Sin And Guilt In Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter
The novel The Scarlet Letter focuses on the lives of sinners in a puritan community. Hester Prynne has been convicted of committing adultery. Unknown to the other characters Arthur Dimmesdale, the town priest is her partner in crime. The product of this sin is their daughter Pearl. While Hester was being persecuted her long lost husband arrived. He disiqsed himself as Roger Chiligworth and promised to make the other man known. Through the thrilling tale of The Scarlet Letter, Nathaniel Hawthorne shows secret sin and guilt through Reverend Arthur Dimmensdale. In the novel Hawthorne uses Dimmendale to show how the sin and guilt troubles him. Over the course of seven years he starts to look sickly. This is because of the secret of his adultery …show more content…
After Chillingworth moves in with the priest to “look out for his health” he mocks him in a way about this. Dimmesdale is faced with this predicament every time he wakes up. He address this once in the book “I have laughed in the bitterness and agony of heart, at the contrast between what I seem and what I am” (Hawthorne 173). Dimmesdale’s guilt over his sin worsens when he sees Hester or Pearl. However they alone only a hand full of time in the novel every time they would meet Dimmesdale is said by the author to looking pained or distressed. Dimmesdale is so pained by is secret he physically harms himself. It is found in his bedroom closet a bloody whip. Chillingworth also makes notice of how many nights he stays up in his “study”. We find out that he’ll leave and stand on the same scaffold Hester did. We find out just to what extent his self harm went until the day he confessed to the community. Hawthorne wrote “Most of the spectators testifies to have seen, on the breast of the unhappy minister, a SCARLET LETTER- the very semblance of that worn by Hester Prynne- imprinted in the flesh”. (Hawthorne 230)This shows that the metal torture was so much he decided to wear the same token Hester did. He did this because in his mind
Figurative Language In The Scarlet Letter
1210 Words | 5 PagesThe oxymoron of death and celebration often occurred in Puritan societies as Puritans viewed public punishment and executions as joyful entertainment. In The Scarlet Letter, Nathaniel Hawthorne examines the concept of guilt and how it negatively affects the human soul. As he reveals a dark and gloomy Puritan society, Hawthorne introduces Hester Prynne, mother of young Pearl, who has recently committed adultery and is being publicly shamed for her punishment. Betwixt and hidden beneath this conflict, is Arthur Dimmesdale, Hester’s partner in crime, who struggles with the guilt of his sin. As the town begins to forgive Hester Prynne, Dimmesdale’s distraught soul causes his physical and mental health to decline.
How Does Hawthorne Present Dimmesdale's Struggles In The Scarlet Letter
739 Words | 3 PagesLife for the Puritans was, to say the least, not very exciting or enjoyable. In his novel, The Scarlet Letter, Nathaniel Hawthorne demonstrates how Puritan society affects its citizen’s daily lives. In the overtly religious, strict town of Boston, morals and laws are greatly enforced. When the beautiful, young woman, Hester Prynn, commits adultery, the people of Boston respond angrily. The town minister, Dimmesdale, also feels the shame and burden of the sin committed.
Character Foils In Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter
612 Words | 3 PagesThe reader is especially made aware of Dimmesdale's mental state in the eleventh chapter, “His inward trouble drove him to practices more in accordance with the old, corrupted faith of Rome, than with the better light of the church in which he had been born and bred” [150]. This suggests that he is racked with immense guilt and shame at the falsehood he is living and suggests that he is physically abusing himself as a result of this guilt. This directly contradicts Chillingworth's mental state of fury and vengeance that he falls deeper into as the story progresses. These two characters also hold striking incongruities as to what drives them onward as the account
Dimmesdale And Chillingworth In The Scarlet Letter By Nathaniel Hawthorne
727 Words | 3 PagesDimmesdale truthfully wants and feels the need to reveal his sins, however because he is afraid of the backlash, he cannot. Afterwards he goes on to argue how there is “ ‘no power short of the Divine mercy’ “ that could reveal the secrets hidden in someone’s heart (123). Due to Dimmesdale’s profession of ministry he believes that divine powers are the only ones who can reveal secrets. The Divine mercy is this higher power that nothing can compare to, and its power is so immense that it is the only way to get a secret revealed from someone's heart. Dimmesdale also tells Chillingworth that many men may choose not to confess their sins because they don’t want to be “ ‘displaying themselves black and filthy’ “ (124) as in Puritan society, many things were considered sins, and sinning was the worst thing that could possibly be done.
Dimmesdale's Concealment In The Scarlet Letter
1317 Words | 6 PagesEssay #1 Dimmesdale’s concealment of his sin of adultery caused him to almost entirely go insane, if not completely. He would punish himself for his sin by torturing himself. For example, he would whip himself with a “bloody scourge”, but he almost seemed to enjoy it, as he would laugh while whipping himself. He refused to seek outside help, and his undertaking of care from Chillingworth would eventually lead to his death.
How Did Arthur Dimmesdale Face The Sin Of Adultery
965 Words | 4 PagesDimmesdale tortures himself by staying up all night practicing vigils and not taking care of his health. He is sleep deprived and a man named Roger Chillingworth make things worse. Dimmesdale is already in poor health when he starts to stay up all night doing vigils. Dimmesdale’s goal with all of his vigils and praying is to hopefully to get rid of his sin thereby freeing his conscious. He continually tries to purify himself, but comes to the conclusion that he “could not purify himself”.
