the scaffold, and Dimmesdale. Hawthorne shows us that the scarlet 'A', (which Hester wears to single her out as an adulteress and sinner), is really just a token of her humanity. Because the truth is that we all have our secret sins. It is just that Hester's sin was caught, while most of the rest of us writhe beneath the guilt of secret shame. And it is this hidden guilt which eats Hester's lover, Reverend Dimmesdale, alive. Guilt and Redemption; Hester Prynne and Reverend Dimmesdale experience very
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infant daughter, Pearl, and she is being displayed by the onlookers of Boston as sinful because she has committed adultery. Later, it is revealed that Hester and the young minister Arthur Dimmesdale had an affair. Although Dimmesdale did not know that he befriended Hester’s once lost husband Roger Chillingworth, Dimmesdale is also punished for his sin. Themes
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Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale constantly battles between these two emotions throughout Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter. In the story, Dimmesdale struggles to manage the sin of adultery in his life, as the evil Roger Chillingworth, husband of Hester Prynne, impresses upon him. Hester must also deal with this sin, through the exhibition of a scarlet “A” on her bosom, as she struggles to raise Pearl, the child that she conceived through her sin with Dimmesdale. Both Dimmesdale and Hester struggle
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among the characters Hester Prynne, Arthur Dimmesdale, and Roger Chillingworth. Hester is an outcast, but shows her light side by remaining kind to others, while her darkness shows as the sunlight cannot find her. In the novel, Hawthorne states, “It is our Hester, the town’s own Hester, who is so kind to the poor, so helpful to the sick, so comfortable to the afflicted!” (149). She is outcast and hated by the citizens of Boston for
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Hawthorne, tells the story of two lovers, Hester Prynne and Arthur Dimmesdale, that faces temptations, but in the end, deal with immense suffering. The novel validates the theme of “Sin Leading to a Better Understanding of Humanity” clearly through the actions of the main characters. Hester throughout the story experiences judgment from the town of Boston, Massachusetts for committing the sin of adultery and is forced to wear
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townspeople use to describe peal and this is why Pearl deserves more sympathy because she didn't ask to be a product of sin, she is both a blessing and curse and she has to live with a broken family. Pearl is a product of sin of Hester and Dimmesdale. Hester and Dimmesdale are both sinner but Hester is the only one that has to express her wrong doing to everyone by wearing a badge “A” for adultery. The towns people automatically make assumptions and judgements about pearl based on her mother's actions.
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Hawthorne had intentionally given the reader the choice to decide whether or not Hester Prynne and Arthur Dimmesdale were forgiven by God in The Scarlet Letter. From Evidence collected from instances in the book, God has unmistakably pardoned the pair. The act of adultery, one of the most vile crimes to possibly commit of this period, was carried out by both Prynne and Dimmesdale. Resulting in harassment and maltreatment towards Hester. Also bringing about her daughter Pearl, a witty young
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expressed in different ways. In The Scarlet Letter, the two main characters Dimmesdale and Hester demonstrate their own dealings with sin. As the two had earlier committed adultery, only Hester confessed her sin, whereas Dimmesdale kept it a secret.. This hidden sin caused Dimmesdale internal punishment, as he resorted to fasting, and whipping himself. In Mr. Dimmesdale’s closet, “there was a bloody scourge. Oftentimes. . .[Dimmesdale] plied it on his own shoulders. . . [it was also] his custom. . . to
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forms. It is the letter that appears on Hester's heart that she is condemned to wear for the remainder of her life. At Governor Bellingham's mansion it is magnified in the breastplate. It seems as though she is hidden behind it. On the night that Dimmesdale stands on the scaffold with Hester and Pearl, a huge letter A appears in the sky. Later, while in the forest, Pearl arranges a letter a on her heart that is made of eel grass. One of the most dramatic of the A's that appear in the book is the A
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Themes Women are stronger than men Dimmesdale, who has not been forced to bear a scarlet letter for his play in the sin, complains, “‘But as matters stand with my soul, whatever good capacity there originally was in me, all of God’s gifts that were the choicest have become the ministers of spiritual torment. Hester, I am most miserable!’” however it is ironic how Hester, who has felt with public embarrassment, does not complain, therefore women are stronger than men (Hawthorne, 187).
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