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Critical Analysis of the Scarlet Letter
Character development in the scarlet letter pdf by nathaniel hawthorne
Introduction of the scarlet letter nathaniel hawthorne
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Everyone has lied at one point in their life, people typically lie because it is hard for them to admit their wrong doings and are scared or embarrassed. This goes to show that their bravery has not yet built up. For example, if Dimmesdale had mustered up his fear and bravery, he could have stood on the scaffold with Hester and Pearl upon questioning Hester. Dimmesdale is known as a holy figure in the community who wants to be true to everyone but yet he does not reveal the truth that is hidden in his heart. He urges to tell everyone that he is the father of Pearl but dwindles on this thought because he did not want it to affect his reputation. Throughout the novel Dimmesdale tries to confess to the public about his truth “Do you think it is a consolation, Hester, that I must stand in my pulpit and see so many eyes looking up into my face as though the light of Heaven were beaming out of it? That I must see my parishioners hungry for the truth and listening to my words as though I spoke it?” (Hawthorne) And then to look at myself and see the dark reality of the man they idolize?" but he fails due to the lack of bravery. When he meets Hester in the forest, he says that he does not have courage and strength that she has “I must die here! I do not have the strength or the courage to venture into the wide, strange, difficult world alone!”. He admits that he isn't as emotionally and mentally strong as her but later he builds up his bravery and finally confesses to the town. Dimmesdale attempted to be his true self by telling the public about his sin on the scaffold so he can release the guilt that had built up in his heart. Due to the struggle of him revealing the truth, he ultimately destroys himself. The pain that was stored for so ... ... middle of paper ... ...the doctors eyes. Chillingworth bursts into instant joy and horror as he discern that an “A” was scared upon Dimmesdale's chest. If anyone had seen Chillingworth at the time of his enjoyment, they would have known “What Satan looks like when a precious human soul is lost to Heaven and won for Hell instead.” He continues to torture Dimmesdale’s soul until Dimmesdale dies due to deterioration of his injured heart. Recognizing that his death was near, he chose to relieve his soul at the last minute by confronting about his sin publicly and revealing the “A”. Since Dimmesdale dies, Chillingworth has no purpose and dies due to the frustration. He followed his heart all the way to the end which ultimately destroys him. Works Cited "Blueprint Lays Out Clear Path for Climate Action." Environmental Defense Fund. Environmental Defense Fund, 8 May 2007. Web. 24 May 2009.
Not only in this story of the Scarlet Letter, but throughout the early churches, we often see religious leaders in this predicament of coming forward or not coming forward with the truth of their role within certain situations. Hester, on the other hand, is portrayed as strong but also abandoned, because she is standing alone for the sins she could not have committed alone. Dimmesdale also struggles with confessing to Pearl the truth and keeping it from her. At first he is regarded as being selfish for not confessing right away and as a result, when he does confess, it is not well received from Pearl at all. This is not only because she is flustered from finding out, but Pearl knows that Dimmesdale abandoned them at first as he weighed the options.
In these stories, lying has been crucial to not only the storyline, but to saving the lives of others. If Mary would not have been pregnant, then her deceit would not have been right. If Nora only wanted to go to the South to shop, she would have been wrong to lie under her dying father name on the bond. In actuality, these were not the cases. As a result, lying is, in fact, justified under the right circumstances.
Secondly, Chillingworth’s actions were motivated by hate and a lust for revenge that overpowered him in the end. Therefore an awful change must have taken place in the doctor since “human nature loves more readily than it hates” (156). The actions of Hester, Dimmesdale, and Chillingworth were all motivated by a deep passion for one thing or another. However, the difference in their actions was that the adulteress and the minister acted out of love for each other while her husband acted out of anger and jealousy. Also, the physician underwent such a change that “there came a glare of red light out of his eyes; as if the old man’s soul were on fire, and kept smoldering duskily within his breast” (166). Eventually Chillingworth’s heart became so twisted and contorted that there were very noticeable differences in his personality.
