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Arthur Dimmesdale In Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter

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The Scarlet Letter Today it is not uncommon for someone to appear different than how they actually are. This is made easy by television and social media now, but the concept was around even in the 1850s. The Scarlet Letter by, Nathaniel Hawthorne, shows that there can be two sides to a person-how they are and who they appear to be. This is demonstrated by several characters in the book including Hester Prynne, Arthur Dimmesdale, and Roger Chillingworth. In the beginning of the book, Hester Prynne is being punished for adultery. She must stand on a scaffold for three hours and get publicly humiliated by the puritans. She also must wear an “A” on her bosom which stands for adultery. At first none of the puritans accept Hester because of her sin. “Of an impulse and …show more content…

Dimmesdale is a minister in the Puritan town. He is a very respected and likable man. “Therefore, so far as his duties would permit, he trod in the shadowy bypaths, and thus kept himself simple and childlike, coming forth, when occasion was, with a freshness, and fragrance, and dewy purity of thought, which, as many people said, affected them like the speech of an angel” (72). From this description Dimmesdale is almost like the perfect Puritan. But he is not.Dimmesdale has a secret . He has sinned many times and now is telling the truth so the entire Puritan town will find out. “And thus, while standing on the scaffold, in this vain shown of expiation, Mr. Dimmesdale was overcome with a great horror of mine, as if the universe were gazing at the scarlet token on his naked breast, right over his heart” (144). Dimmesdale has sinned more times than Hester, but he looked like an “angel” to the Puritans so they don’t suspect anything. In reality, he should be punished also. Dimmesdale is the opposite of Hester being that he seems to be this “perfect” minister but he would be very disrespected by his society if they found

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I believe Dimmesdale did enough for forgiveness because in the end of the story, he stood on the scaffold with Hester and Pearl. In the Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne in chapter 23 Hawthorne states; “Hester Prynne," cried he, with a piercing earnestness, "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! Thy strength, Hester; but let it be guided by the will which God hath granted me! This wretched and wronged old man is opposing it with all his might!--with all his own might, and the fiend's! Come, Hester--come!

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1158 Words | 5 Pages

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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1227 Words | 5 Pages

Dimmesdale’s True Colors Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale, also the father of Hester’s child, showed prominent parts of his character throughout the story. The first trait the reader becomes aware of is Dimmesdale’s cowardice. He has no intentions of revealing his sin to the public, due to how highly he is seen in the community’s eyes. Remorse, or guilt, is another term that can be associated with Dimmesdale, growing increasingly more prominent as the novel goes on. Cowardice, a lacking of bravery when facing danger, was a trait that Dimmesdale carried.

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1464 Words | 6 Pages

Even though only one person that he knows of, Hester, knows his sin, he still is going insane from the misconduct he did. Dimmesdale cannot be freed of his private guilt that is driving him crazy. Dimmesdale is noticeable being damaged by the suffering of keeping his guilt private. After Hester and Dimmesdale discuss their plans to runaway together, in the woods, Dimmesdale returns to the town with a new attitude. He grasps the

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836 Words | 4 Pages

Initially, Dimmesdale does not appear incongruous to the Puritan society but acknowledges that vengeance will come upon him. He maintains his good

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1140 Words | 5 Pages

Hester's divine beauty outshines others corrupt beliefs of her. While Hester walks stumbles out the prison doors and onto the dreaded scaffold, Hawthorne describes Hester as "the young woman [who] was tall, with a figure of perfect elegance, on a large scale" (40). Hester Prynne is being publicly shamed for the act of adultery she committed along with the minister who condemns her. She is forced to stand on the scaffold and beat the sorrow of he sins with the scarlet letter "A" on her bosom to represent her shameful acts. This mark of embarrassment serves a purpose to make her appear unrighteous, but the author chooses to focus on her beauty, which outshines this emblem.

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741 Words | 3 Pages

In chapter 11 especially Dimmesdale struggles to come to terms with his sin and it weighs heavily on him but he is still not willing to sacrifice his respect within the community. Dimmesdale struggles to come to terms with his sin because he knows that he will be unable to fully redeem himself if he continues to hide his sin from puritan society but he feels extremely conflicted because he doesn't want to sacrifice his reputation. ”They deemed the young clergyman a miracle of holiness. They fancied him the mouth-piece of Heaven’s messages of wisdom, and rebuke, and love. In their eyes, the very ground on which he trod was sanctified”(pg.94).

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523 Words | 3 Pages

All that Dimmesdale has to live for his life is serving out his sentence; this is where, Dimmesdale must make a huge decision on whether he should conceal sin, or let his words roam free. When the minister is able to go into the forest, which is a place unlike Puritan society, he is able to talk with Hester, which lets him become his true self: where he is able to come out to the public of his

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941 Words | 4 Pages

We are all sinners, no matter how hard we try to hide our faults, they always seem to come back, one way or another. Written in the 19th century, Nathaniel Hawthorne shows us Hester Prynne and how one sin can change her life completely. Hester Prynne changes a great deal throughout The Scarlet Letter. Through the view of the Puritans, Hester is an intense sinner; she has gone against the Puritan way of life committing the highest act of sin, adultery. For committing such a sinful act, Hester must wear the scarlet letter while also having to bear stares from those that gossip about her.

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978 Words | 4 Pages

The narrator states, "Arthur Dimmesdale gazed into Hester's face with a look in which hope and joy shone out, indeed, but with fear betwixt them, and a kind of horror at her boldness, who had spoken what he vaguely hinted at, but dared not to speak" (Hawthorne 138). Nevertheless, his moral development continuously stays at Stage 1 "Obedience and Punishment Orientation" because yet again his actions are selfish. He is more considerate about his

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1582 Words | 7 Pages

When you choose to hold onto a secret, your brain stimulates in your mind just how bad sharing the secret will be, imagining all the possible outcomes. With Arthur Dimmesdale’s decision to conceal his secret he released upon himself negative feelings which led him to self hate and harm. Arthur Dimmesdale’s sin of concealment leads to his downfall because the burden was heavier which led to self punishment, denial of God's worthiness, and eventually death. As a servant of God, it is Dimmesdale’s duty to tell the truth, so lying about adultery for seven years was especially hard on him. Dimmesdale believes that he is a fraud and unfit to lead a town to salvation.

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696 Words | 3 Pages

This only made his guilt worsen. Dimmesdale does not feel passionate when he is trying to do job. The people are only imagining getting help because his tainted soul could not possibly redeem other souls. He feels as if he is cheating those people in their faith. Hester then tries to rebuttal by saying “Your present life is not less holy, in very truth, than it seems in people's eyes.

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796 Words | 4 Pages

In the novel, Hester Prynne’s sin is the most obvious as she has committed adultery and as a result gives birth to a child named Pearl. Her adulterous act is extremely frowned upon in the New England Puritan society and she is forced to be publicly recognized and humiliated and decides to brand a red “A” on her

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1404 Words | 6 Pages

Because of the effects that Dimmesdale’s sin has on Chillingworth, the town suffers as well. The betrayal of their pastor leads them to refuse to see the truth when he pleads for the public to see his guilt at the end of the novel, and his secrecy from the people that adore him is one of the slyest and vile parts of his sin. The blind faith that the public has in their reverend is mislead by his deceit, which causes his sin to grow to a scale that Hester’s never did. Dimmesdale also harmed Pearl, by not standing with her and Hester on the day they were condemned. When she is grown, she asks, “Doth

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247 Words | 1 Pages

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