Preview

The Scarlet Letter: Hester's Secrets Cause Harm

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
594 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
The Scarlet Letter: Hester's Secrets Cause Harm
The Scarlet Letter, written by Nathaniel Hawthorne, follows the story of Hester Prynne and her dealings with a nasty love triangle and life with the sin of adultery. Hawthorne also outlines the consequences of keeping secrets and the effects it may have on the lives of oneself and others. In this novel, Hester keeps many destructive secrets that harm more than herself and some that she should have shared before it got too late. Hester most likely believed that her secrets harmed herself and spared others pain as long as they were hers and hers alone. However, Hester’s secrets harmed many more people, including her lover Dimmesdale and her husband Chillingworth. Her secrets hurt Dimmesdale the most. When she shared that her husband was Chillingworth, he seemed almost heartbroken at the fact that she would hide such an important piece of information from him. Dimmesdale was also hurt in many ways when she withheld the identity of the father of Pearl from the community, such as harming himself to deal with the fact he did not come forth at court. In fact, this very act also resulted in the harm of Chillingworth. He vowed revenge because he did not know who the baby’s father was, which sent him and his health in a downward spiral. Her acts in holding these secrets were destructive in the community as well, not just harmful to a few people. The community as a whole had to deal with the shame of having an adulteress within its jurisdiction and many people were disgusted with the idea of it in the first place. To make matters worse, her secrets caused the downfall of the local minister and doctor, both of which were very esteemed. Her secrets caused Dimmesdale’s aforementioned self harm and Chillingworth’s spite towards him, which when combined sent his health downwards very quickly. He, also sharing the secret, eventually collapsed under the pressure and, in his last sermon, died. Chillingworth died as well because he had spent so much of his time and energy being

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Satisfactory Essays

    The Scarlet Letter is known for its enigmatic story telling nature through its author within an author within another author narration. Or simply yet Hester Prynne’s story, twice removed. Through this profound story of a young woman, Hester Prynne, living in the tenacious and pedestrian Puritan society of the New England…

    • 52 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    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…

    • 1375 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The weird ethical hazard to Hester in her loneliness was that it gave her moreover small chance for demonstrative interaction with other people. Hawthorne forced the readers to ponder that how a woman committing adultery is a major offence in a hypocritical society. Hawthorne symbolized Hester as an agent and a rebel who violates laws as Tony Tanner offered a likely justification by saying that:…

    • 253 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    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…

    • 1373 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Especially in chapters thirteen and fourteen, we see how sin is gripping on Chillingworth and Dimmesdale. Hester views Dimmesdale’s suffering as her responsibility to help him- after all, they are connected. “Hester saw- or seemed to see- that there lay a responsibility upon her, in reference to the clergyman, which she owed to no other, nor the whole world besides. The links that united her to the rest of humankind--links of flowers, or silk, or gold, or whatever the material--had all been broken. Here was the iron link of mutual crime, which neither he nor she could break.” Because of this link, Hester finds it appropriate to talk to Chillingworth about the pain and suffering he’s inflicted upon Dimmesdale. She realizes that his thirst to find the sin in Dimmesdale has changed him into a different man that he was when she was married to him, it has truly taken a toll on him inside and out.…

    • 393 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Hester was convicted of being an adulterer, and the novels follows her story in a 17th century Puritan town. The tale focuses on Hester, her daughter Pearl, her lover Dimmesdale, and her husband Chillingworth. They are all enduring their own battles with sin, some coming out of it better than others. Pearl is a physical version of Hester and Dimmesdale’s consciences. Pearl serves as a living version of the scarlet A on Hester’s chest. She torments Hester, and pushes Dimmesdale to acknowledge his sins. Pearl serves as a major character in this classic tragedy, and leaves the character better off than they…

    • 801 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Hawthorne’s novel The Scarlet Letter describes life through the eyes of 4 main characters, including a woman who was caught of committing adultery. Hester Prynn was the emotional martyr and symbol of the Scarlet Letter. Throughout the course of the story she undergoes change in her mentality state, the way her eyes perceive the World, and perhaps even the way she smiles. Her strength becomes the Scarlet Letter and her innocent Pear. She encounters much conflict (internal and external), throughout the story. Hester, once a prisoner of her sin, spent a long life held by its chains. This all transpired until forgiveness stepped in.…

    • 754 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Since his first encounter with Hester, Chillingworth promises himself and Hester that he will seek the man that partook in their sin and without and sympathy, make him suffer. Chillingworth cold-bloodedly poisoned Dimmesdale by pretending to be a helpful physician, which provided him opportunities that “turned to a cruel purpose” (Hawthorne 174). Chillingworth is hurt by Hester’s betrayal and therefore feels like he, in a way, has to return the pain by torturing Dimmesdale. In this time period, women were expected to wait for their husbands even when they were uncertain of their existence. Although it was Hester’s “responsibility” to anticipate their husband’s arrival, Dimmesdale, as a minister, should not have committed adultery with her, knowing that she was…