Dimmesdale considers the timing fortunate as it aligns with his Election Day sermon and feels that there could not be a more suitable way to end his career as a minister. He thinks to himself, “At least, they shall say of me, that I leave no public duty unperformed, nor ill performed!’” (Hawthorne 146). Up until the moment of his histrionic confession on the scaffold, Dimmesdale acts to maintain his respected reputation in the Puritan society. Even his final confession is a performance before the town. As analyzed by literary critic Terrence Martin, “...in keeping with the brilliant economy of The Scarlet Letter, the moment at which Dimmesdale commits himself consciously to deadly liberating sin becomes the moment at which he secretly wishes to cap his public life with a final burst of eloquence on the most important occasion the Puritan community can offer.” His death is his final act of hypocrisy, as he declares that he stands with them but leaves Hester and Pearl alone again to face society. His confession, like his silence, was a grandiose facade for an act of
As a respected physician, Chillingworth was “a man of skill in all Christian modes of physical science, and li... ... middle of paper ... ... powerful grip over him, dies peacefully, and Chillingworth dies soon after. To plot revenge in any situation is harmful. Chillingworth’s plot of revenge brings the downfall of Dimmesdale, as well as his own.
Eventually coming to terms with his societal offense and accepting the love he shares for Hester and the product of his sin, Pearl, Dimmesdale decides to end his torment by revealing himself to society. However, as he relieves himself from the curse cast upon him, his body succumbs to his mental distress and physically weakness, leaving him a freed man as he takes his last breath. Dimmesdale inflicts himself with agony and distress as he chose to have an affair with Hester, but his ultimate downfall resulted because of his fear of social judgement and the consequences for committing such a crime. His choice to hide his dishonorable actions from society worsened his physical and mental health as he lived in constant angst of someone uncovering his scandalous secret and consequently leading to his passing away. As demonstrated by Oedipus and Dimmesdale, it is not one’s crime that leads them into misery; it is the emotional distress and guilt that tortures them and brings upon their greatest
Hester faced the music, admitting her sin almost instantly in front of the whole town. On the other hand, Dimmesdale hides, wanting to conceal his biggest secret from everyone. This difference in hiding sin and turning to guilt shows how much it can take over a life and leave a person with nothing once released. This difference comes into the spotlight in the last chapters of Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter. As the book is coming to a close, Dimmesdale appears to be ready to finally take responsibility for his actions. After the Election Day Sermon, Dimmesdale approaches the stage, after gained the attention of the crowd, he announces that he is the father of Pearl, the result of adultery. Upon confession, Dimmesdale pulls back his shirt to reveal something on his chest. Doing this causes him to fall on the stage, and this ultimately lead to his death. “With a convulsive motion, he tore away the ministerial band from before his chest. It was revealed! … Then, down he sank upon the scaffold!” (250/4 - 251/1) By the time Dimmesdale was admitting his crime, the whole of his body was taken over by the secret. It was a part of his being, his soul. When he told the town of the adultery, it was like he was releasing a part of his soul. He let a huge part of himself escape, which caused his death. The guilt took him over, and
By chapter 11 there is already a suspicion that Dimmesdale may be the father of Pearl, but in this chapter it is finally revealed. This being said, it also uncovers many things that he does to cope with this dark secret. He too has a mark like Hester's on his chest, however the story has yet to identify this mark. The pain Dimmesdale feels causes him to clutch his hand over his heart repeatedly throughout the novel. Dimmesdale also tortures himself. He whips himself, and doesn't eat or sleep for days at a time.