What Does Chillingworth Symbolize In The Scarlet Letter
1010 Words | 5 PagesWhen Chillingworth figures out why Hester is standing as a statue of ignominy, he decides to choose revenge against Hester and the person she committed sin with because public shame isn’t enough for him. “As he spoke, he laid his long forefinger on the scarlet letter which seemed to scorch into Hester’s breast, as if it had been red-hot. He noticed her involuntary gesture and smiled. He said, live therefore, and bear about thy doom with thee, in the eyes of men and women - in the eyes of him thou didst call thy husband - in the eyes of yonder child!”(61). When Chillingworth was still inquiring about Hester’s lover, he wanted to know what was going on with Dimmesdale.
The Scarlet Letter Penance Vs. Penitence
604 Words | 3 PagesDimmesdale had achieved a brilliant popularity in his sacred office. He won it, indeed, in great part by his sorrows. (Hawthorne 128) The guilt of his sin has eaten him alive, so much that his visage and demeanor are almost cadaverous. Dimmesdale does not confess his sin until the end of the novel because he does not want to disappoint his congregation.
Arthur Dimmesdale's Guilt Quotes
1158 Words | 5 PagesMentally, his guilt strains his mind, which causes his physical deterioration, and the weakening of his body. As Dimmesdale finally admits his sin to the townspeople, his guilt is lifted, and he is able to release himself from his captivity. Though he deteriorated both mind and body from his guilt, by telling the townspeople of his sin, it was as if “a spell was broken” (238). He no longer needed to force himself to hide his sin, which was what was hurting him. By finally dealing with his sin in a similar way to Hester, Dimmesdale was able to free himself of his self-imposed captivity and
The Leech Quotes
465 Words | 2 PagesThe way Chillingworth “scrutinized his patient carefully, both as he saw him in his ordinary life….. and as he appeared when thrown amidst other moral scenery...might call out something new to the surface of his character. While “it was a physician that he presented himself, and such was cordially received”, many people still have their doubts about him. Since Chillingworth is curious about Dimmesdale’s problems, he made “an arrangement by which the two were lodged in the same house; so that every eeb and flow of the minister’s life-tide might pass under the eye of his anxious and attached physician.” He wants so deeply to know what Dimmesdale is hiding, that he convinces Dimmesdale’s friends to let them live together, even though Dimmesdale is not truly sick; maybe sick of himself, but
Scarlet Letter Guilt Quotes
1211 Words | 5 PagesHe hated himself for falling into Chillingworth’s trap, it made him disheveled in appearance and caused him to go have bipolar type mood swings. He had changed so much since Hester’s public opinion on the scaffolding, because at that time he had scolded her in front of everyone and spoke that she was doing everything wrong, but he later says that she is doing everything right with her daughter. He also speaks of how God's will was following what Hether was doing. Dimmesdale had a lot of hatred for himself for that day, he even secretly admits that Pearl was an example of both the fathers self hatred and guilt and the mothers, “‘...This child of it's father’s guilt and it’s mother’s shame hath come from the hand of God, to work in many ways upon her heart…”
Dimmesdale And Chillingworth's Secrets In Scarlet Letter
361 Words | 2 PagesDimmesdale and Chillingworth both have secrets that make them look and act differently, their secrets affect their character and how they do their job. Dimmesdale is the father of Pearl but he doesn 't want to face the same humiliation as Hester did for his sins. Because of his secret he self punishes and fasts, he also preaches better than he did before although his health is failing. Chillingworth’s secret is that he was the husband of Hester while he was away, before she cheated on him. Chillingworth gets uglier and uglier driven by the need to get revenge on Pearl’s father.
How Does The Scarlet Letter Be Forgiven
602 Words | 3 PagesIn the story of the Scarlet Letter, Hawthorne presents us a religion repressive society. In this society, It's inhabitant lives under strict moral code, transgressors were isolated and punished. Hawthorn questions if religious society should be ruled by grace, our main characters were statements that sinner can be forgiven. Pearl functioned as the second scarlet letter and hope to Hester and Dimmesdale. She continually reminds our characters there is no escape to sin.
Arthur Dimmesdale's Moral Development In Scarlet Letter
978 Words | 4 PagesIn 1964, Lawrence Kohlberg, a psychologist introduced the idea that humans evolved through different stages of morality. In the novel, The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne male characters exemplify a moral development as the story unfolds. In particular, Arthur Dimmesdale’s morality differs from the beginning of the novel to the ending of the novel. His morality undergoes continuity and change by constantly changing from selfishness, social order, and social contract. Dimmesdale undergoes the morality maintaining the social order and being considerate of others to eventually being selfish and only thinks about himself.
The Sin Of Dimmesdale In The Scarlet Letter
1404 Words | 6 PagesBecause of the effects that Dimmesdale’s sin has on Chillingworth, the town suffers as well. The betrayal of their pastor leads them to refuse to see the truth when he pleads for the public to see his guilt at the end of the novel, and his secrecy from the people that adore him is one of the slyest and vile parts of his sin. The blind faith that the public has in their reverend is mislead by his deceit, which causes his sin to grow to a scale that Hester’s never did. Dimmesdale also harmed Pearl, by not standing with her and Hester on the day they were condemned. When she is grown, she asks, “Doth
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