Arthur Dimmesdale Character Analysis

Chillingworth’s desire for revenge for Dimmesdale in The Scarlet Letter greatly conflicts his moral duty as a self-proclaimed physician in Puritan Boston. This revenge began once Chillingworth suspected Dimmesdale of having intimate relations with Hester, although he never confronted him. Dimmesdale’s physical and mental health began to deteriorate once Chillingworth relentlessly tormented him, conveying the significance behind internal guilt and poor external health. It was also quite ironic how Chillingworth was seen as Dimmesdale’s mentor to the public, and although he was a physician whose friend was in failing health, his credibility was never questioned. This revenge was fueled by the betrayal of Hester, who was Chillingworth’s wife before he claimed a new identity and persona. According to Chillingworth, Dimmesdale could never suffer enough for what he’d done unless he’d faced it publicly, but once he did, Chillingworth had nothing to motivate his devious acts. The repugnant acts committed by Chillingworth claiming to be provoking Dimmesdale’s confession are absolutely influential to his failing health and significance in the book, "Better had he died at once! Never

In the beginning of the novel in "The Market Place," Dimmesdale urges Hester to reveal him as Pearl's father because he could not bring himself to say it himself. Despite the extreme guilt displayed on the scaffold at night with Hester and Pearl, Dimmesdale is not able to bear himself to face his sin in public. Even in "The Revelation of the Scarlet Letter" he does not directly confess, but drops obvious hints that the Puritan could not pay attention to the world around them and only see what they want to see. The highly respected reverend is considered the most sacred in the society and for someone like him to commit such a sin would devastate the people and result in complete turmoil. Not only does the reaction of the society play in the mind of Dimmesdale, he also has personal reasons as well. "She thought of the dim forest, with its little dell of solitude, and love, and anguish, and the mossy tree-trunk, where, sitting hand in hand, they had mingled their sad and passionate talk with the melancholy murmur of the brook. How deeply had they known each other then! And was this the man? She hardly knew him now!" describes how two-faced Dimmesdale

Dimmesdale believes that Hester has declared her sins through the scarlet A on her chest and it relieves her burden. Dimmesdales hidden thoughts, however, seem to be the source of his illness. Despite this, he doesn’t tell anyone and doesn’t believe in confessing to an “earthly physician” and believes he should only confess to Christ. Chillingworth gets impatient but after they fight, the two men make up. Later, Dimmesdale falls asleep and Chillingworth goes to his room and lifts his shirt to reveal something that excites him. To me, his secretive nature reveals his not-so-positive intentions and the townspeople rightly suspect him of acting darkly towards the

In Chapter 9, Chillingworth 's evil nature starts to show. As Dimmesdale suffers with the guilt of being Pearl 's father, Chillingworth acts as a physician who seems to be taking the life out of Dimmesdale even more. The townspeople are beginning to notice that there is"something ugly and evil starting in his face" (Hawthorne, 124). In chapter 10, this theme of evil continues with Chillingworth, for he continues to get worse. In this chapter, it is clear that Chillingworth 's goal of revenge is to increase Dimmesdale’s inner pain. Hawthorne describes Chillingworth as a "thief entering a chamber where a man lies only half asleep" (Hawthorne, 126) as a way to further symbolize his evilness. Chillingworth harasses Dimmesdale constantly about his secrets asking, "why not reveal them here?" (Hawthorne, 128). But even with all the nagging, Dimmesdale refuses to reveal what 's been making him sick on the inside. In chapter 11, Dimmesdale 's suffering only increases. His sermons hint at his sinful nature, but everyone is being mislead by them for they seem to think that Dimmesdale is even more holy. Dimmesdale is "tortured by some black trouble of the soul"(Hawthorne, 137) and yet, his hidden public confessions are misunderstood. However, Dimmesdale is aware of this, for "the minister well knew- subtle, but remorseful hypocrite- that he was"(Hawthorne, 141). In chapter 12, during the night, Dimmesdale stands on the scaffold, in which it can clearly be seen that

In chapter ten, Chillingworth ruthlessly attempts to find the root of the Reverend’s condition. One day while they are conversing, Pearl and her mother pass by, Pearl is placing burrs on the scarlet letter of Hester’s bosom when she spots the minister, “She threw one of the prickly burrs at the Rev. Mr. Dimmesdale. The sensitive clergyman shrank, with nervous dread, from the light missile.” (84). Dimmesdale shies away from the burr as if he was shying away from Pearl. I think Pearl is representation of his guilt towards Hester, whenever he looks at Pearl he sees a reflection of sin that he fears. Later that night Dimmesdale falls asleep, but Chillingworth is still curious about the reverend. He sneaks into his room and takes a look at his chest where he has been clutching his heart.