“ ‘Nay; not so, my little Pearl,’ answered the minister; for, with the new energy of the moment, all the dread of public exposure that had so long been the anguish of his life had returned upon him; and he was already trembling at the conjunction in which-with a strange joy, nevertheless -he now found himself.’ Not so, my child. I shall, indeed, stand with thy mother and thee one day, but not tomorrow’ “(Hawthorne 149-150). Pearl now has a connection with Dimmesdale. She wants to be with him, but he still wants to believe he isn’t the father and he can’t be seen with her or people will know what really is. Hester’s life to Dimmesdale is free and open, while he, on the other hand, has a life of misery. His life of misery is causing him to break down and it makes people suspect something is wrong. “ ‘No, Hester, no!’ replied the clergyman. ‘There is no substance in it! It is cold and dead, and can do nothing for me! Of penance, I have had enough! Of penance, there has been none’ “(Hawthorne 188)! This secret is eating at Dimmesdale’s heart and he cannot control
In the third scaffold scene, The paragraph that said Dimmesdale regains his soul, it’s mean Dimmesdale confess his obscure that he is pearl's father he just realized that he should stay with them since last seven years ago but he was not there. He let Hester stay alone for a long time. To relieve his guilt, He tries to punish himself. He lives without eating food and sleep for a long time and he also whips himself on his
Dimmesdale. At first his expression had been calm, meditative, and scholar-like. "Now, there was something ugly and evil in his face, which they [people of the town] had not previously noticed, and which grew still the more obvious to sight the oftener they looked upon him.'; (Chpt. 9, p. 155) While pretending to be Dimmesdale's trusted confidant and physician, Chillingworth is actually slaying him by means of medicine and mental torture.
For example, in the fourth chapter, Hester explains that she “thought about death,” and she even “wished for it [death].” Additionally, Hester says “she ha[s] always this dreadful agony” when others observe her scarlet letter (Chapter 5; page 58). In order to lessen the punishment for both Hester and himself, Rev. Dimmesdale also chose to abstain from confession, establishing the likely outcomes of this prisoner’s dilemma. The narrator depicts Arthur Dimmesdale as a man desperately clinging to his silence in Chapter 12, when he denies Pearl’s request to “stand here with mother and me, to-morrow noontide,” (page 92) since the public would be able to see him and discern his crimes. To emphasize Rev. Dimmesdale’s decision to remain silent, the author writes that Pearl inquires him once more, on page 93. Arthur Dimmesdale again rejects Pearl’s request to stand with them together on the scaffold, in front of the town--he chooses to continue his silence. However, Hester and
As soon as Hester stands on the stocks with Pearl for a day without him, Dimmesdale becomes forever haunted from his guilty conscience. He self-inflicts a great deal of harm upon himself both physically and mentally. “And thus, while standing on the scaffold, in this vain show of expiation, Mr. Dimmesdale was overcome with a great horror of mind, as if the universe were gazing at a scarlet token on his naked breast, right over his heart. On that spot, in very truth, there was, and there had long been, the gnawing and poisonous tooth of bodily pain. Without any effort of his will, or power to restrain himself, he shrieked aloud; an outcry that went pealing through the night, and was beaten back from one house to another, and reverberated from the hills in the background; as if a company of devils detecting so much misery and terror in it, had made a plaything of the sound, and were bandying it to and fro” (Hawthorne 128). Dimmesdale comes close to confession many times, but cowardice and self-preservation come into play, affecting his decision. He is unable to summon the power to confess, but instead tortures himself and engraves an “A” by his heart. He quickly realizes that he will not survive long in his current situation.
That man who Hester loves so deeply, Mr. Dimmesdale also undergoes major changes due the sin he bears. In the beginning of the book we see this man’s weakness and unwillingness to confess sin even as he begs Hester the person he committed his sin with to come forth with her other parties name (p56). As The Scarlet Letter progresses we see Dimmesdale become weaker physically and his religious speeches become even stronger so that his congregation begins to revere him. For a large part of the novel Dimmesdale has been on a downward spiral in terms of mental and physical health thanks to a so-called friend who was issued to take care of Mr. Dimmesdale, then because of a talk with Hester he is revitalized and given the power to do something, which he could not for seven long years. At the end of the novel Dimmesdale is finally able to recognize his family in public and confess his sin before all releasing the sin he held so long hidden in his heart (p218, 219).
...glimpse of human affection and sympathy, a new life, and a true one, in exchange for the heavy doom which he was now expiating." (pg. 184). Hester's offer to him for a new shot at life could not lift the guilt. He had sinned against the townspeople, and he needed to confess to them. When Dimmesdale is dying at the end, he asks Pearl to kiss him (pg. 233). This kiss signifies the breaking of the hold that sin had on his life. Sadly, it was too late-the sin had already consumed the last bits of life that he had left. Even though he died shortly after he confessed, he still repented, and that was his goal.