Nathaniel Hawthorne’s novel, The Scarlet Letter, is set in Puritan times, following the lives of Hester Prynne, Arthur Dimmesdale, and Roger Chillingworth after Hester’s crime of adultery. While Hester Prynne successfully processes her emotions and refuses to cave in on herself, the men in the novel resort to revenge. When one devotes themselves to vengeance, they become consumed by it. Reverend Dimmesdale and Roger Chillingworth both spend the novel taking revenge on themselves and someone else, respectively, leading to their decline of life and character. Hester Prynne, arguably, suffered the brunt of the negativity in the novel. She is known as an adulteress and has to bear the brunt of that punishment alone, because the man would not step forward. She raises Pearl alone in a cottage on the outskirts of town, as “every gesture, every word and even the silence of those with whom she came in contact, implied, and often expressed, that she was banished” and has to fight for her right to keep Pearl (48). She …show more content…
Hurt, betrayal, guilt, and anger are all negative emotions that fuel revenge. While Hester stepped above the rays of revenge, the men of the novel were not so lucky. Chillingworth, blinded by his hurt and unknowing what to do, channelled all his energy into his vengeance on Dimmesdale. This not only changed him from a gentle scholar into the devil’s assistant, but lead to his death shortly after the Reverend's. Dimmesdale, the product of Chillingworth’s revenge and his own, fared far worse physically and mentally than Hester and Chillingworth combined. While Chillingworth’s revenge was mental, Dimmesdale inflicted punishment on himself to deal with his guilt. This sapped his life, but allowed him to connect better as a minister with his parishioners. Revenge led to the demoralization and death of both male characters, while Hester’s inner strength and independence allowed her to avoid such conclusions almost
Without an honorable reputation a person is not worthy of respect from others in their society. In Nathaniel Hawthorne’s novel, The Scarlet Letter, the struggle to shake off the past is an underlying theme throughout the novel. Characters in this novel go through their lives struggling with trying to cope with the guilt and shame associated with actions that lost them their honorable reputation. Particularly, Hawthorne shows the lasting effect that sin and guilt has on two of the main characters in the book: Hester Prynne and Reverend Dimmesdale.
The setting of Nathaniel Hawthorne’s “The Scarlet letter” is crucial to the understanding of the event that takes place in the story. The setting of the story is in Salem, Massachusetts during the Puritan era. During the Puritan era, adultery was taken as a very serious sin, and this is what Hester and Dimmesdale committ with each other. Because of the sin, their lives change, Hester has to walk around in public with a Scarlet Letter “A” which stands for adultery, and she is constantly being tortured and is thought of as less than a person. Dimmesdale walks around with his sin kept as secret, because he never admits his sin, his mental state is changing, and the sin degrades his well-being. Chillingworth
Dimmesdale is a symbol of dishonesty and is a self-centered individual; he knows what he must do in order to make it honorable but lacks the courage and confidence to make himself public. In the Scarlet Letter, Hester tells Dimmesdale that the ship for Europe leaves in four days. He is delighted with the matter of being able to "fulfill his public duties" and give his Election Sermon before leaving. Although from this disdainful act, he worries that the congregation may notice the features found in Pearl’s face may be identical to his
Out of all the themes in the novel The Scarlet Letter, revenge is quite prominent. Throughout the book, the characters all seem to be afflicted with revenge in some sort. The theme revenge, refined by Hawthorne, exposes the flaws of the novel’s ‘perfect being’, how this virtue can take over one’s life, and how this affects them in the later future.
Chillingworth admits that he is wrong about marrying Hester so why should he feel the need to vengeance? This says a lot about Chllingworth's character. He is definitely a man full of revenge. I could care less really about getting revenge on a person because karma will takes it's place. I think Chillingworth loves Hester so much that he can't hurt her or pearl. He obviously turns his anger on Dimmesdale instead. I think while Chillingworth is tormenting Dimmesdale he is going to put his life in danger. If I were Chillingworth i would have left the situation alone because it is already as bad as it seems. I wouldn't be getting anything out of it because God doesn't like ugly and selfish ways. I think Chillingworth is the type person who
We can see these themes in our main characters. I believe we can see pride in Mrs. Chillingsworth. It may not be the first thing you think of when reading or seeing him but i think we can see it in him. We can see his pride when he takes it upon himself to torture Dimmesdale and he does it so with a passion unlike anything besides pride.
Shaming is meant to weaken a person and make them regretful, but it can also make them a stronger, more independent person motivated to make their society better. The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne, explores how Hester transforms her shame and successfully changes the way other people in her Puritan society perceive her. When Hester chooses to become an outsider living on the edge of town she shows the people of Boston that she is not sinful and ashamed but is charitable and open hearted. Furthermore, Hester’s unique and insightful daughter, Pearl, helps make her mother, a stronger, more-questioning individual, able to look at things in a different way than her Puritan society allows. Hester is not verbally rebellious, and chooses to
Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter is a study of the effects of sin on the hearts and minds of the main characters, Hester Prynne, Arthur Dimmesdale, Roger Chillingworth. Hester, Dimmesdale, and Chillingworth. Sin strengthens Hester, humanizes Dimmesdale, and turns Chillingworth into a demon.