    • 677 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    “His form grew more emaciated; his voice, though still rich and sweet, had a certain melancholy prophesy of decay in it; he was often observed, on any sight alarm or sudden accident, to put his hand over his heart, with first a flush and then a paleness, indicative of pain”. Dimmesdale grew sicker and sicker by the day resulting from his guilt. It is this torture that made it obvious to the reader, as well as Chillingworth, that he was Pearl’s father. This is the reason that Chillingworth attended to Dimmesdale everyday till the day he died. Chillingworth was set on revenge and in turn saw the torture Dimmesdale underwent every day. He did not cure Dimmesdale, he merely watched him die slowly inside. The fact that Dimmesdale dies at the end of the story makes it clear that he was suffering far more than either Hester or Chillingworth. While he dies too, it is more because of defeat rather than the inner torture Dimmesdale lives with for so long. He was being consumed in mind and in body by the sin because he was unable to accept it and admit it, despite the pain it…

    • 482 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Hester Prynne is the novel’s individual who is the wearer of the scarlet letter. While in her youth, she resided in Amsterdam with her older husband Roger Chillingworth. Chillingworth sent the young and beautiful Hester to America before him, so he could finish his business. While Hester waited for her husband, she had a love affair with the Reverend Dimmesdale and conceived a child. Later, she gives birth to a girl, Pearl, and must endure the shame and scorn of the town. Punishment for her crime of adultery was the display of her scarlet A upon her bosom. Hester shows her courage and strength throughout the predicament.…

    • 1438 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    They even suspect that Chillingworth may not be who he is based on the testimony of an aged handicraftsman. However when Chillingworth first arrived they “were inclined to see a providential hand in Robert Chillingworth’s so opportune arrival” (Hawthorne, 74). They had seen Chillingworth as a Godly character that had been sent to help take care of their reverend while Chillingworth was just plotting his revenge. As Chillingworth and Dimmesdale’s relationship developed, opening a window, Dimmesdale felt he was “admitting a freer atmosphere into the close and stifled study” (Hawthorne, 75). When in the presence of Chillingworth, Dimmesdale felt a lot of tension and opening the window was i na sense, his escape. Though Dimmesdale “had his suspicions” he went along with Chillingworth practices as “rejecting the aid which Providence so manifestly held out” was considered a sin (Hawthorne,…

    • 489 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Dimmesdale experiences a world of hurt inflicted by Chillingworth, and Hester is aware of it and doesn’t try to stop it. Consequently, the reader is unsure if there is still a connection between Hester and Dimmesdale. On the other hand, the two are linked by “... the iron link of mutual crime, which neither he nor she could break. Like all other ties, it brought along with it its obligations” (Hawthorne, 145). Dimmesdale helped Hester in numerous ways, yet she watches him face seven years of emotional and physical torture and pain and failed to return the favor. Dimmesdale was miserable after each sermon because his true thoughts and feelings could not be shared and expressed to the public. Hester differed in how she was serene through her isolation. Hester’s lack of action demonstrates how her personality became…

    • 769 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Scarlet Letter is a novel written by Nathaniel Hawthorne. This essay discusses how Hester is a victim of her social pressure. She was punished for something she did to achieve her dream of having someone that loves her. Hester committed adultery with minister Dimmesdale and had a child with him, Pearl. Her punishment was to stand on the scaffold with her child and wear the letter A on her breast as a sign of her “crime”. Due to the strictures of the puritan society, Hester Prynne suffers from public shaming. She almost lost her only child, and was not able to openly love who she wanted.…

    • 812 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    There is a lot of commotion around the town discussing whether or not Hester’s punishment was enough to be considered just. Some of the people wanted a harsher punishment and not some weak punishment like being in jail for a couple of days. But the punishment the magistrates gave was a good one and they didn’t need to go to the extreme. Hester did break a major crime committed adultery and she will pay for it later on, she is going to be outcast of the town, and she will keep pearl so she will always remember what she has done.…

    • 550 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    There have been around 715 people that have been shot by police alone in 2016. Police violence in the US has become a major point of interest recently due to the amount of shootings. In recent news there have been many reports of police shooting and/or killing black men, which has led to movements such as the black lives matter movement, a movement working for the validity of black lives. Although there are points made to support both sides of the story, I feel that the police are to blame for the recent amount of violence. Many of the recent reports of black males being shot by the police has sparked a conversation about if the police should wear body cameras and has sparked the gun control debate in the United States. After reaching levels of police brutality as it was in the 1990’s with things…

    • 1005 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays