He is also the person who damns her because she wouldn't say who her lover was when really it was him. Thats when the secret guilt inside of Dimmesdale started. It got so bad to where he started to scourge himself with wips. He eventually becomes very ill because of this overwhelming guilt that he has and breaks down to Hester and tells her that he can’t go one the way he is. Eventually Dimmesdale reveals to everyone the truth about him and Hester and their secret affair. Most people just inferred that Dimmesdale would never do anything like this and didn't even think to question him. Unlike Ms. Prynne who confronts her guilt and shame early on in the story, Dimmesdale holds onto his guilt secretly until he finally goes through a process of, at first blaming Hester, then realizing that it wasn't all her fault, to having such strong guilt that he starts hurting himself, to doubting that he will ever get better, after which he comes out and shows everyone his scarlet letter, this process frees him to come to peace with what he did and accept his guilt and…
Hester feels that she is to blame for Dimmesdale’s poor condition because while Dimmesdale has been torturing himself over his secret and slowly killing himself, Hester just sat back and witnessed it all and did not help in comforting him.…
Hester Prynne’s sin in the Scarlet Letter, was adultery. She committed adultery with Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale. This sin in particular was one of the more frowned upon of the Puritan faith. In result of this sin, she became pregnant and gave birth to Pearl, who becomes the highlight of Hester’s life. Dimmesdale’s sin as recently explained was adultery as well. He as the priest was looked upon as the most honorable man in the community and was supposed to be considered sinless.…
Dimmesdale’s symbol changes throughout the entire book. It starts off by him symbolizing a holy figure since he is the reverend so the Puritan society looks up to him and they don’t expect him to commit a sin. For the most part, he symbolises hypocrisy, in chapter 3, he states “What can thy silence do for him, except to tempt him---yea, compel him, as it were---to add hypocrisy to sin?” (page 65). He knows what what will happen to him if he keeps his sin to himself, but at that point in the book he’s already afraid to let the townspeople know. He goes to preach every week on how bad his sin is and how bad of a person he is but he still keeps it to himself. Since the townspeople don’t know about his sin, they still look up to him as if he were…
Dimmesdale inhabits the shame brought on by religiosity. After sinning twice, first the adultery he commit with Hester and second by lying and hiding the first, Dimmesdale wallows in his own guilt. He begins to have visions of Hester and Pearl pointing out his guilt and of members of the community mocking him. He wishes to stand with Hester and Pearl on the scaffold. He wishes to tell his congregation, "to speak out, from his own pulpit, at the full height of his voice, and tell the people what he was" (125), but he hides this and the guilt gnaws at him. It gnaws at him until…
According to Bruce Granger, who quotes, “The beautiful Hester, who has been wandering morally ever since they sinned together, is now more his enemy than the diabolical Chillingworth” (199). This quote is brought upon by the idea that Dimmesdale becomes lacking in will due to his strong affection for Hester, and ultimately causes Dimmesdale to have a moment in which he attempts to run away from his sin. Even though Dimmesdale wants to escape the pain of his sin by being with the woman he loves, Dimmesdale can not run away from his past and suffers from not being able to be with Hester. Another aspect to support this idea is when Dimmesdale proclaims, “Neither can I any longer live without her companionship; so powerful is she to sustain” (Hawthorne 177). This quote from the Scarlet Letter shows how significant Hester is to Dimmesdale. Dimmesdale is admitting to Hester how much he longs for her and how much he has suffered from being away from Hester. Even though Dimmesdale tells Hester of how much he longs to be with her and Pearl, Dimmesdale still feels the sin chasing after him, when he does not hold Hester’s or Pearl’s hand to walk into town. “Will he go back with us, hand in hand, we three together, into the town?” (Hawthorne 185). Hester helps explain to Pearl that Dimmesdale…
A shocking story about a young women committing adultery in a such strict community. This event occurred in the seventeenth-century Boston.The young women who committed the sin is Hester Prynne. Hester Prynne had committed this sin with a Puritan minister named Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale. Hester’s real husband in disguise is Roger Chillingworth. Roger Chillingworth had sent Hester to America while he stayed behind in Europe but was supposed to follow Hester. The result of Chillingworth not following Hester was a baby girl named Pearl.…
In the Scarlet Letter two of the primary characters are provided by the author to show us a kind of foil. The one character, Reverend Dimmesdale, seems as if he is kind, but he has been living with a terrible burden, hindering him everywhere he goes. Chillingworth is his opposite, you would assume him to be nice when really he is quite evil. Dimmesdale and Chillingworth bring out each other's characteristics and bring out the characteristics of other characters around them. Dimmesdale and Chillingworth but heads in every aspect of their lives especially when it comes to Hester, who just so happens to be the only thing they have in common.…
