The Role Faces Play in Society
Throughout human nature, people do not tell strangers as many details about themselves as they would a family member. Nathaniel Hawthorne examines these faces throughout the novel The Scarlet Letter. People that wear two faces will cause immense guilt for themself and negative consequences to others.
Hawthorne conveys through Dimmesdale that the effects of having two masks leads to immense guilt. At the beginning of the story, Hester Prynne was punished by being forced to wear the letter A for committing adultery. At this point, Dimmesdale was silent about his role in this sin. Hawthorne previews this future guilt by showing that in human nature, “... the sufferer should never know the intensity of what he endures by its present torture, but chiefly by the pang that rankles
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Hester was forced to wear the scarlet A and “It had the effect of a spell, taking her out of the ordinary relations with humanity, and enclosing her in a sphere by herself,” (Hawthorne 51). Hester feels extremely isolated and alone when she wears the scarlet letter, as she knows it was not solely her in this sin. Dimmesdale uses Hester’s suffering as a reason to not confess by seeing the negative effects it has on her. Hawthorne shows that this makes the pain even worse for Hester, as she is experiencing the punishment of this sin alone. This also forces her to become a single mother and raise Pearl alone. Hester cannot fulfil Pearl’s need for a father and tells her that she, “...must gather thine own sunshine. I have none to give thee!” (Hawthorne 94). Pearl is negatively affected by Dimmesdale’s silence, as she will not grow up with a father. Hester is only one source of income, and Pearl could suffer from this. Dimmesdale puts and innocent child’s life under his need for status in society. Dimmesdale’s masks negatively affect Pearl and
She receives three punishments from the townspeople, who claim they will free her from her sin. The community orders Hester to go to jail, wear a scarlet letter on her chest, and stand on the town scaffold for hours. Hester wears her scarlet letter proudly on her chest, and endures much suffering because of her public ridicule. Hester is “kept by no restrictive clause of her condemnation within the limits of the Puritan settlement” after she was released from prison, but she chooses to stay (Hawthorne 71). Later, Hester’s child, Pearl, symbolizes the Puritan view of Hester.
Consequently, Arthur Dimmesdale is the cause of Hester Prynne's shame for he is the man whom Hester loves. No one knows he is the father of Pearl, Hester won't say and he isn't strong enough to speak up. He struggles with this knowledge that Hester is being punished and not him. The only truth that continued to give Mr. Dimmesdale a real existence on this earth was the anguish in his inmost soul, and the undissembled expression of it in his aspect, (Hawthorne 142). Being a minister of God the citizens look up to him, and he feels guilty about his hidden sin.
The private guilt within Dimmesdale had overtaken his body and caused him to have to “[fight] back the bodily weakness” and have to develop “the faintness of heart, that was striving for the mastery with him” (208). Hawthorne uses this to show how his guilt and sin were taking over him and his confessions were going to help him get into heaven when he dies. Dimmesdale internal struggle with guilt had begun to overcome his body and become an everlasting punishment of he did not confess to his wrongdoings. Although he did not have any public shaming like Hester, he was much worse off than Hester because it was a constant struggle with his own moral values and it eventually got the best of him. Following Dimmesdale’s confession, it is said that “a spell was broken” and that Pearl, “in which the wild infant bore a part, had developed all her sympathies” (209).
However, Dimmesdale’s strong conscience will not rest while his sin goes unpunished, leaving him with a burning desire for both penalty and disclosure. It is illustrated that Dimmesdale’s conscience is plagued after his sin, and this distress intensifies once he learns of Hester’s new place in society, as a matronly figure. Dimmesdale’s hiding of sin and internalization of guilt damages his conscience and tears apart his
Eva Meza Ms. Orr English III: 5 Due Date: November 25, 2014 Day Versus Night In the novel, The Scarlet Letter, by Nathaniel Hawthorne, day versus night is a reoccurring motif. Throughout the novel, people conceal their true identities and desires in the dark.
