Who Is Dimmesdale In The Scarlet Letter

In his first speech Dimmesdale's purpose is to get Hester Prynne to confess who the father is. This accusatory purpose Dimmesdale conveys is trying to get Hester Prynne to confess but at the same time keep her mouth shut. "I charge thee to speak out the name of thy fellow-sinner and fellow-sufferer" (Hawthorne 57). This quote shows that Dimmesdale asks Hester publicly the Who the father is so the Community does not get suspicious of the authority of Dimmesdale. In Dimmesdale's second speech his purpose changes from accusatory to remorseful. With seven years passing and Dimmesdale harming himself he wants to be free of the guilt of the secret. " It seemed, at this point, as if the minister must leave the remainder of his secret disclosed. But he fought back the bodily weakness- and, still more, the faintness of heart." ( Hawthorne 208). This quote shows that Dimmesdale is weakly fighting back the guilt of his secret and he can not take it anymore. He has had enough of living with the lie so he

Dimmesdale’s battle with sin and guilt got the best of him in the long run. He wanted to have others forgive him before he would forgive himself. Dimmesdale lived in fear of his sin being announced and thought that hiding it would make the problem go away. He lived a hypocritical lifestyle of preaching about path the Lord has paved for you while he himself strayed from his path after he committed adultery.

Along the story, Dimmesdale had sudden changes that change his life completely. Initially, he was a righteous Puritan minister that gained the respect of his community, but he committed a sin. Arthur had relations with a married woman named Hester Prynne and has result of that, they had a baby whose name was Pearl, and she was the proof of the sin. He knows that he was the father, but his fear was so big that hi cowardice gained him and decided to shut up. This tells us his first change, from a sincere person to one who hides the truth.

Throughout this chapter Dimmesdale is tempted to do things, and is described as “At every step he was incited to do some strange, wild, wicked thing or another” (Hawthorn, 171). This is also confirmed by Olivia Taylor in her paper in which see is comparing Rev. Dimmsdale to a character from another novel “Like Dimmesdale, she too experiences moments of seeming insanity as she labors”(Taylor, 2). Much like Jesus was tested by satan after fasting for forty days Dimmesdale is tempted time and time again, but dimmesdale is not Jesus, and in his current condition by the end of his journey home Dimmesdale is nothing but a hollow shell of his former self, and he enters his house a broken man. Before We dive deeper in to the chapter let us look at a brief overview written by Robert

Many wondered why Dimmesdale had always grasped his chest in a visual way showing he is in pain, which could be found as an example in chapter 10 when Chillingworth tried to help Dimmesdale, but for Dimmesdale he was trying to keep the Scarlett Letter hidden so that the “A” he obtains stays hidden. Dimmesdale did too receive a letter “A” for his adulteress act with. So with him not wanting to confess the his sin in the first place the letter would of made the situation worse being that he already being the minister, judgment would come just like Hester had gotten, he wouldn’t be seen as a good Minister to the people. To answer the question on “is a man able to hide his guilt with out destroying himself?” Dimmesdale wasn’t able to do such thing because of how he tries hide the sin he and the letter but during the novel he tends to get nervous and physically show he is weak because of the

He was scared to tell the truth because he knew he was in the wrong and he didn’t want to get in trouble for his sin. He was a man of God and he did not want people to see him as a sinner, instead of the man of God he was portraying. He was well thought of because he had a good reputation and he was the minister and he wanted to keep it that way. Dimmesdale was a normal sinner because I think that most normal people are scared to confess to others about what they have done wrong. Dimmesdale was conflicted. He had sinned and kept that sin to himself, in order to actually “save” himself. However, Pearl was physical evidence of his sin and this was very a very conflicting reminder of the sin he trying to hide. “At the great judgement day,” whispered the minister-and, strangely enough, the sense that he was a professional teacher of truth impelled him to answer the child so. “Then, and there, before the judgement seat, they mother, and thou, and I, must stand together. But daylight of this world shall not see our meeting!” (page Ch 12) He was also very frail. His appearance was pale and his eyes showed the sadness and guilt he carried as a type of “cross” or “scarlet letter” for the sin he tried unsuccessfully to bury deep inside of himself. He could be considered a villain and a

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

Mr. Dimmesdale efforts to confess the truth are very insincere. As shown in the story in chapter twelve where he heard pearl “Minister!” whispered little pearl. “What wouldst thou say, child?” asked Mr. Dimmesdale. “Wilt thou stand here with mother and me, to-morrow noontide?” inquired Pearl. “Nay; not so, my little Pearl!” answered the minister…” These lines from the story show that Dimmesdale doesn’t want to tell the truth to the the public eye.

