What may a red "A" on your bosom mean? Well for Hester Prynne, it was a punishment that she had and only her had to pay. After having a baby, Pearl, with a man that was not her husband, she was charged with adultery. She carried the punishment to her grave, but not until seven years after Pearl had been born did the father speak out.
Dimsdale’s Decision By Aurora Tennant Have you ever had to make a really hard decision? This was exactly the position Dimsdale was in. We know that adultery was committed. I believe that he should have confessed in the beginning. Conversely some believe, he should not have confessed in the beginning.
GRADE Man is not what he thinks he is, he is what he hides. – André Malraux. Everyone agrees that Dimmesdale deserved to be punished for his actions. However some believe that Hester should have revealed his identity, while other believe that she should not have.
There is always a defining moment in every novel revealing how a certain character will be shown. These moments are “first” seen through the initial action of each character and then ended by their “last”. Each “first” defines how someone is seen, but there is always a turning point in each novel that changes at least one character for the better. The “last” of Reverend Dimmesdale from The Scarlet Letter shows how much he has changed since the beginning of the novel into a better, more dauntless man. At the beginning of the novel Reverend Dimmesdale acted cowardly, not being strong enough to reveal the truth of his sin thus allowing the guilt to destroy him inside out.
Hester, Pearl, and Dimmesdale were all forgiven by god. Hester breaks free from all the negativity and her beauty finally shows. Dimmesdale is still lived by all the citizens. Pearl becomes rich and lives a great life. Hester and Dimmesdale were no longer tortured by god.
Dimmesdale is the biggest jerk of The Scarlet Letter. From the beginning of the book, Dimmesdale is a hypocrite. Although it is implied that he preaches against premarital sex as a Puritan pastor, Dimmesdale commits adultery with Hester. After getting Hester pregnant, he avoids visiting Hester and his daughter for seven years.
Dimsdale is reluctant to admit his sin because he has the mentality that he can never lose respect from the public however in order to gain redemption for his sins he has to sacrifice his reputation. Dimsdale is one of the main characters in Nathaniel Hawthorn’s “The Scarlet Letter” he is the minister of the puritan community in Boston and everyone in the community looks up to him. Dimsdale is the puritan minister of Boston who has a high reputation who is considered to be an important member of the community. Sin is intolerable within the puritan community and that is why Dimsdale is so conflicted when it comes to confessing his sin since he is a person that everyone looks up to.
Which reveals that God forgave Dimmesdale for his sins. Dimmesdale was then finally kissed by Pearl on the lips. Pearl’s role as consciousness was fulfilled. At the end of chapter 23, Hawthorne states; “"Shall we not meet again? "
As he takes his last breaths in Hester's arms, Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale exclaims, “God knows; and He is merciful! He hath proved his mercy, most of all, in my afflictions. Had either of these agonies been wanting, I had been lost for ever”. Throughout The Scarlet Letter, Dimmesdale is tormented endlessly by remorse and the repression of his sin. Because of this, in his final moments, he is driven to reveal to the townspeople that he is the father of Pearl, finally relieving the guilt he burdened himself with for seven years.
Arthur Dimmesdale is a respected man. He is the puritan minister in The Scarlet Letter, and the community looks up to him. But he has a secret that no one but Hester Prynne knows. He is the father of her child, and confessing to his sin will cost him everything. In the beginning, we see Dimmesdale as a weak but religiously strong man, he is seen as cowardly through his avoidance of confessing of his sin.
In Chapter 9 Hester and Pearl were going out to the forest to meet up with Dimmesdale. Dimmesdale has not found peace, only but pain and sadness. Even though Hester was suppose to keep secrets she told Dimmesdale right in his face that the doctor Chillingworth was Hester’s husband, then she went on and told Dimmesdale all about the doctor that she was suppose to keep a secret. Hester took off the scarlet letter and called out for Pearl to say that the minister was her father. She reacted very different because she wanted to be a public thing not a secret.
Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter followed the lives of Hester Prynne and Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale. Their daughter Pearl represented the guilt and gifts brought upon them during their time together in Boston. Hester and Dimmesdale’s sinful actions resulted in the birth of Pearl. In the beginning of the story, the Bostonians condemned Hester for committing adultery.
Dimmesdale develops because in the beginning of the novel, he is a devout Puritan, and as the reader gets more into the novel, they recognize that Arthur Dimmesdale does not truly know himself and “have it all together” the way that every other person thinks that he does. Dimmesdale, the human depiction of "human frailty and sorrow," is young, pale, and physically unhealthy. He has large, sad-looking eyes and a constantly trembling mouth, suggesting that Dimmesdale is sensitive. As an ordained Puritan minister, he is well educated, and he has a philosophical train of thought. He is obviously fully devoted to God, passionate in his religion, and effective behind a minister’s podium.
Hester and Dimmesdale have a very unique love for eachother. Their love is reminiscent of Romeo and Juliet in the way that they are not able to pursue it. They are people who have been hardened and hurt by their past mistakes. They share that connection with each other unlike anyone else. Hester and Pearl go to meet up with Dimmesdale in the forest in complete effort to keep their relationship a complete secret.
The narrator states, "Arthur Dimmesdale gazed into Hester's face with a look in which hope and joy shone out, indeed, but with fear betwixt them, and a kind of horror at her boldness, who had spoken what he vaguely hinted at, but dared not to speak" (Hawthorne 138). Nevertheless, his moral development continuously stays at Stage 1 "Obedience and Punishment Orientation" because yet again his actions are selfish. He is more considerate about his