In addition, Dimmesdale fells guilt even though he still does not confess. Narrator says, “The scarlet letter burned on Hester Prynne’s bosom. Here was another ruin, the responsibility of which came partly home to her” (narrator 154). This ruins Hester life. People in her town wanted her to leave the town or be punished such as wear a big red A on her bosom for the rest of her life.
In Nathaniel Hawthorne’s novel, The Scarlet Letter, he explores the prodigy of love, crime, and revenge. It revolves around a sinful act of passion that impacts Hester Prynne, an adulteress forced to wear a scarlet letter “A”on her bosom; Reverend Dimmesdale, a respected minister in the puritans community; their daughter, Pearl; and Roger Chillingworth, Hester 's husband. Most of the characters portrayed can be analyzed as embodying both “good” and “evil” qualities. Dimmesdale is especially viewed as an ambiguous character. Dimmesdale’s moral ambiguity comes from his internal conflict between his devotion to the church and the guilt he feels for not receiving blame for his sinful act of co-adultery with Hester.
Pearl, in this scene, is symbolizing Hester Prynne’s sin being redeemed. Only once Dimmesdale tells everyone that he is the father, Pearl can become a real person and feel human emotions because Hester has no need anymore to be reminded of her
From Adultery to Able: The Meaning Behind the Scarlet A Prompt #1 One significant plot point to The Scarlet Letter was the backlash received by Hester for wearing it on her chest. This letter that she is forced to wear signifies that she has committed a sin and she must now wear the shame upon her bosom for the rest of her life. Despite the horrible connotations attached to this piece of garment, there is a shift of its meaning as the story progresses.
Hester is accused of adultery, and is forced by the city magistrates to wear a scarlet letter A on her chest for the rest of her life. She is forced to wear the mark, living with the “pang of it … always in her heart.” (78) Although she initially tries to degrade the negative connotation of the scarlet letter by decorating it and covering it up, she grows to accept “the scarlet letter flaming on her breast” (118), and the letter only increases her strength. The letter, although not a physical punishment, affects her more on a social and emotional level, isolating her from society and drawing ridicule from townsfolk. Her isolation leads her to connect with only a limited few, including Mistress Hibbins, Dimmesdale, and Chillingworth.
Each time Dimmsdale and Hester rejected Pearl from acceptance they also rejected her from her freedom. Hester and Dimmesdale's actions have caused their daughter to suffer a past an abundance worse than them. Chillingworth says, “ ‘Live, therefore, and bear about thy doom with thee ,in the eyes of men and women, . . .child! And, that thou mayest live’ ”(61).
Throughout the passage from The Scarlet Letter, Hawthorne uses Hester’s baby, Pearl, to illuminate the theme of beauty in a dark place. Once released from prison, Hester, an adulterer, becomes a public spectacle. Through this hard time, Hester has her daughter Pearl to soothe her and to bring her strength and hope for a better future. By using vivid imagery and juxtaposition, Hawthorne depicts Pearl as Hester’s happiness, light, and beauty during a sad and lonely time. While in Prison, Hester is all alone and depressed.
While Hester is forced to publicly wear a scarlet letter A as her punishment, Dimmesdale refuses to reveal his sin. He instead continues to perform his duties as the town’s well respected minister. Hester moves away from the grasp of the townspeople
Pearl, Hester and Dimmesdale best describe themselves when they are in the forest. As Pearl is in the forest, she notices that Nature is blocking her from getting to her mother because of the choice she has made. For Hester, she notices that nature is present and loves her when the scarlet letter is not present. Dimmesdale finds himself best when he is alone because he does not want others to explore and discover what he has been doing to himself. Throughout the story, Hawthorne used clues to let the reader know that Dimmesdale is torturing himself and performing many dangerous acts to punish himself because he sees what Hester is going through.
However, one must also consider the possibility that Dimmesdale is protective of Pearl not purely out of love but also because he fears retribution from Hester. After all, up until the later events of the novel only Hester has knowledge of who Pearl’s father is. Moreover, after his death, it is Chillingworth, not Dimmesdale, who leaves behind a large inheritance for Pearl, securing a good social standing in her