The Scarlet Letter
analytical Essay
1368 words
The Scarlet Letter, written by Nathaniel Hawthorne, portrays the adversities faced by Hester Prynne and Reverend Dimmesdale, and their struggles to overcome their sins of adultery. Hawthorne depicts the celestial Dimmesdale as a troubled minister with an uneasy conscience who struggles to cope with his wrongdoings. Dimmesdale is torn between whether to publically confess his wrongdoing with Hester and let the merciless Puritans decide his fate, or keep his secret hidden and let the guilt derived from his actions, along with the devil in Roger Chillingworth, destroy him both mentally and physically. Being divided between his love for Hester and his Puritan ideals, Dimmesdale’s advancement towards making amends for his sin of adultery is manifested in the three scaffold scenes throughout the novel.
The first scaffold scene depicts Hester’s public humiliation of her sin, and Dimmesdale’s lack of courage and troubled soul. In the first scaffold scene, Dimmesdale acts as Hester’s deceptive accuser, letting her stand alone on the scaffold for three hours while being ridiculed by the townspeople for an act they both committed. Dimmesdale charges Hester “to speak out the name of thy fellow-sinner and fellow-sufferer. Be not silent from any mistaken pity and tenderness for him” (Hawthorne 64). By directly speaking to Hester, Dimmesdale wants Hester to reveal his sin to the townspeople of Boston. Dimmesdale does not want Hester to pity him, and take all the blame for their wrongdoing because he does not want to live a sinful life full of hidden sin and guilt. Although Dimmesdale wants Hester to reveal his secret, he is relieved when Hester says “I will not speak...And my child must seek a heavenly Father; she shall never know an earthly ...
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... Dimmesdale, a minister with a troubled soul, regrets his actions and makes amends for his sin, allowing him to finally be free from guilt and suffering.
The scaffold, a place of public shame and humiliation, symbolizes Dimmesdale’s progression towards making amends for his actions, and obtaining salvation. Dimmesdale goes from being a religious and deceitful minister in the first scaffold scene to a humble and lowly individual by the end of the third scaffold scene, freeing himself from the guilt that has caused so much havoc on his life. Dimmesdale’s sin, which is manifested throughout the three scaffold scenes, symbolizes the major theme of the Scarlet Letter, which states that hidden sin will ultimately kill an individual if left unconfessed, and that the only way to achieve salvation is by publicly confessing one’s actions and making atonement with God.
In this essay, the author
- Analyzes how nathaniel hawthorne's the scarlet letter portrays the adversities faced by hester prynne and reverend dimmesdale and their struggles to overcome their sins of adultery.
- Analyzes how the scaffold scene depicts hester's public humiliation of her sin and dimmesdale’s lack of courage and troubled soul.
- Analyzes how dimmesdale, portrayed as the sufferer in the second scaffold scene, holds an extended vigil on the scaffold at night to try to free himself from the sin that has caused him a lot of distress and suffering.
- Analyzes how dimmesdale, who is still in a conflicted state, has not been able to openly reveal his sin, but has taken the first steps towards making amends for his wrongdoing.
- Analyzes how dimmesdale, who humbly regrets his actions, relieves himself from the guilt obtained through his transgression, and from roger chillingworth’s torment, while liberating pearl from her burden.
- Analyzes how the scaffold symbolizes dimmesdale's progression towards making amends for his actions, and obtaining salvation.
Related
- analytical
- In The Scarlet Letter, Nathaniel Hawthorne portrays Arthur Dimmesdale as a troubled individual. In him lies the central conflict of the book. Dimmesdale's soul is torn between two opposing forces: his heart, his love for freedom and his passion for Hester Prynne, and his head, his knowledge of Puritanism and its denial of fleshly love. He has committed the sin of adultery but cannot seek divine forgiveness, believing as the Puritans did that sinners received no grace. His dilemma, his struggle to cope with sin, manifests itself in the three scaffold scenes depicted in The Scarlet Letter. These scenes form a progression through which Dimmesdale at first denies, then accepts reluctantly, and finally conquers his sin.
In this essay, the author
- Analyzes how nathaniel hawthorne portrays arthur dimmesdale as a troubled individual. his soul is torn between two opposing forces: his heart, his love for freedom, and his passion for hester prynne.
- Analyzes how hawthorne introduces dimmesdale as "a being who felt himself quite astray and at a loss in the pathway of human existence."
- Analyzes how dimmesdale's battle between "remorse" and "cowardice" leads to a temporary compromise in his midnight vigil where he confesses his sin not to the town, but to himself.
- Analyzes how dimmesdale conquers his sin and delivers himself into the hands of a waiting god. he escapes the devil and tore away the ministerial band from before his breast.
- Narrates how the child's smile was sweet and gentle, as if a spirit was sinking into deep repose. now that the burden was removed, it seemed almost as though he would be sportive.
- Analyzes how arthur dimmesdale finally dies in a "triumphant ignominy" where all have forgiven him, including himself.
- Analyzes how dimmesdale overcomes the grip of puritanism and turns directly to god. he escapes satan, and finally wins his battle against evil.
790 wordsRead More - Changes of Character in Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letteranalytical essayThe Scarlet Letter involves many characters that go through several changes during the course of the story. In particular, the young minister Dimmesdale, who commits adultery with Hester, greatly changes. He is the moral blossom of the book, the character that makes the most progress for the better. It is true that Dimmesdale, being a minister, should be the role model of the townspeople. He is the last person who should commit such an awful crime and lie about it, but in the end, he confesses to the town. Besides, everybody, including ministers, sin, and the fact that he confesses illustrates his courage and morality.
In this essay, the author
- Analyzes how the scarlet letter involves many characters that go through several changes during the course of the story. the young minister dimmesdale, who commits adultery with hester, greatly changes.
- Analyzes how hester and dimmesdale's affair goes undiscovered until she is pregnant and bears a child without having her husband present. he is forced to stand on the scaffold in the middle of the market place with an a on her chest.
- Analyzes how dimmesdale is the perfect example of how evil we can become when we let our guilt overcome us.
710 wordsRead More - Ruined by Sinanalytical essayArthur Dimmesdale is a gentle character that is new to the town and prefers to keep to himself. During Hester’s punishment on the scaffold, the reverend is introduced as a “tremulous [man], expressing both nervous sensibility and a vast power of self-restraint,” (Hawthorne 62). Hawthorne describes him as a kind, good-natured man that the community admires as their religious leader. Dimmesdale is quite reserved and does not talk much to others but he does have good relationships with the townspeople. During the first scaffold scene, Hawthorne describes Dimmesdale as having an “apprehensive, startled, half-frighte...
In this essay, the author
- Explains that reverend dimmesdale is discrete and tries to stay away from all distractions, especially those that could bring undesirable consequences.
- Analyzes how dimmesdale changes as the novel continues, he seems to be weaker both mentally and physically and holds his hand over his heart often as if something there hurts him.
- Analyzes how dimmesdale becomes less reserved and more courageous. he punishes himself by going onto the scaffolding in the middle of the town, but only hester and pearl see him.
- Analyzes how hawthorne describes dimmesdale as white and speechless, with one hand on the hebrew scriptures, and the other spread upon his breast.
- Analyzes how dimmesdale is courageous enough to repent for his sins to his congregation. he explains that there has been a mark on his chest that only god and the devil have known about.
- Analyzes how nathaniel hawthorne depicts reverend arthur dimmesdale as a gentle and discrete character who is destroyed by his sin and becomes much weaker and more courageous.
1183 wordsRead More - Sccaffold Scenes In The Scarlet Letteranalytical essayDimmesdale makes his way down to the scaffold while stressing over his guilt. Hawthorne states,” The whole town will awake and hurry forth, and find me here!”(99). Dimmesdale believes that everyone is staring at the scarlet letter over his heart. He yelled trying to get the town to awake and find him standing on the scaffold so he could confess his sin. Hawthorne states,” And there stood the minister, with his hand over his heart; and Hester Prynne, with the embroidered letter glimmering on her bosom; and little Pearl, herself a symbol, and the connecting link between those two”(103). They stood on the scaffold as if it was their chance to reveal all their secrets. Dimmesdale believes that their secrets were revealed and that as the sun comes up everyone who belongs together will be together. This scaffold scene is representing how the guilt of Dimmesdale's sin is burning inside of him and him not knowing what to
In this essay, the author
- Analyzes how hawthorne places three major events on the town scaffold that play a major role throughout hester and dimmesdale's life.
- Analyzes how hawthorne uses the scaffold scene to show the value of hester's public humiliation, the baby, and the letter a.
- Analyzes how the second scaffold scene focuses on dimmesdale's guilt that is buried inside him.
- Analyzes how the scaffold scene represents dimmesdale's bravery by confessing his sins.
