Scarlet Letter Guilt Quotes

In The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne, the illustration of guilt as portrayed as a feeling of responsibility or remorse for a wrong doing. In the novel, it exemplifies different types of guilt, such as guilt being cause by physical activity, someone doing wrong to God or religion, and a situation of something having intentions on doing harm to someone. For example, Dimmesdale commits a sinful act of adultery with Hester, who later leaves Hester and Pearl to suffer alone while he remains known as a hero in his village. By Dimmesdale not confessing his guilt and internalizing it for a long period of time, he ultimately ends up impairing his life for not confessing and admitting his deadly sin. Guilt has three attributes as to how it can

Essentially when Hester was proposed her ignominy, the narrator proclaims, “In a moment, however, wisely judging that one token of her shame would but poorly serve to hide another, she took the baby on her arm[...]yet a haughty smile, and a glance[...]On the breast of her gown, in fine red cloth, surrounded with an elaborate embroidery and fantastic flourishes of gold thread, appeared the letter A” (50­51).
Hester in a sense begins to realize and accept her token of punishment and come to the conclusion that this punishment she is receiving does not have to ruin her life; it can be a redemption. The diction portrayed in this quote, for example, in the
Huynh 2quote, “[...] yet a haughty smile, and a glance that would not be abashed” exemplifies the unjust punishment Hester is receiving, yet she still accepts it in a hasty expression that gives her the epitome of a person having no regrets. Another example that guilt and blame can be influential on a person is when
Hester is announced of her ignominy and is allegedly forced to wear the scarlet letter, Hester states, “
Here, she said to herself, had been the scene of her guilt, and here should be the scene of her