Heroism In The Scarlet Letter
Scarlet Letter Essay
(How is Dimmesdale Heroic or cowardly?)
Due to textual evidence found in the novel, it is relevant to say that Dimmesdale was a heroic character in the Scarlet Letter. Dimmesdale can be considered heroic in the novel because he is compassionate, wants to appeal to Hester, and is in general just a nice human being. Details of Dimmesdale’s compassion include him going on Hester’s side when her baby was at risk of being taken away from her and also has conversations with Hester into reviving their relationship. dimmesdale shows acts of appeal to Hester by standing on the scaffold, and is generally nice by wanting to know his own daughter.
Dimmesdale can be seen as compassionate because he cares for Hester and her well being.
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One such example of this is when Dimmesdale goes alone to stand on the Scaffold that Hester was standing on as part of her punishment as adultery. (Hawthorne Ch 12) This shows that Dimmesdale is showing Hester that he can accept he was part of this act of adultery as well. Dimmesdale also asks Hester to tell the people who the baby's father is. (Hawthorne Ch 2-3) This again shows that he is not afraid to be with Hester through this ordeal.
Dimmesdale is also shown in the book to be a generally a nice person. An example of this is is throughout the book, he tries to get more involved in Pearl’s Life as he sees that they are precious moments with his daughter. Another example is when Dimmesdale says to everyone publically he has committed the sin of adultery. Instead of reporting him to the authorities and having him punished, they congratulate him for being holy as he’s always been. This shows that people know him as a nice person.
These examples show that Dimmesdale was a heroic person in The Scarlet Letter. He can also be considered a “Tragic Hero,” because he died with all of these events in his life completed, but did not get his ultimate goal of reuniting with
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