- Analyzes how each event at the scaffold played major roles in both hester and dimmesdale's lives.
793 wordsRead More - In The Scarlet Letter, the scaffold symbolizes the torment Hester endures because of her sin. She decides to keep her love with Dimmesdale a secret to protect him. She stands on the scaffold alone every day for three hours, while everyone around her judges and criticizes her. Dimmesdale is not there to support her, and cannot reveal himself as her lover be...
In this essay, the author
- Analyzes how reverend arthur dimmesdale, one of the main characters of nathaniel hawthorne's famous novel, the scarlet letter, said this to his secret lover, hester, as she stands on the scaffold in front of her three-month old child, pearl.
- Analyzes how the scaffold symbolizes the torment hester endures because of her sin. she decides to keep her love with dimmesdale a secret to protect him.
- Explains that the puritans were judgmental and hypocritical. their government and laws revolved around the bible and sinning was illegal.
- Analyzes how hawthorne uses the scaffold symbol in the scarlet letter to give the reader a sense of hester's punishment and her feelings of humiliation and shame.
591 wordsRead More - The Nature of Sinanalytical essayThe Scarlet Letter is a book written by Nathaniel Hawthorne about a young lady named Hester and her life when she is sent to New England by her husband to establish their life while he is wrapping unfinished affairs back in Europe. While in New England she stumbles upon Puritans, people who are believe deeply in sin and not having a way out of being damned to hell. Hester eventually runs into one of the worst she sins possible, adultery. Then the villagers stumble upon an accomplice in Hester’s sin, Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale who cannot confess to his wrongdoings. Finally there is Roger Chillingworth, Hester’s former husband who swears revenge upon the man in which his wife had slept with, taking in the devil. In this novel three main sins are revealed by three main people, Hester who represents adultery, Reverend Dimmesdale who is an example of concealed sin, and the worst of them all, Roger Chillingworth who let the devil over take his soul. Throughout the book the true nature of sin is revealed and how different people react to it.
In this essay, the author
- Describes nathaniel hawthorne's the scarlet letter about a young lady named hester and her life when she is sent to new england by her husband to establish their life while he is wrapping unfinished affairs back in europe.
- Analyzes how hester prynne commits the sin of adultery with an unknown man in chapter 2: the market place.
- Analyzes how dimmesdale, the reverend, is a man of high power and looked upon by all the people of the village.
- Analyzes how dimmesdale is making an intimation at hester to get her to admit he is the father of her child. he falls ill due to the guilt of his concealed sin of adultery.
- Analyzes how chillingworth's plan to torture his mistress, hester prynne, is based on the fact that he is the husband whose wife was unfaithful
- Analyzes how the scarlet letter shows us the inauspicious ways that people have sinned and what their actions to the situation are.
1096 wordsRead More - In Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter, Mr. Dimmesdale’s greatest fear is that the townspeople will find out about his sin of adultery with Hester Prynne. Mr. Dimmesdale fears that his soul could not take the shame of such a disclosure, as he is an important moral figure in society. However, in not confessing his sin to the public, he suffers through the guilt of his sin, a pain which is exacerbated by the tortures of Roger Chillingworth. Though he consistently chooses guilt over shame, Mr. Dimmesdale goes through a much more painful experience than Hester, who endured the public shame of the scarlet letter. Mr. Dimmesdale’s guilt is much more damaging to his soul than any shame that he might have endured.
In this essay, the author
- Analyzes how mr. dimmesdale's self-mutilated letter was a symbol of the guilt that he endured.
- Analyzes how mr. dimmesdale suffers through his guilt alone, while hester's shame is completely public. he is accepted as a part of the community.
- Analyzes how mr. dimmesdale's greatest fear is that the townspeople will discover about his sin of adultery with hester prynne.
- Analyzes how mr. dimmesdale's guilt is not merely over the sin of adultery committed by him and hester.
