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Character developement of the scarlet letter chapter 2
Character developement of the scarlet letter chapter 2
The scarlet letter character analysis essay
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Dimmesdale lives a lie and face a battle of inner conflict between his pride and his guilt throughout The Scarlet Letter. Lacking the courage to brings shame upon himself for his sin, Dimmesdale hides its. This, therefore, makes him a liar whose words are now tainted with deception, molding a far greater sin. This great sin destroys his ability to be a good father and has formed him to be a coward. Dimmesdale believes that if he conceals his sin that he can continue doing Gods work as a penance for his sins. It is Dimmesdale’s “concealed sins” of pride and false witness that exceeds the others because of the everlasting mark he leaves. As the novel progresses, it is made apparent to the reader that Dimmesdale is tormented with a “black secret” …show more content…
His inner conflict did not solely rely on the war between his guilt, pride, and false witness, but also from the loneliness he brought upon himself. Dimmesdale felt sorry for himself and envied Hester for the fact she could wear her sin openly and freely, yet why could Dimmesdale not? Dimmesdale said himself “ happy are you, Hester, that you wear the scarlet letter openly upon your bosom! Mine burns in secret! Dimmesdale’s sin did not have to burn in secret but he chose for it to out of his own righteous pride. His ride not only brought failure and guilt but also loneliness. His loneliness spring from no one getting to see him for what he really was. “After the torment of seven years’ cheat, to look into an eye that recognizes” him the “vilest of sinners” he shamed himself to be was the only time his loneliness had ceased to be. That day in the forest with Hester brought Dimmesdale comfort but he had only himself to blame for this misery. The truth is Dimmesdale tried to confess his sin. Though the times he tried to confess, it was not with much effort. The community would not believe him but instead claimed him to be “the saint on earth”. The irony of dimmesdales postion is almost hurmorous. He is disguised in lies therefore when he speaks the truth
Consequently enough, Dimmesdale is trying to convince Hester to reveal the man who has sinned along with her, so the man can be relieved of his guilt, somewhat ironic because he is the man who has sinned along side with her. "What can thy silence do for him, except it tempt him--yea, compel him, as it were--to add hypocrisy to sin? Heaven hath granted thee an open ignominy, that thereby thou mayest work out an open triumph over the evil within thee and the sorrow without.
The narrator of the Scarlet Letter uses devices such as hyperbole, paradox, satire, and allusion to describe Dimmesdale’s internal conflicts as they begin to reveal themselves within chapter eleven. To illustrate the narrator uses hyperbole in lines twenty-two to twenty-five using the town's people's belief of Dimmesdale being a pure, humble, and godly young man that is incapable of sin. The usage of hyperbole in one townsperson claimed, "The saint on earth! Alas, if he discerns such sinfulness in his own white soul, what horrid spectacle would he behold in thine or mine!” Emphasizes the strong, naive belief of the townsperson towards the sin Dimmesdale had committed. For they believed that it could not have been as bad as their own if not
Arthur Dimmesdale proves himself to be an epitome of dishonesty. As he refuses to reveal his troubles to his physician, Roger Chillingworth, he is not properly brought back to full health. Chillingworth senses the pastor 's deep inflictions, and hints to the clergyman that he should disclose the true nature of his deteriorating health. By picking a black plant to put into medication, he suggests to Dimmesdale "I found them growing on a grave... of the dead man... They grew out of his heart, and typify, it may be, some hideous secret that was buried with him, and which he had done better to confess during his lifetime" (Hawthorne 123). The physician words this in a way that heavily implies his knowledge of the
It is not known until well into The Scarlet Letter that Arthur Dimmesdale is Hester Prynne’s lover, but by this point, his conscience has already begun inflicting a woeful penalty on his spirit: "His form grew emaciated; his voice...had a certain melancholy prophecy of decay in it; he was often observed...to put his hand over his heart with...paleness, indicative of pain" (106). Although his reputation is flawless and his parishioners believe that through death, he is to be called to a higher plane of existence, Dimmesdale says with what is believed to be humility that his looming death is "because of his own unworthiness to perform his mission here on earth" (106). In retrospect, this marks the beginning of a critical and fatal duality of Dimmesdale’s character: the public believes he is a saint, while Dimmesdale knows himself the vilest sinner. His refusal to confess his misdeed only compounds his guilt, which is symbolized by his rapidly deteriorating physical condition. However, it remains his strategy to hide his sin, letting it fester in the dark.
Dimmesdale is one of the most intriguing characters in The Scarlet Letter. I think this because he demonstrates in this story that he is a coward, and that he is strong, yet not courageous.
...ter.” (149). While Hester had to receive the penance of her actions and conquer it, Dimmesdale was still in hiding like the coward he presented himself as. He views Hester as the one that got the better end of the situation by saying “Happy are you, Hester, that wear the scarlet letter openly upon your bosom! Mine burns in secret!” (167) Dimmesdale envies Hester’s letter because she has no need to hide form anyone and live in secret. Towards the end of his life, Dimmesdale, has enough strength to admit to his sinful actions and declares of God’s mercy.
...scourse” (77). Dimmesdale as well, was greatly affected by the environment and by what was going on around him. Dimmesdale was accepted by society, but because he was greatly praised for being a “miracle of holiness” (125) he became greatly burdened and guilty. He was in a dilemma of wanting to tell all the townspeople about what he had done, yet he could not due to the fear that was inside of him. This pushed him to punishments in which he inflicted upon himself and always thinking about the incident pushed him to his limits mentally-seeing visions of his dead parents and Hester as they point a condemning finger at him along with judgmental looks in their eyes (127).
