Arthur Dimmesdale In Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter

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Until the conclusion of Nathaniel Hawthorne’s novel, The Scarlet Letter, Arthur Dimmesdale’s character is an incongruity: the citizens of the colony view Dimmesdale as a godlike figure, but Dimmesdale regards himself as a sinner who cannot muster the courage to publicly repent for his actions. At the beginning of the novel, Dimmesdale is frequently referred to by the townspeople in admiration; however, the narrator describes him to the reader as being spineless and somewhat nefarious. As Dimmesdale sickens throughout the middle of the novel, the reader observes the effect of Dimmesdale’s inner guilt on himself through his self punishment; whereas the colonists still view Dimmesdale as a divine figure. In the marketplace scene where Dimmesdale

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Arthur Dimmesdale In Nathaniel Hawthorne's 'The Scarlet Letter'

As I meet Dimmesdale out in the forest, I wonder how he is going to react. It has been a long seven years. I feel nervous, worried, and scared. I feel all these emotions because I know how it feels to have everyone know about our sin, but he is living with the sin and no one knows. As Dimmesdale touches my hand , I know he is alive and I know that I am alive. I can feel his warm hands touch my cold hands. Dimmesdale asks me if I have found peace. I stop to think, and I know I haven’t. I look down…

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Emersonian Nature In Nathaniel Hawthorne's Scarlet Letter

Emersonian Nature in Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter In 1836, Ralph Waldo Emerson wrote Nature, an essay setting the foundation of transcendentalism. Fourteen years later, Nathaniel Hawthorne would write the classic, The Scarlet Letter. At first glance, one may not connect the two, but the experiences of Hawthorne’s characters interaction with nature demonstrate a strong sense of transcendentalism that is also found within Emerson’s essay. The Scarlet Letter focuses on Hester Prynne, a young woman…

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Hawthorne and the Scarlet Letter Essay

Joshua Benlevy Ms. Benton AP English Language 5/21/13 Nathaniel Hawthorne in The Scarlet Letter Many author’s works reflect their life. They reflect all their happiness and pain, their joy and sorrow into their books. This makes their novel disguised autobiographies. Nathaniel Hawthorne’s book The Scarlet Letter reflects much of his own life and what happened to him as a child. Hawthorne’s life was not an easy one. Nathaniel Hawthorne’s father died when he was a child of yellow fever. His widowed…

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The Symbolic Forest In The Scarlet Letter By Nathaniel Hawthorne

the scenic forest throughout Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter illustrate the theme of how committing a sin can bring out the strength in people, yet also cause them to grow weak as it tears them apart inside. Nathaniel Hawthorne portrays the idea—through the novel’s exceptional use of a descriptive and symbolic forest setting—that Hester Prynne’s sin gradually eats away at her over the course of many years and weakens her as a character. In The Scarlet Letter, Hester raises her child, Pearl…

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Essay about Scarlet Letter

Puritanical Vengeance Revenge is a thematic motif found in the puritanical works The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne and "The Crucible" by Arthur Miller. While Roger Chillingworth in The Scarlet Letter seeks vengeance against Hester Prynne and Arthur Dimmesdale for their adulterous actions, Abigail Williams in The Crucible likewise seeks revenge against Goody Proctor for the pursuit of her husband, John Proctor. However, revenge in both novels proves to be a double edged sword, for not only…

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Guilt In Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter

The author of The Scarlet Letter, Nathaniel Hawthorne, had many ancestors who were Puritans. His Grandfather William Hathorne, a judge, prosecuted a woman accused of adultery. Nathaniel Hawthorne wrote The Scarlet Letter about this time period when society’s views were conservative and primarily church based. Hawthorne expressed his guilt and shame for his ancestor’s deeds throughout the novel. He used his characters to convey how guilt and its long-lasting effects are common amongst the human race…

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The Scarlet Letter Essay examples

In Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter, protagonist Hester Prynne is exiled from society when she is forced to dawn a scarlet “A” upon her chest. This is punishment for Hester’s adulterous union with Arthur Dimmesdale, followed by the birth of their illegitimate child. Although, written one hundred and fifty years ago Hawthorne’s novel contains concepts and insights still relevant to today’s readers. Hawthorne’s themes of sin, judgment, feminism, and redemption have made The Scarlet Letter…

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Guilt In The Scarlet Letter

easily occur can cause someone to feel guilty. Guilt can be present in anyone; even Nathaniel Hawthorne used guilt as the main aspect of characters in his book The Scarlet Letter. A married woman, Hester Prynne, and an unmarried reverend, Arthur Dimmesdale, commit a sin of passion while defying their Puritan Boston society. When Hester becomes pregnant, the people in the society condemn her, make her wear a scarlet ‘A’, and throw her in the prison, where she will stay until she leaves…

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Transformations Of The Four Characters In The Scarlet Letter By Nathaniel Hawthorne

Mr. O’Connor American Literature Honors 23 October 2013 Transformations of the Four Main Characters in The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne In life, people change the more one gets to know them. The same is true with the four main characters in Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter. These characters also embody four distinct themes. By the end of the novel, these characters have changed drastically, in accordance with their themes, from when the reader first was introduced to them.…

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Why Is Sin Important In The Scarlet Letter

Sin is clearly a matter of great importance in the mid-17th century Puritan Community of The Scarlet Letter, as religious sin is associated with breaking the law. In this novel, we see a hierarchy of sins. Roger Chillingworth's Pursuit of revenge is deemed a "worse sin" than the passion that led Hester Prynne and Arthur Dimmesdale to commit adultery. No character in the book questions the idea that sin should be punished, and all recognize that sin will be punished, if not here on earth by man, than…

Words 1279 - Pages 6