1043 wordsRead More - Light Vs. Light In Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letteranalytical essayHawthorne uses the scaffold scenes to show how the presence of light and dark gives insight into the characters nature. In the first scaffold scene, Hester releases not only her guilt about her crime, but, she also releases Pearl to the society and creates in Pearl the need for strength and determination that she will need to overcome the legacy of her creation. In this scene she also creates the need in Dimmesdale to absolve himself of his guilt. The second scaffold scene is the opportunity for Dimmesdale to attempt to release his guilt from the first scaffold. However, Pearl creates a need in Dimmesdale to repent in front of the town. During the third scaffold scene, Dimmesdale is able to release his guilt about his crime and his lack of strength. He is also able to complete his obligation to accept the hands of Pearl and Hester on the platform from the second scaffold scene. Through his confession, he creates a sense of reality for the entire town. It can be clearly seen that what is created in the first scaffold is released in the second scaffold; while, the things created in the second scaffold are finally released in the third and final scaffold. The darkness during the second scaffold scene is covered in darkness, which display the symbols of reality and truth. There is another complexity to the scaffold scenes in the presence, or lack there of, of lighting. The first scaffold
In this essay, the author
- Analyzes how nathaniel hawthorne's the scarlett letter countered transcendentalism, which taught that divinity pervades all nature and humanity and held progressive views on feminism and communal living.
- Analyzes how hawthorne uses light and sunshine to portray goodness amongst the characters.
- Analyzes how hawthorne depicts the absence of light to show the nature of evil within the novel.
- Analyzes how hawthorne cleverly adds lighting and darkness to give insight into each character.
850 wordsRead More - In the book The Scarlet Letter, the character Reverend Dimmesdale, a very religious man, committed adultery, which was a sin in the Puritan community. Of course, this sin could not be committed alone. His partner was Hester Prynne. Hester was caught with the sinning only because she had a child named Pearl. Dimmesdale was broken down by Roger Chillinsworth, Hester Prynne’s real husband, and by his own self-guilt. Dimmesdale would later confess his sin and die on the scaffold. Dimmesdale was well known by the community and was looked up to by many religious people. But underneath his religious mask he is actually the worst sinner of them all. His sin was one of the greatest sins in a Puritan community. The sin would eat him alive from the inside out causing him to become weaker and weaker, until he could not stand it anymore. In a last show of strength he announces his sin to the world, but dies soon afterwards. In the beginning Dimmesdale is a weak, reserved man. Because of his sin his health regresses more and more as the book goes on, yet he tries to hide his sin beneath a religious mask. By the end of the book he comes forth and tells the truth, but because he had hidden the sin for so long he is unable to survive. Dimmesdale also adds suspense to the novel to keep the reader more interested in what Reverend Dimmesdale is hiding and his hidden secrets. Therefore Dimmesdale’s sin is the key focus of the book to keep the reader interested. Dimmesdale tries to cover up his sin by preaching to the town and becoming more committed to his preachings, but this only makes him feel guiltier. In the beginning of the story, Dimmesdale is described by these words; “His eloquence and religious fervor had already given earnest of high eminence in his profession.”(Hawthorne,44). This proves that the people of the town looked up to him because he acted very religious and he was the last person that anyone expected to sin. This is the reason that it was so hard for him to come out and tell the people the truth. Dimmesdale often tried to tell the people in a roundabout way when he said “…though he (Dimmesdale) were to step down from a high place, and stand there beside thee on thy pedestal of shame, yet better were it so, than to hide a guilty heart through life.
In this essay, the author
- Analyzes how reverend dimmesdale, a very religious man, committed adultery in the puritan community. he was broken down by roger chillinsworth, hester prynne's real husband, and by his own self-guilt.
- Analyzes how dimmesdale tries to cover up his sin by preaching to the town, but this only makes him feel guiltier.
- Analyzes how dimmesdale's self-prescribed torture led to his death on the scaffold where he promised pearl; holding her and her mother’s hands in front of the entire community.
- Analyzes how dimmesdale adds great suspense as to what he will do next in his ghastly state. he begins the story as a handsome, religious figure in the community and slowly becomes more cowardly.
1018 wordsRead More - Dimmesdale's Second Scaffold Sceneanalytical essayIn the second scaffold scene, Dimmesdale demonstrates the difficulty and struggle of attempting to recognize the guilt that comes from a sin. Dimmesdale tries to recognize his guilt by going late at night to stand on the scaffold. Dimmesdale is trying to imagine the relief he must feel if he decides to confess his sin to the community. While standing Dimmesdale realizes that his sin affected Hester and Pearl life, it also affected his own life. Dimmesdale also realizes that when he did not confess and ask the town for forgiveness in the beginning of Hester’s scaffold scene, it caused more difficulty to recognize his guilt. This scaffold demonstrates how Dimmesdale is attempting to recognize the guilt he has for not standing on the scaffold
In this essay, the author
- Analyzes how dimmesdale demonstrates the difficulty and struggle of attempting to recognize the guilt that comes from a sin.
169 wordsRead More