pointing out he beauty and "perfect elegance". He never once pointed out a flaw of…
Richard Perle, a political advisor of the 1940s, once said, “Sometimes the things we...do seem objectionable in the eyes of others” (“Brainy Quote” 7). This is true of people and situations we encounter in our everyday lives, and all of us are most likely deemed objectionable more frequently than we realize. Our behaviors can appear undesirable, offensive, or scornful to others, while we may not conceive it ourselves. This is certainly true of the way readers perceive Dimmesdale’s actions to be in The Scarlet Letter, an acclaimed novel by Nathaniel Hawthorne. The story is a romance involving characters that have been embroidered so intricately…
Sometimes, Dimmesdale seems like a coward. However, all he is trying to do is be an admirable pastor to his people, yet Dimmesdale has his unconfessed sins still burdening him. The reader can understand Dimmesdale’s desolation when Dimmesdale found out who Roger Chillingworth really was. As Hawthorne says in The Scarlet Letter, “ The minister looked at her for an instant, with all that violence of passion, which - intermixed in more shapes than one his higher, purer, softer qualities - was, in fact, the portion of him which the devil claimed, and through which he sought to win the rest.” (Hawthorne 214). In that excerpt of the book, the reader can grasp Dimmesdale’s rage. He feels betrayed by Hester because she did not tell him who Roger Chillingworth really was. Dimmesdale is also very upset that even with all of the torture he has put himself through, that he still does not regret his sin. Hawthorne also adds ,” Of penance, I have had enough! Of penitence, there has been none!” (Hawthorne 212) He feels that he has tortured himself enough, but he feels no guilt for his sins. Even though Dimmesdale knows that telling the people his thoughts are erroneous, he still wants everyone to know. In fact, he feels guilty for not saying anything and letting Hester take the fall for the punishment. Hawthorne includes, “ Else, I should long ago have thrown off these garments of mock holiness, and have…
Symbolism was a literary movement during the nineteenth century that influenced many poets. Symbolism is anything that stands for or represents something else. "The Scarlet Letter", by Nathaniel Hawthorne is filled with symbolism which he uses to unify the novel and add a deeper level of meaning to the story. In the novel, the three most important symbolisms were the forest, the scaffold, and the scarlet letter "A" on Hester's bosom. But the symbolism of the scarlet letter "A" outweighs every other symbolism.…
Common throughout religious stories we read today mainly focuses on how the author feels about their faith. However, in Hawthorne’s novel The Scarlet Letter it composed a both beautiful and tragic story while still creating a deep impact on the conflicting views of the society and nature in the Puritan society. Hawthorne uses his main characters in this novel to focus on three main rhetorical strategies; symbolism, hypocrisy and maliciousness. While using these strategies Hawthorne is able to create a story of a woman who was condemned and exposed of her sin in the Puritan Society.…
Capital punishment was wide spread in Puritan Boston. Although the Bible was a moral guide, societies were swarmed with crimes and sins. The punishments included severe whipping, imprisonment, slitting nostrils, and public execution on scaffold(“Puritan”). In Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter, although the two main characters, Hester and Dimmesdale are guilty of the similar sins, they experience different punishments and outcomes.…
In Nathaniel Hawthorne’s novel, The Scarlet Letter, Reverend Dimmesdale is struggling with publicizing his sin so that he can seek forgiveness. Dimmesdale and hester have committed adultery, and Pearl is the result. He also struggles because the community keeps referring to him as a holy man because he is a minister of the town, but no one knows the truth except Hester. As the storyline progresses in The Scarlet Letter, Reverend Dimmesdale is a silent sufferer, then a secret, guilt-ridden sinner, and finally a tortured, broken confessor.…
a. Hawthorne is revealing the hypocrisy of Puritanism by highlighting the fact that even those who appear to be pious and noble are actually sinners.…
Sin is considered to be a morally bad act in the Christian faith. In The Scarlet Letter, the Puritans’ views on human nature were affected by their belief in original sin. Nathaniel Hawthorne allows the reader to see the significant role that sin plays in human experience and in the Puritan society in which Hester Prynne lived in through the use of symbols in his novel. The symbols that are present convey messages about how humans should deal with their flawed nature and the negative effects that sin has on the body, mind, and soul.…
The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne is a book depicting the struggle of a woman who is spared death after committing adultery in a strict puritan society. The woman, Hester Prynne, was spared death only for the reason to make an example to the rest of the community. Throughout the book you can see the theme of how sin changes lives appear in almost every chapter and is an important driving factor behind the plot. This theme is shown through the actions of the three main characters: Hester Prynne, Arthur Dimmesdale, and Roger Chillingworth. These three characters act in this novel as the personification of sin in three different types of sin. A different sin by each of the main characters.…
During the beginning of the passage, Dimmesdale commanded the people of New England with a strong, invigorating voice despite the weakness of the sin he carried. When Dimmesdale said “People of New England!”, Hawthorne ironically described Dimmesdale voice as “high, solemn, and majestic,- yet had always a tremor through it...struggling up out of the fathomless depth of remorse and woe.” Dimmesdale zeal is intensified with this paradoxical description, a high voice struggling from a fathomless depth, because it make Dimmesdale look like a person who’s is going against all the misery and pain that he held up for…
In the text The Minister’s Black Veil, Hawthorne writes a fictional text about covering up your sins and it will end bad if you do. He’s very soft and easy going in his tone, he uses a sad approach to get to the…
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…
According to the Bible, the Devil sought more power than he already had. He wanted the power that God has. When he wages war and loses, he is thrown to hell, but his hunger for power never ceases. He punishes people for their sin to gain more power and pleasure. The Devil is, nevertheless, the worst sinner, and a parallel is drawn to Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter. In his novel, Hawthorne presents the reader with three sinners: Hester, Dimmesdale, and Chillingsworth. It is clear in the novel that all of them are wrongdoers. Dimmesdale’s and Hester’s adultery causes them to be spiritual transgressors, but Hester’s sin is revealed to the village while Dimmesdale’s is a secret. Chillingsworth’s intentional…
“The Scarlet Letter” written by Nathaniel Hawthorne is based off the early colonial age of New England, where religion played a huge role in shaping society and life. Throughout the book, sin was a constant factor that plays a role in Reverend Dimmesdale’s life. Committing one of the unforgivable sins, adultery, with Hester, he lets his guilt control his life. However, it is better that Dimmesdale doesn’t confess his sin because it leads to Dimmesdale having greater influence over the community, and it helps him understand who he is in the process.…