Who Is Hester's Destruction In The Scarlet Letter

Chillingworth will not bear the shame in regards to his unfaithful wife, nor be burdened with supporting and providing for her. He is truly a cruel and twisted man. This unfaithfulness to his wife is not his only shame; he also is responsible for the daily, mental torture of Rev. Arthur Dimmesdale. “She doubted not, that the continual presence of Roger Chillingworth, –the secret poison of his malignity, infecting all the air about him, –and his authorized interference, as a physician, with the minister’s physical and spiritual infirmities, –that these bad opportunities had been turned into a cruel purpose” (Hawthorne132).

The book, The Scarlet Letter, written by Nathaniel Hawthorne, is the scandalous story of Hester Prynne and how the scarlet letter ‘A’ burns on her breast. Hester has a child who is born in adultery. She is sentenced to stand on the dreaded scaffold and endure public shaming and to wear the letter of conviction for the rest of her days. Even in her suffering, Hester refuses to give the identity of the father, the highly regarded Minister, Arthur Dimmesdale. He is a cowardly man who is permits Hester to suffer alone. Even though he confesses his sins eventually, he refuses several other opportunities; therefore, he is weak and cowardly, and in no way a hero.

He puts himself into the minister’s life, and, for a time, Chillingworth is the only person close to him. By creating a bond between the two, he could enact his revenge. Hawthorne uses negative words and phrases like “ugly”, “evil” (92), “black plans” (104) and even “Satan’s emissary, in the guise of old Roger Chillingworth” (92) to describe the physician, which contributes to the revealing of his vengeful nature. The vengeful nature revealed in Chillingworth through Hawthorne’s diction adds to his plan to enact revenge on Dimmesdale, as we get a view into his black heart. Hawthorne writes, “He became, thenceforth, not only a spectator, but a chief actor, in the poor minister’s interior world. He would play upon him as he chose” (105), conveying the absolute control Chillingworth has over Dimmesdale, playing his psyche like a puppet. The effect of the remorseless toying on Dimmesdale rears its terrible head when Hawthorne writes, “‘Who is that man, Hester?’ gasped Dimmesdale, overcome with terror. ‘I shiver at him? Dost thou know the man? I hate him, Hester!’” (122). Chillingworth manipulates Dimmesdale’s guilt against himself, which results in Dimmesdale losing his mind. Also, Hawthorne utilizes setting to intensify Chillingworth's revenge. On page 122 Hawthorne writes, “Certainly, if the meteor kindled up the sky, and disclosed the earth, with an awfulness that warned Hester and the clergyman of the

In the book, The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne, Hester is very strong-willed and loyal. For example, when Dimmesdale tells Hester to identify the father and she replies, “I will not speak!” (51). When Hester is in front of many people; she stays strong and does not give Dimmesdale up. This is important because by not revealing the identity of the father, Hester stays loyal to Dimmesdale. Another example is when the governor tries to take Pearl away from Hester and she says, “Ye shall not take her! I will die first!” (85). Hester continues to be tough and not give up Pearl but also does not give the name of Pearl’s father. Hester continues to argue why she should keep Pearl and is willing to die before she would let someone else raise

In the Scarlet letter, Nathaniel Hawthorne demonstrates the consequences of sin. Hester, Chillingworth and Dimmesdale are the main characters that were the highlight of the book. I'm going to tell you how sin they all committed had an effect on their lives. Guilt is a consequence of sin that Hester had to endure throughout her life. She continuously walked around with a smile on her face to act as if others opinions didn't influence her about the sin she had done.

A reader may label Dimmesdale the purest of the sinners. Adultery, in the Christian world, is the one of the greatest sins a man can commit, second only to premeditated murder. In a Puritan society, it must be close to the same. Dimmesdale tries to purge himself of this evil sin by scourging and self-denial. However, he shies away from public confession, rationalizing the good he can instill in other men and women with his sermons. We find this illogical reasoning on page He endures Chillingworth's revenge and hatred while trying to preach what he doesn't practice. At his weakest point, Hester tempts him to cave in to the sin and do it all over again. Out of desperation to flee from the torture, he crumbles

For Dimmesdale however, his sin is easier hidden. Perhaps the best evidence of this contrast is in an exchange between the two characters; Hawthorne writes, ‘“The judgment of God is on me," answered the conscience-stricken priest. "It is too mighty for me to struggle with!" "Heaven would show mercy," rejoined Hester, "hadst thou but the strength to take advantage of it" (Hawthorne 43). The reader can see here that Hester and Dimmesdale have a totally different mindset when it comes to their shared adversity.