Through all his inner turmoil, Dimmesdale still remains with a connection to God. He says that he will not confess to Chillingworth because he lacks to spirituality of God to heal a disease of the soul. Only God can heal this spiritual illness because he is the only “physician of the soul.” Dimmesdale’s religious beliefs still remain despite him growing weaker. His recognition of God’s heavenly power over him, allows him to believe that God will do with him as he pleases. Due to Chillingworth’s inability to heal him, He does not want him to come between him and God.…
Dimmesdale can be classified as a tragic hero, but also has qualities that do not fit. His tragic flaw is actually an action that occurred in the past, and resulted in Hester Prynne's pregnancy, rather than something he was born with or into. Arthur Dimmesdale accepts death, even though with honor since he was able to concede to his relationship with Hester and Pearl. His greatness and legend left with the Puritan society is proven with the quote, “After exhausting life in his efforts for mankind’s spiritual good, he had made the manner of his death a parable, in order to impress on his admirers the mighty and mournful lesson, that, in the view of Infinite Purity, we are sinners all alike” (Hawthorne 243). Hester manages to support herself and Pearl, through sewing and still manages to give to and tend to the poor, becoming a "self-ordained a Sister of Mercy" (Hawthorne 150). She even manages to win the grudging respect of the townspeople, because she's full of "helpfulness," and so much "power to do, and power to sympathize" (Hawthorne 150). Hester’s character traits sufficiently describe one that accurately fits Henry Ward Beecher’s quote since she truly does improve the lives of others around her by correctly using her strengths for…
Unfortunately for Dimmesdale, he is unable to escape the unbearable suffering of his shame and does not find it as enlightening as Hester does. Dimmesdale cannot express the truth regarding his actions with Hester and that silence is more shameful than any punishment she receives (Kilborne 473). Hawthorne describes Dimmesdale’s life as:…
Much of the guilt related irony that occurs in the story happens between Dimmesdale and Hester. It is ironic how Dimmesdale has an inner guilt about his adulterous sin although the town thinks of him as an angelic figure in the community. This inner guilt eventually manifests itself in a physical form which can be seen in this quote "A bodily disease, which we look upon as whole and entire within itself, may, after all, be but a symptom of some ailment in the spiritual part." (pg. 141) Also Hester being the one who was humiliated and publicly demised did not suffer as much as Dimmesdale. And quite ironically Hester survives all of the suffering she has gone through because she does not hold on to her guilt and at a point lets go of her guilt. Dimmesdale on the other hand dies of all the guilt that he has held onto this whole…
The Scarlet Letter was written in 1850. This book was written by Nathanial Hawthorne. He wrote the book to apologize because he was embarrassed about his ancestors. This book is about a puritan woman who commits the sin of adultery. The puritans did not want the government controlling them so that’s why they came to America. Hawthorne wrote this book to show that guilt can destroy a person’s body and soul. In this book Hawthorne shows how the character Dimmesdale destroys himself his body and his soul alike.…
Physically, his sin caused him to look like “an emaciated figure, his thin cheek, his white, heavy, pain-wrinkled brow” (149); he had become so physically pathetic from the guilt which tore at him internally. Dimmesdale’s method of repentance was much worse than Hester’s, both emotionally and physically. Emotionally, Dimmesdale was deeply torn over his moral responsibilities to himself and his responsibility to the community, ultimately refusing to confront his sin and redeem himself. Instead, he attempts to justify and convince himself that he is refusing to “display [himself] black and filthy in the view of men...because, thenceforward...no evil of the past be redeemed by better service” (91). Dimmesdale refuses to expose his secret in fear of losing the his role and respect in the Puritan community. He laments the relief that he has seen in “sinful brethren...who at last draw free air, after long stifling with his own polluted breath” (90), as he is both physically and emotionally pained by the stifling of his guilt. However, contradicting his own morals--based in the Puritan religion--and those that vest right action and right thought in Hester, Dimmesdale continues to suppress his guilt in an attempt to maintain his prestigious standing within the…
The downfall of an individual can grow from the societal influences of society’s compulsion to conform. In Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter, Hester Prynne and reverend Arthur Dimmesdale endeavor to assimilate to the expectations of a puritan society. Throughout the novel, Prynne and Dimmesdale fight to make amends for their sin of adultery, and as the town glares a spiteful eye at Prynne, Dimmesdale hides away, still loved by all. Prynne makes a conscious decision to embrace her quarantine from the community’s shunning. However, Dimmesdale faces an internal battle of shame and guilt while concealing his immorality. Prynne and Dimmesdale suffer the fate of alienation, however, Prynne accepts isolation, becoming steadfast, while Dimmesdale…