Arthur Dimmesdale In Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter

            The agony that Reverend Dimmesdale was feeling throughout the novel had many origins.  For example, his conscience had a great negative effect on him.  By keeping his sin a secret, he internalized the pain that is inevitably a consequence of sinning.  The anguished Dimmesdale struggles to pacify his conscience as it consumes his very being.  "With every successive Sabbath, his cheeks grew paler and thinner, and his voice more tremulous than before."  This shows that while Hester's pain was a mental anguish, the Reverend had to deal with both mental as well as physical pain.  Each time Dimmesdale stood in front of his congregation, he felt weaker and more ashamed.  Dimmesdale's pain could be seen not only in his demeanor but also by the clutching of his chest.  Throughout the novel, the Reverend could be seen placing his hand over his heart, as if the pain of seeing Pearl, or talking to Hester, or merely realizing what he has done, was too much for him to bear.  Pearl often times is quoted noticing the Reverend's strange habit- "A strange, sad man is he (Dimmesdale), with his hand always over his heart!"  An analogy can be made that the Reverend covers his heart from eyes that can see

Reverend Dimmesdale is a beloved Puritan minister who's Hester's paramour and father of Pearl. One of rivaling enemies is Chillingworth, physician and Hester's husband, who suspects Dimmesdale is Pearl's father. He begins to notice Dimmesdale declining health and considers moving in with him to ‘nurse him back to health.’ However, as a means of revenge, he takes the opportunity to implement torture and pain upon him. One night, when Dimmesdale falls asleep, Chillingworth sneaks a glance at his chest and discovers a carving within his chest. He then dances with glee and enjoys the sight of subtle torture Dimmesdale has self-inflicted since the “doctor’s joy from Satan’s was the quality of wonder.” The discovery of Dimmesdale's chest may have

As the loved pastor whose undisclosed guilt destroyed him and the secret lover of Hester Prynne, Arthur Dimmesdale is an interesting character in The Scarlet Letter and plays an important role throughout the book. Dimmesdale is a “Reverend” and pastor at the church. His interactions with the other main characters in the book such as Roger Chillingworth, Hester Prynne, and Pearl are secretive and painful, and display his inner pain. Hester had committed adultery, against her husband with one that she would not name! The scarlet letter would burn forever on her chest and secretly, on his, as the guilt sears him and kills him slowly.

Dimmesdale has yet to reveal the truth, which, so far, has been devouring him,physically and mentally. Since this good reverend is so spiritual, he cannot reveal his truths to the town so simply. He is of the Puritan faith and being a follower of that, the sin of adultery is a very grand sin. The whole town would look down on him as if he were a hypocrite. Which in fact, he is, but his sin of adultery in that town would have been scoffed at just as Hester’s has. The reverend is so well liked by the townsfolk that

Throughout Dimmesdale's life he has suffered because of his sin. There were only a few who knew why he was suffering until the very end of his life. Roger Chillingworth made Dimmesdale's life awful. Hester Prynne was the woman he loved but had to hide his feelings for. Pearl was his daughter who never felt the full love of her father. Dimmesdale hurt himself all

In society one is told to be individualistic, but is shamed for acting out of customary behaviors. Customary behaviors include, routines, societal rules, and organized religion. The individual believes they are responsible for their outcomes; although, various factors play into who is responsible for the results. In The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne, Mr. Dimmesdale is a figure of hypocrisy which Hawthorne uses to prove that organized religion has consequences, and to corroborate that Dimmesdale is partially responsible for his actions while the townspeople hold a higher power for forcing him into his actions.

In the Nathaniel Hawthorne’s, The Scarlet Letter, there are many characters that accept different fates. One of them is Reverend Dimmesdale. In the story, Dimmesdale commits a serious crime and sleeps with Hester Prynne and they have a baby. Fortunately for Dimmesdale, no one knows he is the father. He stays for strong for a while but because Hester takes 100% of the blame he begins to build a great amount of guilt for the rest of his life. Having guilt makes things worse especially when he is a reverend. Dimmesdale feels worse and worse and eventually starts putting himself through physical pain because of the sin he has committed. Dimmesdale’s ability to transform from a man of god to a sinner and back to a holy man proves that men can be

In The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne, the main characters have different kinds of burdens to carry depending on their level of ownership over their actions and identity. Dimmesdale has the worst burden to bear because he did not own up to his actions until the very end, Hester has to adjust to the punishment that the Puritans gave her, and Pearl has no burden because she is honest. Throughout the novel, they face different obstacles that contribute to their everyday lives that makes it hard to process everything at once. It’s also to show how the characters were able to face the problems and deal with them

The old clergyman wailed of excruciating pain. The searing of his flesh made everyday tasks unbearable. As he removed his cloak in the darkness of the woods, he notices the scar that will forever be imprinted on his skin, and his soul, is bleeding. The shining of the red is mesmerizing. His own personal Scarlet Letter. This explains the turmoil of Reverend Dimmesdale in the Scarlet Letter. Nathaniel Hawthorne describes the sinful Reverend through his themes of guilt and sin, within his novel, The Scarlet Letter. More than 100 years into the future, John C. Gerber released his interpretation of the Scarlet Letter. In the book, he touches upon the guilt that Dimmesdale faces, due to the covering up of his sinful

Nathaniel Hawthorne’s Scarlet Letter is about sin. Its heroine, Hester, and the town minister, Arthur Dimmesdale, both bear the weight of adultery on their backs. Hester’s sin is discovered, and she is forced to wear a scarlet A on her chest. Dimmesdale’s sin remains hidden, and it eats away at him for years. Ultimately, Hester finds comfort in the public nature of her sin.

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.”

Some might say the Hester should have knew better than to have an affair or that Chillingworth should not have let Hester go alone on the boat, but Dimmesdale knew that chillingworth was coming on the next boat and that Hester was married. He is the minister so he knew that she had a husband because he talks to everyone. He is supposed to be the one who everyone in the town looks up to and by him and Hester affair was a sin and against their religion. Dimmesdale hides his sin in front of the town but when he is alone he acknowledges it. Dimmesdale never told the townspeople till the end of the

In Nathaniel Hawthorne’s novel The Scarlet Letter, Arthur Dimmesdale struggles to overcome sin, guilt, and public shame in Puritan society. Shame is a painful sense of having done something wrong, improper or immodest. Arthur Dimmesdale reveals his guilt and shame towards the end of the novel, when Hester and Pearl stand with him on the scaffold while he confesses his sin to the townspeople. In order to feel shame or guilt, one must have a clean conscience. Dimmesdale is a good example of this because he is loyal to god, and his shame hurting him represents that he is a good person.

Being the unknown father of Hester Prynne’s daughter, Pearl, he blatantly ignores the dark secret of his act of adultery. He does this because of his higher social status as the reverend. The people praised and worshipped him by saying, “QUOTE ABOUT SOCIETY PRAISING DIMMESDALE”. Even though readers appear to think that game may be a good thing, Hawthorne illustrates how the the actions of the church members negatively affect Dimmesdale. Accordingly, Dimmesdale’s sermons grow more empowering because of his personal experience with sinning.

What Dimmesdale values most is his place in the Puritan society, and he is not willing to give it up. Until he is ready to let go of all societal constraints, Dimmesdale will never purify his soul. Like Hester, Dimmesdale has to face public ignominy. It is evident he is conscious of this concept when he tells Chillingworth that he believes Hester is “the less miserable” for wearing the scarlet letter. Although he realizes that revealing his pain to the public is better for his long term health, Dimmesdale is too much of a coward to do so.