Dimmesdale. Ye have both been here before, but i was not with you. Come up, hither once again, and we will stand all three together!” She silently ascended the steps, and stood on the platform, holding little pearl by the hand. The minister felt for the child's other hand and took it “ (Hawthorne 143) From here they are starting to become closer and you notice the closeness that they have bythe way that they all stood together under the moon holding hands. Pearl feels liberated because even though it's night you are still able to see people around. It also implies that they are able to get through the struggles but does not affect them all that much because sooner than later Dimmesdale admits that he is the father of Pearl and Hester kisses Dimmesdale immediately “Partly supported by Hester Prynne, and holding one hand of little Pearl’s the Reverend Mr. Dimmesdale turned to dignified the venerable rulers; to the holy ministers, who were his brethren; to the people, whose great heart was thoroughly appalled yet overflowing with tearful sympathy” (Hawthorne 379) It’s able to explain how truthful he was to share out his family and how Pearl accepted to grab his hand in front of all the people. Since she’s been truthful the whole time she was blessed with good fortune after Dimmesdale had died. She met a man who she married and

               The fact that Dimmesdale is a hypocrite causes him to experience increased torment due to his guilt.  Dimmesdale beautifully illustrates Hawthorne’s point, because if he were not such a highly religious man, then he would not care about his crime.  However, he does care, and he inflicts torment on himself, including long periods of fasting. In addition to hours of staring at himself in the mirror, he could also be caught numerous times in his closet, whipping himself and burning the letter "A" on his chest.   Or he could be seen at the scaffold in the wee hours of the morning, practicing how he is going to confess the next day. Deluding himself by pretending that his

I feel that part of him wanted to be seen, but he also wanted to remain unknown as Pearl's father. After all, he is the town minister, and he has committed a very consequential sin. Hester and Pearl found Dimmesdale upon the scaffold, as did Chillingworth (123-124). Confusion fell over Pearl as they came across Dimmesdale at the scaffold. Dimmesdale did not have any judgement cast upon him, but there definitely was some confusion.

When Dimmesdale publicly tells the town Pearl was his daughter. Gold shows power strength and intelligence. Dimmesdale telling the town show he is strong enough to deal with the consequences of his actions. He’s sacrifice was huge he put his life on the line for a lady he probably wouldn’t have a future with, that shows strength. Him making that decision could affect more than one person it could affect Hester, pearl and the former husband as well.

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.

From the start, Dimmesdale did not want to live with the consequence of his sin. To begin with, he must of told Hester not to tell anyone about his sin, because on the scaffold, she will not tell anyone (pg. 64). Clearly, Dimmesdale was afraid of the justice and the shame that would follow. He thought that if no one knew, he could

Mr. Dimmesdale’s strong ties to his Puritan faith cause him to commit endless acts of severe penance as retribution for his sin, only bringing him continuous physical suffering and the longing for absolution. Dimmesdale’s faithfulness leads him to beg for God’s forgiveness through his actions in the hopes of saving his soul and avoiding some of the punishment he will likely bear in the afterlife. His penitence and fear of public exposure cause Dimmesdale to whip himself harshly in the closet and to fast “…rigorously, and until his knees trembled beneath him, as an act of penance” (136). Because of the lack of courage within his character, Mr. Dimmesdale turns to private suffering rather than public shame as a means for his atonement. These excessive acts of penance resulted in his suffering of intense physical and mental weakness, and causing him to become frail in overall spirit. In his most extreme act of repentance, Mr. Dimmesdale stooped to self-mutilation by carving the letter A into his own chest to match