Who Is Arthur Dimmesdale In The Scarlet Letter

Arthur Dimmesdale is a very important character in The Scarlet Letter. He is the highly respected reverend of what is now present-day Boston; they called their little town the Massachusetts bay colony. Throughout The Scarlet Letter, Dimmesdale embodies a secret that the audience quickly finds out in the beginning of the novel. He has committed adultery with Hester Prynne. Dimmesdale is guilt-ridden because of the sin he committed with Hester. He is too cowardly to confess his sin. Dimmesdale’s guilt has eaten away at him throughout the novel, physically and mentally. His guilt eventually leads to his confession and death at the end of the novel. Dimmesdale shows and feels most of his guilt when he is whipping himself, when he is in the various

Dimmesdale is the very respected minister of the town. Throughout the novel, Dimmesdale gives various sermons about sin and how not to do it. He gives such good sermons about sins because he has committed one. Dimmesdale feels guilty of committing the sin of adultery, so he writes some of the best sermons against sinning. This is very hypocritical of him because he did commit the sin he is preaching not to commit. People around the town respect Dimmesdale and admire Dimmesdale because of how passionate he is in his sermons. He does not want anyone in his town to commit a sin because he does not want them to feel the same guilt that he does. At the end of the novel, he gives an Election-Day sermon. This was the best sermon in the north-east. The sermon was symbolizing Hester and Dimmesdale committing the because “the sermon had throughout a meaning for her entirely apart from its indistinguishable words” (238). This shows that Dimmesdale felt so much guilt that he wrote such a great sermon about him and Hester committing the sin. When Dimmesdale is giving his sermons, during the various scaffold scenes, and when he is whipping himself is when Arthur Dimmesdale shows and feels his most guit in The Scarlet Letter. Dimmesdale is a guilt-ridden character who could not bring himself to confess for the sin he committed. The guilt caused him inner turmoil and self-inflicted harm for seven years. Various characters