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Theme Of Isolation In The Scarlet Letter

812 Words4 Pages

There are many different situations where a person become isolated and become alienated, whether it be choice from their actions or by force, it happens quite often. Some people overcome the obstacle and others let it define and control them. Whether those situations are committing a crime or having guilt, this theme is very prominent throughout Nathaniel Hawthorne’s novel The Scarlet Letter. In order to show the effects of isolation on people in different perspectives, Hawthorne uses his main characters as emblems for these situations. The main characters Hawthorne uses are Hester, Dimmesdale, and Chillingworth in relation to them the different types of isolation he uses are outcast, guilt, and, revenge isolation.
Hester Prynne committed …show more content…

Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale was highly respected throughout the Boston community, because of this the community did not suspect him to be father of Pearl. Since the community did not think of him as having any sin, he punished himself because he felt a burden of guilt for not sharing the punishment with Hester. Dimmesdale goes and stands on the scaffold at night and weeps, right in the spot Hester and Pearl were seven years ago (Hawthorne 113). Since Dimmesdale goes and stands on the scaffold, he is guilty and he is choosing to isolate himself from his community secretly, because Hester would not give up his name and Dimmesdale felt guilty. However, this was only the beginning of his self inflicted isolation. Right before Dimmesdale died he went up on the scaffold again and confessed he was actually a sinner. He rips off his shirt and reveals like Heser he has a scarlet “A”, burned on his chest (Hawthorne 194). Dimmesdale could not keep his secret any longer, his self inflicted isolation got too much for him. Dimmesdale unlike Hester let his guilt and isolation get to him so much he went mad because of his

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Arthur Dimmesdale's Guilt Quotes

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Dimmesdale suffers differently from Hester, because while she “bore it all” to the townspeople (181), his fears forced him to hide his sin, living a life full of “nothing but despair” (177). Hester, though made a social pariah of the town, has a more honest and healthy way of dealing with her sin. Because Hester is forced to face her wrongdoings under the watchful eye of her Puritan neighbors, she did not have the same guilt of secrecy that Dimmesdale did. Dimmesdale, by hiding his sin, allows himself to become a captive to his guilt. The way that Dimmesdale dealt with his guilt was unhealthy for him, both mentally and physically.

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Scarlet Letter Arthur Dimmesdale Weak

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A man named Chillingworth, who claimed to be a doctor, made Dimmesdale feel worse about his secret, Dimmesdale let him get in his head. Reverend Dimmesdale was very weak for being a priest and putting no faith into his God. Reverend Dimmesdale is afraid of his town and his people finding out about his sin. As a priest he wants to seem holy and sinless like the people think him to be, so he hides the fact he and Hester committed adultery. When Hester is on the scaffold, Dimmesdale is asked to try and get Hester to confess who the father is, “If thou feelest it to be for thy soul’s peace, and that thy earthly punishment will be made more

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Who Is Dimmesdale's Decay In The Scarlet Letter

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“And the infectious poison of that sin had been thus rapidly diffused throughout his moral system” (Hawthorne 174). In The Scarlet Letter, Dimmesdale serves as the holiest person many people meet in their moral lifetime, and as the purest embodiment of God’s word. However, Dimmesdale has a wounding secret, a cancer, that tears his soul apart throughout his time in America. Dimmesdale falls prey to sin in a moment of passion with Hester, resulting in her condemnation by the townspeople, and the birth of their child, Pearl. For years, Dimmesdale’s life is defined by an internal conflict - his job demands his purity in the eye of the townspeople, but he desires the acceptance of herself that Hester achieves through her sin being made public.

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Examples Of Foreshadowing In The Scarlet Letter

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First, Dimmesdale’s sin getting revealed was foreshadowed and it sounded as if it had to be revealed in a certain way. While Dimmesdale was with Hester and Pearl on the scaffold, Pearl asked if he would stand with them the next day. To this he said, “Nay, not so, my little Pearl, not so my child. I shall, indeed, stand with thy mother and thee one other day, but not to-morrow” (Hawthorne 99). If Dimmesdale was not worried about what the public would think once he revealed his sin, then he would have just stood their the next day and revealed it then.

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Erin Joel Mrs. Janosy English 2H P 5 22 October 2015 Quote Explication Dimmesdale is trying to overcome a conflict within his own soul, defying his own religion, and choosing to do wrong by keeping his sin to himself. In a theocracy type community like Dimmesdale's, God is known as the supreme civil ruler, and a crime would be known as a sin. On the other hand, Hester’s sin was made known to the public, receiving the public shame and ridicule she deserved. During the duration of time when the public knew Dimmesdale was hiding his sin, “the agony with which this public tortured him” (Hawthorne 119).

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Pearl.” (Hawthorne 248). When urging Pearl and Hester to join him, Dimmesdale redeemed himself of his sin while upon the scaffold a second time. As Dimmesdale, Hester, and Pearl ascended the scaffold, Chillingworth urged the reverend to not confess and live the rest of his life with this sin “followed. . .

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The True Meaning Of Dimmesdale's Scarlet Letter

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Rumors flew regarding how Dimmesdale got his scarlet letter: he carved it himself out of guilt, Chillingworth’s strong hatred increased its power, and that it was burnt onto him out of regret. All these rumors reflected the pain Dimmesdale got because he only thought of protecting his own reputation at first. Revealing that hiding anything and only to protect personal benefit will destroy one’s spirit and soul. Dimmesdale’s death impacted many characters. Chillingworth had no more sin to feed on and therefore withered; Pearl, found a happy new life in Europe.

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Scarlet Letter Compared To Today

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Have you ever thought, what would it be like to be on your own with a child and being shamed? Well, through the story The Scarlet Letter is a woman, named Hester who had went through that situation. It tells the story of how she had dealt with all of the situations that got thrown her way. The puritans point of view compared to today 's point of view of the the same situation. During the mid 17th century, it was not acceptable to have sex unless you were married, so having a child and not being married was extremely unacceptable to the puritans; whenever Hester stepped out of the prison and walked to the scaffold, were a majority of the town was to see her and criticize the book states that one of the women there to judge her had said “ If the hussy stood up for judgement before us five, that are now here in a knot together, would she come off with such a sentence as

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Scarlet Letter Guilt Quotes

1423 Words | 6 Pages

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Consequences Of Sin In The Scarlet Letter

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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Because of the effects that Dimmesdale’s sin had on those living in his society, his sin is the greatest of all those presented in the novel, as illustrated by Hawthorne through Dimmesdale’s interactions with others. Because, unlike Hester, Dimmesdale hides his sin from the

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Dimmesdale sinned with Hester Prynne by committing adultery. Although this was terrible and looked down upon, his crime was self inflicting and done out of passion. After Hester was punished for the crime, Dimmesdale was overwhelmed with guilt and sadness. This showed that Dimmesdale was a good person

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