Arthur Dimmesdale As A Tragic Hero

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The Tragic Hero
Reverent Arthur Dimmesdale in The Scarlett Letter is a tragic hero due to the fact that he was able to right his wrongs. After committing adultery with Hester Prynne, his conscience started to get the better hold of him. This started to affect his health and caused him to break down. In the end, he was able to confess his sins, however, shortly afterwards he died. The tragedy entailed in this circumstance is of course, his death. However, heroism plays a part in this tragedy for he was not only able to redeem himself and his conscience, but also Hester and Pearl. Even though as someone of high stature and prominence in the Puritan society, Dimmesdale could have easily taken advantage of the situation. His character displays someone of good morality and the capability of good. There is a level of unselfishness in his motive, in that it has an effect on others.
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.
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...ise. It is tragic that his nobility and his heroism resulted in something bad but the fact of the matter is that Dimmesdale was pure hearted in his motives and that’s what makes him a tragic hero.
Society has an outlook on people who are in higher positions that they are perfect human beings. The problem with that point of view is that they are in fact human beings and as a result are capable of sin. In the case of Arthur Dimmesdale, it shows not only that the ideal figurehead is capable of sin, but he also shows that they have the ability to not be hypocritical and actually admit their mistakes. Dimmesdale’s tragedy ends up being a representation of heroism displaying good morality and unselfishness. This is a prime example for figureheads nowadays, taking from Dimmesdale’s heroism and eradicating their pride especially when they make mistakes as all humans do.

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