hester accepted her ignominy and used the internal shame that had manifested within herself as a tool to augment her value to society. Reverend Dimmesdale, aware of his publicly undisclosed sins, was forced to carry this burden of internal guilt for seven long years. Dimmesdale fully swallowed his guilt once he publicly confessed at the completion of the novel.

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1023 Words | 5 Pages

Dimmesdale is unable to forgive himself because Hester and Pearl stood on the scaffold and suffered ignominy while he concealed his identity as an adulterer and Pearl’s father for several years. He has a nervous temperament to begin with but because of the remorse over his actions, he progressively becomes more paranoid and stressed and has problems with falling asleep at night. Christie Hunter, a registered clinical counselor in British Columbia, wrote that people who suffer from paranoia “...can also suffer from hallucinations during a stressful or negative situation” (The Negative Effects of Unforgiveness on Mental Health). Stressed over his guilt, Dimmesdale couldn’t sleep and kept lengthy vigils, night after night, and would stay awake for extended periods of time. As a result of severe sleep deprivation, he would hallucinate, causing him to see visions and ghosts that grinned and mocked at him.

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696 Words | 3 Pages

Hester Prynne and Arthur Dimmesdale have both committed a dreadful sin with torturous consequences. They contrast one another by their different responses to the outcome. Hester courageously accepted sin and the punishments, causing her to be content in living her life. On the other hand, Dimmesdale denied his sin, which triggered an illness that eventually leads to his death. This denial of sin induces effects of guilt that can be lethal and detrimental to a person.

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1138 Words | 5 Pages

Throughout Nathaniel Hawthorne’s “The Scarlet Letter” the puritan society emphasizes their strict morals and religious beliefs that sinning of any kind is not tolerated and should be confessed as the result of punishment. Hester Prynn and Arthur Dimmesdale commit the sin of adultery and only Hester confesses her partaking in the sin and receives her punishments. By Hester confessing her sin, she is able to gain forgiveness from God and feel guilt free. Meanwhile, Dimmesdale is consumed by his overpowering guilt of not confessing and enduring the punishments with Hester. Through the experiences of Hester and Dimmesdale, Hawthorne suggests that revealing sin leads to growth while concealing sin leads to guilt and self-destruction.

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796 Words | 4 Pages

The Consequences of Sin Sin is defined as “an offense against religious or moral law”. The idea of sin and being ostracized for your sins was extremely relevant during the Puritan period when religion was the greatest component of daily life. The Puritans believed that they had entered a covenant with God and therefore any sin, such as crime and adultery were considered a breach of their covenant with God. This view led to the church punishing people who committed sin in order for God not to punish the church as a whole. The consequences and effects of sin is shown through the character development in Nathaniel Hawthorne’s, The Scarlet Letter.

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1218 Words | 5 Pages

Hawthorne demonstrates the effects of sin on the lives and reputations of Hester, Dimmesdale, Pearl, and Chillingworth. Although many might argue, especially given the Puritan setting of the novel, that public confrontation of sin tarnishes a person’s reputation, Hawthorne’s recurring motif of sin serves to make a broader point about the dangers of repressing sin. The Scarlet Letter suggests that the acknowledgement of sin as an innate aspect of humanity ultimately fosters personal growth. Mentions of sin recur frequently throughout Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter.

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