Human Frailty And Sorrow In Scarlet Letter

In The Scarlet Letter, by revealing sin’s debilitating power on Dimmesdale, Hawthorne constructs a tale of human frailty and sorrow, thus highlighting that mankind is innately weak. Reverend Dimmesdale was both physically and mentally affected by the guilt of keeping his sin a secret, and was ultimately weakened enormously due to it. Because of his high status as a reverend, Dimmesdale was not able to tell the townspeople that he was the mysterious man who had committed adultery with Hester. This guilt that manifested itself inside him resulted in a mental illness. Since humans are naturally incapable of control and strength, Dimmesdale’s emotions were able to take control of his soul. The sorrow that was born from his guilt manipulated his actions to the extent that he relied on scourging himself, holding out lengthy vigils, thus characterizing the repeated “introspection wherewith he tortured, but could not purify, himself” (Hawthorne 172). His misery could not be removed and purified by any means, as his mind was too weak to do so. His physical frailty was also a result of his inability to resist the guilt. The worry about the people finding out his secret burdened his mind, thereby resulting in his sickness. Along with this, he was unable to refuse Chillingworth’s malicious influences. Dimmesdale was not capable of resisting the temptation of having interest in Chillingworth’s scientific ideas, which eventually led to the doctor’s infiltration and revenge. Chillingworth then gradually poisoned Dimmesdale until he was even more ill and it was impossible to recover. Reverend Dimmesdale’s sorrow and illness was the result of his weakness in controlling his emotions and temptations.