DIMMESDALE in "The Scarlet Letter"
Uploaded by mooon on May 06, 2008
Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter is an American Literature classic. It is a dark tale about a woman named Hester Prynne who committed adultery with a well respected minister and had a child. She therefore had a punishment of wearing a scarlet letter A on her bosom for ever as a token of her sin and the shame she must suffer. Her fellow sinner, Arthur Dimmesdale, the father of her child, was, on the other hand, given a different punishment by Hawthorne. While Hester was publicly punished by all the Puritan society, Dimmesdale covered his guilt and let it eat him inside until completely collapsed. Compared to Hester, who openly accepted her guilt and became stronger, Arthur chose a way that not only weaken him physically and mentally, but also leads to the inability of redemption for his sin. Dimmesdale is Hawthorne’s moral lessons about sin, how denial can lead to tragic consequences.
As far as we follow the story, we know that it is not his committing adultery with Hester but mostly his hypocrisy makes him the great sinner of all. When seeing his beloved girl on the scaffold, he feels terrified and has his heart rent for her, yet he just stands by in wordless among the crowd. Dimmesdale has encouraged Hester to tell the truth to the people in the town that he is the father of the child but he cannot do it himself for the only one reason, his high position in the society. He is a respectful Reverend in the eyes of all people and no one ever dares to think of any sin he can commit. He, therefore, find it impossible to tell anyone about it though he did try to suggest that he is the sinner. Dimmesdale obviously has no intention of denying his sin but he is not courageous enough to face his people and the society in which he is the representative of all the standard virtues. He has been living under a mask for many years and cannot find a way out. Hence, he is destroyed completely by secrets and guilt, painfully and miserably. Dimmesdale appears at first as a handsome, caring and respectful Reverend but then turns out to be no more than a coward and hypocrite man who cannot protect his love and who dares not give up his position to protect his lover and daughter. Instead,...