Out of fear, Dimmesdale shrieks while contemplating the situation he has been placed in. At this point, Dimmesdale’s guilt grows rapidly, taking a toll on his physical health as he suffers from severe health problems. He is described to be looking as if he is slowing wasting away as he grabs his chest as if his heart aches: “He was often observed to put his hand over his heart, with a flush and then a paleness, indicative of pain” (Hawthorne 169). Dimmesdale becomes so upset and depressed, that he beings to whip and starve himself because he feels he deserves to suffer. The book says, “About this period, however, the health of Mr. Dimmesdale has evidently begun to fail… the paleness of the young minister’s cheek was accounted… in order to keep the grossness of this early state from clogging and obscuring his spiritual lamp” (Hawthorne 109). Hester and Pearl walk up to Dimmesdale on the scaffold where Pearl asks him if he will stand with them at noon. Dimmesdale responds saying that he will stand with them on the great judgement day, foreshadowing a significant scene. Holding the sin inside of him, makes him sick, and even with all his pain, there is a value of truth and irony. Dimmesdale is described as if “there came a glare of red light out of his eyes; as if the old man’s soul were on fire, and kept on smoldering duskily

Dimmesdale has a largely different approach to dealing with his sin. Arthur Dimmesdale handles his terrible guilt by concealing it to himself. To overcome it he would whip himself, and take long walks into the forest. Dimmesdale’s act of concealing his guilt shows that he is not brave enough to tell all and there for he must live fearfully and cowardly. This guilt he has chose to endure is much worse than any shame he would have felt had he just confessed his sin of adultery with Hester. Since he was a moral leader in his town he felt an obligation to keep it a secret but like in many cases where guilt is concealed, the sinner eventually reasons enough to confess. Dimmesdale does the same and confesses his sin to the townspeople. “He longed to speak out from his own pulpit, at the full height of his voice, and tell his people who he was.”

Reverend Dimmesdale was a renowned, prideful man stricken with sin and extreme guilt.  From the time Hester and Dimmesdale made love, he was grievous of his sin but he also felt a great love towards her.  Dimmesdale's stubborn pride troubled him greatly, and although he tried many times, he could not confess his sin to his religious followers.  Dimmesdale felt guilt so strongly that he scourged himself on his breast and patterned an “A” into his own flesh, yet he could not confess his sin until his grief grew so great it caused him to perish.  Reverend Dimmesdale's sin was greater than Hester's because he let his pride conflict with his repentance, and let his life be ruined by his anguish.

Another effect on Dimmesdale, seen as his guilt slowly wears him down, is how he compares his actions to those of Roger Chillingworth. This is clearly seen when Dimmesdale claims to Hester, "We are not, Hester, the worst sinners in the world. There is one worse than even the polluted priest! That old man 's revenge has been blacker than my sin. He has violated, in cold blood, the sanctity of a human heart. Thou and I, Hester, never did so!” (Hawthorne 185). Even in the privacy of the forest, he did not want to accept the full reality of his actions. This is a step forward for him, however, because he chooses to actually say aloud that what he did was wrong, just not as wrong as Chillingworth’s terrorizing of him. Eventually, Dimmesdale is able to confess to the public his sin, and this is due to his longing to escape the torture Chillingworth has been putting him through. Dimmesdale is no longer affected by the guilt that his actions brought about, so Chillingworth has no reason to aggravate him anymore. Sadly for the reverend, the shame

This concealed sin is the center of his tormented conscience. The pressures on him from society are greater than those on Hester because he is a man in high standing, expected to represent the epitome of the Puritanical ideals. It is ironic that Dimmesdale, who is supposed to be absolutely pure and urges congregation to confess and openly repent their sins, is incapable of doing so himself. He knows the hypocrisy of his actions but cannot bring himself to admit his deed publicly. In resentment of this he punishes himself physically - he is "often observed to put his hand over his heart, with indicative of pain" (ch 9). Dimmesdale's resistance to be true to himself gradually destroys his well being as well as Hester's, and although he eventually declares the truth, his resistance ends him.

