In the novel The Scarlet Letter, Nathaniel Hawthorne tells a thrilling, dark story of a woman who committed a great sin, who also paid the price, and of the man who committed it alongside her, but was able to cower in his pity and shame. Hester Prynne and Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale have a dangerous and sinful affair while Roger Chillingworth, Hester’s husband, is away and thought to be dead. Throughout the novel, many characters can be depicted as an antagonist, but only one truly stands out. Arthur Dimmesdale proves to be the main antagonist all throughout the novel and in various examples, and through the end, he remains as the same lowly hypocrite that he started out as. Arthur Dimmesdale proves to be a huge hypocrite throughout the book.