After torturing himself for years on end, Dimmesdale still cannot find the inner-strength to reveal the sin that incessantly abuses his soul. During one lonely evening, Dimmesdale stands upon the local scaffold, attempting to feel the ignominy that Hester had so gallantly embraced. Unfortunately, he only has the courage to perform such a bold act in the secrecy of nightfall. While lost in his overwhelming thoughts, Dimmesdale, “[w]ithout any effort of his will, or power to restrain himself, shriek[s] aloud… an outcry that peal[s] through the night…” (136). Hence, Hawthorne’s supply of powerful actions renders Dimmesdale’s poor integrity in a potent manner. Dimmesdale’s agony-filled scream proves his weak state of mind, lack of personal restraint, and inner affliction. Furthermore, Hawthorne utilizes actions to describe Dimmesdale’s character progression. After making plans to run away to England with Pearl and Hester, Dimmesdale’s entire aura shifts to that of a more hopeful one. As Dimmesdale enters the New England Shore ready to deliver his final sermon, “[t]here [is] no feebleness of step… his frame [is] not bent, nor [does] his hand rest ominously upon his heart” (217). Due to his hopeful future, Dimmesdale no longer feels excruciating pain in his heart and no longer represents a weak, withering character. Dimmesdale gains a
Dimmesdale becomes a hypocrite for disguising his sin and acting innocent when in reality he is as much at fault as Hester is. Unlike Hester, who eventually overcomes the boundaries set by the scarlet letter, Dimmesdale resorts to whipping himself to pay for his sins. The only reasonable remedy for his sins would have been to either step down from his ministerial position or confess his sin to the public. Instead, he attempts to cover up his sin and use Hester 's sin instead in his sermons. A faithful minister would not attempt to hide his sins from his congregation; and only to make matters worse; he is a hypocrite by preaching about how terrible Hester 's sin was, even though he committed it as well. Internally Dimmesdale
Arthur Dimmesdale faces many challenges throughout the course of the novel, which causes him to evolve. Despite his many good qualities, he does not confess, while Hester Prynne gets publicly shamed for the sin they committed together. This adds up to the reader’s lack of empathy for Dimmesdale. He plays the role of “human frailty and sorrow.” The activities Hester and Dimmesdale engage in are completely unacceptable in the Puritan society. Arthur Dimmesdale is a Puritan minister, he is expected to be the representation of Puritan faith, so he refrains from disclosing the truth.
Dimmesdale is a man of utter respect in the puritan society. He possessed incredible speaking skills and had the ability to “move crowds”. As a result people looked up to him. Despite the fact that he was a man of prominence, he succumbed to sin. He had intercourse out of wedlock with Hester, who was already a married woman. Hester ended up having a baby, Pearl and was branded forever with the scarlet letter ‘A’ signifying adultery. Hester refused to say who the father of the child was, thereby protecting Dimmesdale’s reputation. In this moment, Dimmesdale was looking for a way for Hester to reveal their sinful actions when she was being scrutinized on the scaffold, since he did not yet have the courage to do so. Even though Dimmesdale was off the hook so to speak, his actions would end up haunting him and affecting his livelihood in the time to come.
In The Scarlet Letter, Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale is considered a very honorable person by almost everyone in the Puritan town. Practically no one would believe that he would have the ability to do any evil, much less the sin of adultery. On the contrary, Dimmesdale feels that he is a terrible person for committing this sin and not admitting it to the townspeople. This fact affects him greatly yet unexpectedly increases his popularity by inspiring him to come about with more intensifying sermons.
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).
Guilt is a very strong emotion, and it can take a merciless toll on a person. For most people, guilt is often a short-lived feeling because we confess why we feel guilty and get it off of our chests. However, this is hardly the case for Arthur Dimmesdale, the father of Hester Prynne’s child in the novel The Scarlet Letter. Dimmesdale does not confess that he has committed a sin with Hester, and for a brutal seven whole years, he withholds his guilt inside of him. Throughout all of that time, he reverts to self-punishment in the form of fasting, consecutive, sleepless vigils, and relentless studying of the Bible. The public viewed all of these activities as noble acts of devotion to God, and they only admired him more and more. This public veneration just made him feel like he was even more of a horrible person and that his whole life was based upon a lie. Also, Dimmesdale was faced to live with and be tormented by not only his overwhelming guilt of sin, but was moreover forced to live with Hester’s husband, Roger Chillingworth, who plagued him almost as much as his own conscience. These are all reasons why I believe that Dimmesdale suffers most out of any main character in this novel.
The forest scene is crucial in the narrative of The Scarlet Letter, and a proper understanding of what happens in the forest is necessary for any interpretation of Dimmesdale's last days of life and his final "confession." I will argue in this paper that the reading of the forest scene sketched above is mistaken; that in fact it is Arthur Dimmesdale and not Hester Prynne who is the "activating agent"(4) in the forest, increasing Dimmesdale's culpability for his most serious fall. Previous critics seem to think that Dimmesdale's much-vaunted skill as a speaker abandons him when he enters the forest with Hester, but I will show that Dimmesdale talks Hester into talking him into fleeing, and so Dimmesdale's gravest sin cannot be laid at Hester's feet at all.