Arthur Dimmesdale Within The Puritan Society

Arthur Dimmesdale has experienced multiple changes during the novel. During the novel, Arthur Dimmesdale has been extremely convicted about the sin he has committed because he hasn't told anyone but Hester about it. Arthur is so extremely convicted that he intentionally tried to hurt himself every day in order to cope with his horrible sin. To avoid telling anyone, Hester, Pearl, and Arthur plan to board a Spanish ship headed to Europe. Arthur and Hester believe that in doing this, he will not be as convicted and will be able to live a happy and wonderful life with Hester and Pearl.

Shame is a social punishment that everyone goes through at some point in their lives. It is meant to embarrass the person being shamed so that they may either learn or fix something, or it may even cause someone to change their life behaviors afterwards. In Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter, as well as David Brooks’ The Shame Culture, shame is depicted as a very powerful tool that can be used at both the giver and receiver’s discretion to cause a course of action for change.

However, their conflicts were marginally different. Dimmesdale suffered both internally and externally. His thoughts were plagued with visions of Hester and Pearl which scared him to death. Dimmesdale also considered using physical pain as a path to relief. When the author describes the effects of the “inward trouble”(Hawthorne 175) that Dimmesdale was experiencing, he talks about how “In Mr. Dimmesdale’s secret closet, under lock and key, there was a bloody scourge”(Hawthorne 175).

With Dimmesdale being able to live with his sin his condition becomes exceptionally better, “The excitement of Mr. Dimmesdale feelings as he returned from his interview with Hester, lent him unaccustomed physical energy and hurried him town ward at a rapid pace. The pathway among the woods seemed wilder more uncouth with its rude natural obstacles and less trodden by the foot of man than he remembered it on his outward journey,” (Hawthorne 148). When he returned to the town and gave his last sermon before he left for England, he saw Chillingsworth within the crowd. Dimmesdale then knew what he had to do in front of all the towns’ people, “God’s eye beheld it! The angels were forever pointing at it!

Dimmesdale truthfully wants and feels the need to reveal his sins, however because he is afraid of the backlash, he cannot. Afterwards he goes on to argue how there is “ ‘no power short of the Divine mercy’ “ that could reveal the secrets hidden in someone’s heart (123). Due to Dimmesdale’s profession of ministry he believes that divine powers are the only ones who can reveal secrets. The Divine mercy is this higher power that nothing can compare to, and its power is so immense that it is the only way to get a secret revealed from someone's heart. Dimmesdale also tells Chillingworth that many men may choose not to confess their sins because they don’t want to be “ ‘displaying themselves black and filthy’ “ (124) as in Puritan society, many things were considered sins, and sinning was the worst thing that could possibly be done.

One sin that can be linked to the downfall in both The Crucible and The Scarlet Letter is pride. In Miller’s play, the theme of pride influences the character of John Proctor dramatically. While he wishes to save the lives of his friends and wife, Proctor refuses to confess to conspiring with the Devil. When he confesses to his crimes, Proctor is told that it will hang on the doors of the church, which he responds: “I have given you my soul; leave me my name” (Miller 294)! Proctor is risking his life on his reputation by not confessing to his sin of witchcraft.

Reverend Dimmesdale suffers psychologically in the novel. Starting off as the epitome of religious guidance, Dimmesdale was the character least expected to be guilty of sin. But a further look into the story, and it is seen that Dimmesdale was guilty of arguably the greatest sin of the time, adultery. The Reverend wishes to admit this sin, but Hester Prynne does not allow him to, and Dimmesdale starts to break down, his sin haunting him, in every sleeping and waking moment. For example, Hester states, while meeting Dimmesdale in the woods, "There was a listlessness in his gait; as if he saw no reason for taking one step further, nor felt any desire to do so, but would have been glad, could he be glad of anything, to fling himself down at the root of the nearest tree, and lie there passive, for

Dimmesdale is only tormented because of the guilt in his heart. He would not feel this guilt if he would only confess his righteousness to the world. In some way Chillingworth really shows the true character of Dimmesdale that he is not this majestic

He was suffering from chest pain because of the secret he was hiding from the Puritan society. He was dying every day from inside because he could not carry the weight of his sin. He was totally consumed by guilt; his “form grew emaciated; his voice ...... his hand over his heart, with first a flush and then a paleness, indicative of plain” ( Hawthorne 13 ). This quote shows that Dimmesdale’s guilt had an impact on his health.

He knows that if he reveals what he has done, then his followers will lose their respect for him. He is burdened with his sin; therefore, he inflicts pain upon himself for his wrongdoing. Dimmesdale goes as far as having vigils all night, being tortured by “diabolic shapes,” and emaciating and whipping himself. Dimmesdale punishes himself because he wants to repent for the sin that he has committed.

Mentally, his guilt strains his mind, which causes his physical deterioration, and the weakening of his body. As Dimmesdale finally admits his sin to the townspeople, his guilt is lifted, and he is able to release himself from his captivity. Though he deteriorated both mind and body from his guilt, by telling the townspeople of his sin, it was as if “a spell was broken” (238). He no longer needed to force himself to hide his sin, which was what was hurting him. By finally dealing with his sin in a similar way to Hester, Dimmesdale was able to free himself of his self-imposed captivity and

The book The Scarlet Letter by Nathanial Hawthorne has symbolism all throughout it. People and objects are symbolic of events and thoughts. Throughout the book, Nathaniel Hawthorne uses Hester, Pearl, and Arthur Dimmesdale to signify philosophies that are evident during this time period. Hester Prynne, through the eyes of the Puritans, is an extreme sinner; she has gone against their ways, committing adultery. For this sin, she must wear a symbol of shame for the rest of her life.

Chillingworth is lazy, and allows his aspiration in science to take priority over godly emotions and affairs, therefore he has sinned. Chillingworth also commits the deadly sin “wrath” through his constant torture of Dimmesdale. Dimmesdale has sinned, but he repents; Chillingworth knows that Dimmesdale repents, he sees the “A” seared onto Dimmesdale’s chest. “With what a ghastly rapture, as, it were, too mighty to be expressed only by the eye and features, and therefore bursting forth through the ugliness of his figure… but what distinguished the physician’s [Chillingworth) ecstasy from Satan’s was the trait of wonder in it!”(130) Chillingworth has seen the “A”, he knows of Dimmesdale’s repenting

Why isn’t the minister seen as a horrible person and Chillingworth is? In the Book The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne, Dimmesdale, the Minister, has committed this terrible crime and some feel bad for him. This could be because Hester loves him; they are meant to be together. It’s interesting how Chillingworth can be seen as evil, but he is the one that was cheated on. He has mentally tortured Dimmesdale; obsessed with wanting him to suffer more that he has.

When Roger Chillingworth sees the ‘A’ on Dimmesdale’s chest, is any “man [had] seen old Roger Chillingworth, at that moment in his ecstasy, he would have had no need to ask how Satan comports himself”(135). Because Dimmesdale sinned against Chillingworth, Chillingworth becomes a shadow of his former self, often compared to a leech that sucks the essence of Dimmesdale. This satanic alteration of Chillingworth is solely due to the act of adultery that Dimmesdale performed, and all of the negative acts of Chillingworth are also traced back to his act of adultery. Because of the alteration of Chillingworth, Dimmesdale’s sin also has negative consequences on the townspeople. In the town, the opinion that Chillingworth was “[either] Satan himself, or Satan’s emissary”(124).