Hawthorne expresses Dimmesdale’s emotions by portraying dark diction and suffering with phrases such as “miserable agony,” showing that Dimmesdale was unable to withhold his pain and agony that came with hiding his sin. “Miserable agony” portrays the feeling of pain and true suffering from internal causes, which in this case is his withholding his sin. The use of kinetic imagery also emphasizes the suffering of Dimmesdale. When Dimmesdale asks Hester to “twine thy strength about me,” he wants her to give him the strength to carry on. The connotation of “twine” indicates his weakness from his guilt, and the suffering that requires him to rely on others. This shows how Dimmesdale faces true pain and meaningful suffering because of his guilt and refusal to admit his sin, such as when he says that it is “for my own heavy sin,” showing how much it bears down on his soul. This guilt is also brought about when Dimmesdale suffers from physical and spiritual wounds from not admitting his guilt.

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.

He suffers from extreme guilt because of the sin he committed with Hester. His place in society prevents him from confessing; he keeps the sin a secret. He distances himself from everyone only so that he would not feel the pressure into confessing, this leads to him being emotionally isolated. When Roger Chillingworth talks to Dimmesdale about his troubles, Dimmesdale feels as if he is being drawn close to a confession and leaves the scene out of fright. He says, “But who art thou, that meddlest in this matter?—that dares thrust himself between the sufferer and his God?” (113). Dimmesdale is afraid that Chillingworth is going to discover his sin and thus decides to leave. Although Dimmesdale succeeds in hiding his sin from Chillingworth, he still feels the need to end his priestly duties because he is not the man everyone thinks he is. “‘I have laughed, in bitterness and agony of heart, at the contrast between what I seem and what I am! And Satan laughs at it!’” (159). All the townspeople revere Dimmesdale and act upon his every word, this makes Dimmesdale realize that revealing his sin will not only destroy his image. He continues to hide it and his feelings from the entire town, leaving him deserted with his emotions. His isolation leads to pangs of pain that only he understands. He reaches for his heart because he felt a pain that no one else knew of. His

Chillingworth made Dimmesdale suffer by exaggerating his illness, and humiliating him with guilt of his sin “a bodily disease which we look upon as whole and entire within itself, may, after all, be but an ailment in the spiritual part”. the fragility and susceptibility of Dimmesdale states clearly his weakness, moreover.

Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter revolves around a Puritan community. Hester Prynne, Dimmesdale, and Roger Chillingworth, through different, all committed sinful crimes. Dr. Khan argues that Dimmesdale died because of atropine poisoning, but Roger Chillingworth was not trying to kill Dimmesdale, the symptoms was Dr. Khan has stated could be refute, and the guilt that Dimmesdale has suffered, which has lead to his declining death, is what really caused his death. Roger Chillingworth does not want Dimmesdale to die. Chillingworth’s motive and intention has play a big role in Dimmesdale life.

Dimmesdale has committed adultery with Hester Prynne and the consequence for his sin is that the guilt that becomes apart of him. Reverend Dimmesdale's struggle to cope with his guilt causes him to do very harmful things to himself. " Mr. Dimmesdale thus communed with himself, and struck his forehead with his hand" (Hawthorne 217). Dimmesdale has become so enraged with his guilt that he gets violent and abuses himself. The guilt that Dimmesdale experiences is unlike any other, the lasting effect of his sin causes an internal hatred within himself and it makes him afraid of confessing his sin because he is embarrassed by his actions.

The novel Scarlet Letter written by Nathaniel Hawthorne deals with diverse themes which vary from social problems to convoluted psychological sketches. The most prominent psychological sketch is developed in two characters Hester Prynne and Arthur Dimmesdale who sinned together and the novel follows the aftermath. Obviously, the most visible consequence is the birth of their child Pearl but there are also nonvisible and harming outcomes. Hester was rejected by the society and she was forced to wear the letter

Mr. Dimmesdale’s conscience constantly brought his negative aspects to mind, and caused him to spiral into self hatred and misery. The overwhelming presence of guilt for his offense caused Mr. Dimmesdale unbearable suffering and general unhappiness in knowing that he had not only wronged God, but Hester and the entire community as well.