Arthur Dimmesdale In Scarlet Letter

From her initial introduction to the reader as the “yonder babe, (…) of some three or four months old”, Pearl represents the beauty of the truth (54). As she struggles to find answers about her mother’s scarlet A while simultaneously growing up, Pearl identifies as an innocent character, despite her creation. It is frequently noted that she looks similar to the scarlet letter that her mother so reluctantly bears, with her “bright complexion [and] eyes possessing intensity both of depth and glow, and hair already of a deep, glossy brown” (76). Her similar appearance to the scarlet letter furthers her permanent connection to the letter. Additionally, it highlights the notion that her mother will likely never be able to look at her without reminiscing upon her sin. As Pearl develops, her fire-like actions and dark appearance further molds her into the fleshly expression of Hester’s adultery. Furthermore, Hawthorne ensures to characterize Pearl throughout the novel as a friend to the sunlight, a friend to the truth. As she begins to pick determine that Dimmesdale is her father, the sunlight welcomes her. This is because she is the only innocent character who is not afraid to step into the sun’s rays. Pearl recognizes the light’s love for her and audibly notes, “the

The purpose of this passage serves to express the changes in Pearl such as her potential lost of ignorance, while also portraying her significance in the story as a representation of nature. A comparison between Pearl and the word "wilt" is made several times throughout the passage. This possible representation of Pearl as a flower has many different implication. One of which being a reflection of her mother. While Dimmesdale has gained Hester's appreciation, Pearl has not given her consent. That is to say, the wilting of the flower is associated with the death of her youth and her transcendence into a more mature women capaible of acceptering Dimmesdale as her father. Furthermore, the wilting of Pearl can also represent her knowledge on the situation, as nature is indifferent, the death of the flower suggest that Pearl is no longer a presentation of nature but her own self being. Pearl is now able to understand the complexity of the issue and forgives Dimmesdale through a

Chapter 10: It is in this chapter that Dimmesdale suspects the intentions of Chillingworth and begins to grow impatient with him. It is ironic because the one man that was meant to cure and soothe Dimmesdale is now doing just the opposite as Dimmesdale becomes stressed and worried even more about his secret being uncovered by his “doctor”. In the scene of Pearl placing the burrs upon the letter, it is seen how the innocence of her life has provided a clear view on life. Unclouded from the distorted takes of society, Pearl is able to see things right and wrong as they truly are.

The insight I have gained from this excerpt is the reason being Pearl rejects Dimmesdale is as a result from him not publically acknowledging her. Furthermore, the reason being Pearl dislikes him is, due to he acts differently when in public, in contrast when he was in the forest, to illustrate he holds hands with pearl in the forest, however when they are in public he behaves as if they don't know each other. In addition, the insight I have gained is that Pearl exclaims to her mother that he is a strange man, in order to mock and ridicule Dimmesdale and Hester. Furthermore she achieves mocking and ridiculing Hester and Dimmesdale by referencing that he holds his hand over his heart, in order to connect it with the scarlet letter in Hester’s

Hawthorne uses allusion throughout the novel to describe the symbolism in various different objects. He writes, “But did your reverence hear of the portent that was seen last night?-a great red letter in the sky-the letter ‘A’ which we interpret to stand for ‘Angel’”. (Hawthorne 135). This is allusion because it is referring to an angel. The A in the sky though is interpreted in many different ways.

dealing with the guilt, he causes himself not to sleep or eat. Dimmesdale is described as, “pitiably weak; no evidence at once so slight and irrefragable, of a subtle disease, that had long since begun to eat into the real substance of his character” (Hawthorne 147). Seven years later, he confesses that he is Pearl’s father and he committed adultery with Hester Prynne. Tired of the guilt, Dimmesdale brands an ‘A’ on his chest to represent his sin just like Hester (Miller). Shortly after confessing, Dimmesdale dies.

Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale, a main character in Nathaniel Hawthorne’s novel The Scarlet Letter, proves to be a sinner against man, against God and most importantly against himself because he has committed adultery with Hester Prynne, resulting in an illegitimate child, Pearl. His sinning against himself, for which he ultimately paid the

