Suffering In The Scarlet Letter By Arthur Dimmesdale

In the novel, The Scarlet Letter, Hester Prynne and Arthur Dimmesdale are faced with major pain and suffering. Dimmesdale forced himself to keep Hester’s and his secret safe, which continued to fester inside him and cause detriment to his well-being. Also, Chillingworth continued to torture him slowly, over the years, which made his suffering worse. Many other factors contributed to the devastation of Dimmesdale, but these are of great importance. Hester and Dimmesdale both indeed suffered, but Dimmesdale suffered more throughout his life, because of his internal pain and the infliction of self-harm, as well as external detriment from outside sources.

Throughout the story, Dimmesdale is constantly tortured by vengeful Chillingworth, who plans

“On that spot, in very truth, there was, and there had long been, the gnawing and poisonous tooth of bodily pain. Without any effort of his will or power to restrain himself, he shrieked aloud…detecting so much misery and terror in it, had made a plaything of the sound, and were bandying it to and fro”(139). He was literally going crazy and losing his sanity, due to the amount of suffering he was experiencing. “The glimmer of this luminary suggested the above conceits to Mr. Dimmesdale, who smiled--nay, almost laughed at them--and then wondered if he were going mad”(141). His mental state was questionable due to the fact he could not tell what was real and what was in his head, because this aching pain was getting to his head and messing with his conscious and mental awareness. “...the minister discovered, by the faintness which came over him, that the last few moments had been a crisis of terrible anxiety, although his mind had made an involuntary effort to relieve itself by a kind of lurid playfulness”(142). The side effects of his pain and suffering include severe anxiety, mental strain, and the inability to tell what is real and what is not. While he stood upon the scaffold, he thought of what would happen if he stood up there in public and confessed his sin. “Carried away by the grotesque horror of this picture, the minister, unawares, and to his own

“In her late singular interview with Mr. Dimmesdale, Hester Prynne was shocked at the condition to which she found the clergyman reduced”(150). His physical state clearly showed that he was mentally and physically bruised and that he was hurting. “His nerve seemed absolutely destroyed. His moral force was abased into more than childish weakness”(150). She knows that disease was taking over him, and she knows who is adding to his mental distress, Chillingworth. “...besides the legitimate action of his own conscience, a terrible machinery had been brought to bear, and was still operating, on Mr. Dimmesdale’s well-being and repose”(150). He had gone from this reverent, amazing, truthful man, to this weak, diseased, and suppressed man who was faced with distress and suffering. “Knowing what this poor, fallen man had once been, her whole soul was moved by the shuddering terror with which he had appealed to her--the outcast woman--for support against his instinctively discovered enemy”(150). Hester did suffer greatly throughout the story, but for about half of her life, she suffered and received judgements from the public, however people were able to be more forgiving, while Dimmesdale held in his pain all his life, and his greatest enemy was himself. He even tells Hester how much he is hurting. “‘Hester, I am most miserable!’”(182). He also tells Hester that she openly wears her sin, while