By revealing this small, hidden regret, he exposes Hester’s tortured state of mind. Unable to reach salvation in the town she desired to live in, she regretfully decided to leave and abandon her sorrows. The burden society placed on her with the scarlet letter was too demanding for her to handle any longer. Similarly, Arthur Dimmesdale was distressed from his ignominy. Afraid of societal repercussions, Dimmesdale had been “overcome with a great horror of mind, as if the universe were gazing at a scarlet token on his naked breast” (102). Society’s extensive honor toward him exacerbated his pain, thus causing society to trap Dimmesdale; this prevented him from revealing his dark secret and reaching salvation. Additionally, he began to picture his surroundings as an obstacle designed to hinder his path to redemption. His shortcoming to reach salvation agonized Dimmesdale to the point where he was incapable of recalling “[any] text of Scripture, nor aught else, except a brief, pithy, and, as it then appeared to him, unanswerable argument against the immorality of

Guilt, shame, and penitence are just a few of the emotions that are often associated with a great act of sin. Mr. Arthur Dimmesdale, a highly respected minister of a 17th century Puritan community, is true example of this as he was somehow affected by all of these emotions after committing adultery. Due to the seven years of torturous internal struggle that finally resulted in his untimely death, Mr. Dimmesdale is the character who suffered the most throughout Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter. Mr. Dimmesdale’s ever present guilt and boundless penance cause him an ongoing mental struggle of remorse and his conscience as well as deep physical pain from deprivation and self inflicted wounds. The external influence of the members of

Arthur Dimmesdale is a reverend and along with the job comes the people, but most importantly, God. Having this particular duty is hard to maintain and when everything in one’s life depends on how one is viewed; one can see how at the beginning of the novel Arthur is reluctant to speak of the adultery he has committed. During the first few chapters Arthur’s motivation surrounds the need to survive; he wants to survive the punishments bestowed on Hester without anyone knowing of his guilt. As time goes by with the truth still hidden, his conscience gets the better of him; a bloody scourge owned by dimmsdale surfaces from the book and the idea of Dimmsdale whipping himself as punishment arises. He constantly has his hand over his chest during the book; it is believed he has carved a letter, “A” over his chest and constantly feels it ache. The

Arthur Dimmesdale’s place in society is subject to a large amount of scrutiny and irony because he holds the position of a Puritan minister, someone who must follow the word of God closely, yet he has wrongfully sinned. By participating in the acts of adultery with Hester Prynne, Dimmesdale places himself in an emotional trap because he cannot admit his wrongdoing to the public. His dilemma exists based on the fact that his soul will be tarnished in the eyes of God if he admits to his actions, but holding the news inside is even more painful on an

Even though he is a man of God he had an affair with Hester and nobody knows that. Dimmesdale lives with a man that goes by Chillingworth. Roger Chillingworth is actually Hester's lost husband but they have decided to keep that a secret and Dimmesdale does not find out until near the end of the book. Chillingworth finds out that Dimmesdale is the father and is planning to take revenge. Hawthorne narrates, “ The physician advanced directly in front of his patient, laid his hand upon his bosom, and thrust aside the vestment… with a wild look of wonder, joy, and horror.” (Hawthorne 126). Hawthorne imagines this moment for the reader as chillingworth finds what Dimmesdale has been doing to himself. When he finds this out he is filled with emotions and is happy to see him suffer from guilt. Later on we find exactly what Dimmesdale is doing to himself. Hawthorne describes, “ In Mr. Dimmesdale’s secret closet, under lock and key, there was a bloody scourge.” (Hawthorne 132). He describes this room to the reader in order to show that Dimmesdale feels so guilty and sinful that he is torturing himself. This contributes to the theme of guilt because it shows he feels so guilty he will beat himself but not kill himself. He doesn’t kill himself because that would be the easy way out. Both of these moments contribute to the overall theme of guilt because Dimmesdale is hurting himself and it is like the devil is feeding off of his suffering.