Hester and Dimmesdale, although they seem very different, have more in common than what first meets the eye. One major and more obvious similarity, the fact that they are both adulterers, comes to mind. Pearl also plays a big role in uniting the two, as they both love her. This is displayed when the Governor tries to take away Pearl from Hester and she cries out to Dimmesdale to plead on her behalf. Defending Hester valiently, he says “God gave her the child, and gave to her an instinctive knowledge or its nature and requirements… which no other mortal being can possess…” Both of them also had a fear of Chillingworth. Hester’s terror comes out when Chillingworth visits her in jail after her humiliation and she fearfully whispered “Wouldst thou avenge thyself on the innocent babe?” Dimmesdale does not understand quite why he fears Chillingworth until later in the book. Although Dimmesdale and Hester have many differences, Pearl brings them together in a complex and beautiful