She touches the scarlet letter, but little does she know that she is the reason for the punishment. They are social outcasts, so they don’t leave their house much. Pearl plays alone and has best friends that are imaginary. She distrusts her own imaginary friends for the same reason that she distrusts all the Puritans in the colony. People treat Hester and Pearl differently than everyone else is treated. She only loves Hester, because Hester spends time with her and is a good mother. She plays with her and teaches her Bible stories. Pearl knows the whole catechism at the age of three, but refuses to say it to anyone. She is smarter than everyone thinks she is. Chillingworth speaks to Pearl about the scarlet letter. He asked her if she knew the reason why her mother must wear the scarlet letter all the time. She replies, “Yes, that is the same reason why the preacher holds his hand over his heart.” Pearl asks her mom all the time the reason why she wears the scarlet letter and why the preacher holds his hand over his heart. She knows that they both do, but she doesn’t know why. Hester tells her that she wears it because of the pretty gold thread, but she doesn’t know the minister’s reason. Later in the story, Dimmesdale, Hester, and Pearl meet in the forest, and Hester rips the scarlet letter off. Pearl gets mad then, because she knows that her mother is supposed to wear it. Dimmesdale kisses Pearl, but she washes the kiss off with

This, as Arthur Dimmesdale almost prophetically expresses in the early scenes of Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter, was the role of Pearl, the elfish child borne of his and Hester Prynne's guilty passion. Like Paul's thorn in the flesh, Pearl would bring trouble, heartache, and frustration to Hester, but serve a constructive

When Dimmesdale committed adultery with Hester, he did not come forward as the father and let Hester take the sole blame. The young reverend had become rapidly ill, as the town had noticed, despite his age. He is known to have his hand over his chest, where Hester’s “A” lies on her bosom, and to look sickly, as if he were “burdened with the black secrets of his soul” (135). Not once until the very end of the novel does Dimmesdale attempt to spout the truth of Pearl’s heritage and take responsibility for his sin, and as a result he is wracked with guilt and the illness that befalls him. He even goes so far as to torture himself, and yet still does not profess his mistakes. “Mr. Dimmesdale, conscious that the poison of one morbid spot was infecting his heart’s entire substance” (132) remains silent. At the end of the novel, Dimmesdale comes to see he must atone for his mistakes and says “‘Let me make haste to take my shame upon me!’” (241). When Dimmesdale finally owns up and takes blame, he dies. Not facing and taking fault for his actions killed Arthur

How do you view yourself? Do you have high or low self-esteem? If you do something that is wrong, do you confess it or keep it to yourself? Matters like these are presented in Nathaniel Hawthorne’s book, The Scarlet Letter. In Hester Prynne, we see an example of a person whose sin is known to everyone. In Arthur Dimmesdale, we see an example of a person whose sin is kept to himself. He suffered daily from the guilt of his secret, and yearned for it to be publicly exposed. Though they both experienced great shame, Dimmesdale’s situation was likely much worse than Hester’s, because the way in which people saw him was not the truth. Thus, in Chapter 24, Hawthorne proclaimed that we should “be true,” and “show freely to the world, if not

The Scarlet Letter, Pearl reveals the truth about Hester and Dimmesdale’s sin through pointed actions. Pearl constantly reminds her parents of their sin, however, she doesn’t simply act a symbol, she also reminds them of what they’ve done through her behavior. When Hester casts down her scarlet letter, Pearl forces her mother to retrieve the letter and replace it on her chest, then Pearl “kissed the scarlet letter too!”, treating it like it’s part of Hester (190). By keeping Pearl reminds her mother that she is a sinner and will never be free of her sin, though her intentions are seemingly innocent. She also represents the idea that sin is a natural part of being human.

Abandoning Hester and her illegitimate daughter Pearl also augmented his problems. Forcing Hester to go and find work around town, an obviously hard task for a single parent.  He also abandons them emotionally and physically. He is rarely there when Hester and Pearl needed him.  Innocent little Pearl wonders why Dimmesdale is so afraid of public displays of affection, yet when they are alone, he takes notice of her and Hester. Talking to him, Pearl asks  "Wilt thou stand here with Mother and me, tomorrow noontide? (149),” a question whose answer is unclear for Pearl. In fact, the only way Hester and Pearl receive any kind of support from Dimmesdale is when Hester threatens to tell the truth about his sins.

        Pearl primarily serves the role of silently urging Dimmesdale to overcome the pressures to conform to society, and to allow his guilty inner-self to emerge and receive retribution for his sins. She exists as a constant and living reminder and product of the sin Hester and Dimmesdale committed, and acknowledges the false innocence Dimmesdale tries so desperately to maintain. Her inquisition, "Why does he not wear [a scarlet letter] outside his bosom as thou dost?" (ch 16) to her mother concerning Dimmesdale is evidence of this. Pearl has no chance to conform to society because at birth she is regarded

Pearl is a rose to her mother. She is beautiful, just like the flower, but a painful reminder of how she came to be, just like the thorns. Dr. Chillingworth treats Dimmesdale for his illness. Chillingworth returns with some herbs for Dimmesdale. The symbolism is almost literal.