“On one side of the portal, and rooted almost at the threshold, was a wild rose-bush, covered, in this month of June, with its delicate gems, which might be imagined to offer their fragrance and fragile beauty to the prisoner as he went in, and to the condemned criminal as he came forth to his doom, in token that the deep heart of Nature could pity and be kind to him." Chapter 1, pg. 46
The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne paints a picture of two equally guilty sinners, Hester Prynne and Reverend Dimmesdale, and shows how both characters deal with their different forms of punishment and feelings of remorse for what they have done. Hester Prynne and Reverend Dimmesdale are both guilty of adultery, but have altered ways of performing penance for their actions. While Hester must pay for her sins under the watchful eye of the world around her, Reverend Dimmesdale must endure the heavy weight of his guilt in secret. It may seem easier for Reverend Dimmesdale to live his daily life since he is not surrounded by people who shun
In The Scarlet Letter, Nathaniel Hawthorne exhibits how three very unique characters are evidently brought together by the sins that they have perpetrated and how they manage to perform acts of atonement in the puritanical Boston society. Hester Prynne sins by committing the shocking transgression of adultery. Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale, who as well engages in adultery with Hester, abandons her and their daugher because of his own cowardice and hypocrisy. Roger Chillingworth grows to become a maleficent being who tries to corrupt the very soul of Reverend Dimmesdale. Although Hester Prynne and Arthur Dimmesdale do sin greatly, it is Roger Chillingworth who sins to the most ferocious degree.
In the fictional novel The Scarlet Letter, the contrast between public and private truth is made quite clear. The three main characters of this book make perfect examples of this overarching theme. The characters in this book are the pastor Mr. Dimmesdale, the doctor Roger Chillingworth, and the adulteress Hester Prynne. First, Mr. Dimmesdale, who seems like devout clergyman to the public, has a big secret that could get him killed if it were made known. Next, Roger Chillingworth, a harmless doctor in the eyes of the public, is actually a man on an evil and vengeful mission. Finally, Hester Prynne’s public truth is that she is unimportant outcast while in private the complete opposite is true. In conclusion, Mr. Dimmesdale, Roger Chillingworth, and Hester Prynne all are prime examples of the theme, public versus private truth, that Hawthorne tries to convey in The Scarlet Letter.
Nathaniel Hawthorne portrays the ideology of Puritan society in the novel the Scarlet Letter; however reader also get to witness his characters being an illustration of hypocrisy and victims to their own guilt. In the Scarlet Letter, as in many of Hawthorne’s shorter works, he makes profuse use of the Puritan past: its odd exclusionary belief, its harsh code of ruling, its concern with sex and witchcraft. The Scarlet Letter is a story that is embellished but yet simple. Many readers may view this novel as a soap opera due to the way Hawthorne conveys this Puritan society’s sense of strictness and inability to express true emotion along with the secrecy and how deceiving the characters are being. As the story unfolds the main character Hester Prynne is bounded in marriage at an early age. She engages in an adulterous affair with an unknown member of their small village. Hester soon becomes pregnant and with her husband’s absence the chances of this child belonging to her husband are slim. The towns’ people know that she has committed a sin and imprisons her for her crime.
Society has unintentionally been guided by the same themes since the beginning of time. The recurring themes that are present in Nathaniel Hawthorne’s classic The Scarlet Letter are still relevant in today’s society. When high school students and teachers claim that Hawthorne’s novel is archaic and should be removed from the curriculum, they are absolutely wrong. Hester Prynne, the main character of the novel, commits adultery and as punishment, has to wear a scarlet letter “A” on her chest for everyone to see. Throughout the novel, Hester is faced with obstacles such as the struggle between self and society and the burden of publicly suffering for her sins. Despite a substantial amount of time having passed since Puritan times, the themes that Hester Prynne had to experience are still pertinent. Roger Chillingworth, Hester’s husband, is driven mad by his incessant need for revenge and in society today there are many occasions where people are plagued with the desire to seek vengeance. There are some instances in life where human nature takes over without people even realizing and revenge is one of them. Also, people are right when they say “history repeats itself” because some of these themes never go away. The Scarlet Letter takes place in the strict religious time of the 1600’s and although the book seems outdated and obsolete, the ideas inside are still relevant and therefore high school students should continue to read this work
Throughout the novel of the Scarlet letter, Hawthorne expresses many themes such as guilt, isolation, and pride all within the characters. Although, many of the same characters share the same themes with each other. In my opinion, Dimmesdale, clearly shows the most guilt within himself about Hester. He constantly struggles with the fact that he’s the father of her child, and what gravely sin he has committed. With his battle of himself, including his cowardice, he punishes himself over his guilty consciences about Hester. He battles with the fact that he is a known Reverend and high up in the community: and knows that people will leave, punish, and lose all respect for him. Going back to his guilt with himself, he severely punishes himself as shown in chapter 11.