In The Scarlet Letter, Nathaniel Hawthorne utilizes imagery to convey that Dimmesdale can represent Puritan Society rather than the round character that can be seen on the surface level. This is seen through the imagery and symbolism of hypocrisy, Dimmesdale as a Christ figure, and the scarlet letter.First of all, Hawthorne parallels the hypocrisy of Dimmesdale to that of Puritan society. Hawthorne describes Dimmesdale as, “a viler companion of the vilest, the worst of sinners,” even though Dimmesdale is seen as the most holy man in the Puritan community. Puritan society was supposed to be a utopian society and do away with their English traditions. Similarly, as Dimmesdale was supposed to be holy, yet they both were hypocritical. Secondly, Dimmesdale portrays the Puritan society by not initially taking his place on the scaffold, “Ye have both been here before, but I was not with you? and we will stand all three together.” The Puritans modeled Dimmesdale’s hypocrisy, as they were supposed to be a “city on a hill” for the world to see while they ended up mixing up English tradition with their ideals. While Dimmesdale hid his sin at the first scaffold seen, so did the Puritans when they colonized America. The Puritans faults were not initially that obvious but as time grew on they appeared on their scaffold just as Dimmesdale does. Hawthorne writes about one of Dimmesdale’s sermons that is, “addressed to the multitude a discourse on sin, in all its branches.” In Dimmesdale’s sermons, he spoke out against sin while at the same time he commits this sin, just as the Puritans committed sins that they condemned Dimmesdale’s character models Puritan society in the way they treat religious persecution. The Puritans left England to flee from religious intolerance, but when they got to the colonies, they had no religious tolerance for people with different religious beliefs. Dimmesdale speaks out against adultery and commits it, the Puritans demand religious tolerance but refuse to give it.Dimmesdale symbolically portrays Jesus Christ in certain ways. For example, Dimmesdale’s death marked the beginning of a new era, just as Christ’s death marked a new beginning for all of those who believe in Him. Dimmesdale’s death symbolically ends the marks the beginning of American History and the end of colonial history, just as Christ’s death marked the beginning of the Christian church. Also, Dimmesdale mirrored Jesus Christ, in His teaching that to save your life you must lose it. Anyone that wants to follow Jesus must give up their life and let Him live for them. Similarly, Dimmesdale can not truly live until he confesses his sin, but when he finally confesses he dies. Finally, Dimmesdale parallels Christ through the suffering of his death. Hawthorne describes Dimmesdale’s suffering, “This burning torture to bear upon my breast! By sending yonder dark and terrible old man, to keep the torture always at red-heat!” So it can be seen that Dimmesdale does not just die, but rather he suffers much pain in his death. In this way, Jesus did not just die but was brutally murdered and suffered indescribable pain. Through this imagery that parallels Dimmesdale to Jesus Christ we can see that Dimmesdale represents a Christ figure for the Puritan society, and Hawthorne uses this to criticize Puritan society.Finally, the character of Dimmesdale represents the rise and fall of Puritan society, through the imagery of the “scarlet letter” on his chest. Dimmesdale is described with much potential; “His eloquence and religious fervor had already given the earnest of high eminence in his profession.” This potential of Dimmesdale and Puritan society is contrasted by the weight of sin seen in the scarlet letter. While they both could be very successful, indeed they are not; their sin holds them back. Furthermore, the scarlet letter develops Hawthorne’s criticism as the weight of the burden on Dimmesdale’s chest grows larger, so does the weight of sin on Puritan society. Dimmesdale goes from having, “his hand upon his heart,” to being, “burdened with the black secret of his soul.” Similarly the Puritans go from having a few dissenters, to the foundation of Rhode Island. Last of all, Dimmesdale and the Puritans are linked by the consequences of their sin, the permanent affects that they have. From the time Dimmesdale hides his sin the, “scarlet letter” on his chest develops and its affects are not stopped until he confesses his sin. Yet, even when he confesses his sin, he still dies. The Puritans on the other hand were able to have somewhat a level of success, while they never live up to their hope of being a “city on a hill” for the world to see.So, through the symbols of hypocrisy, Christ, and The Scarlet Letter we can see that Hawthorne uses Dimmesdale as a symbolic character of Puritan society, rather than the personal character that is seen without looking into Hawthorne’s use of imagery to convey characterization.
Dimmesdale And Puritan Society Essay Research Paper
Essay, Research Paper In Nathaniel Hawthorn’s The Scarlet Letter, the Puritans constantly look down upon sinners like Hester Prynne, both literally and symbolically. The use of the three scaffold scenes throughout the course of the novel proved to be an effective method in proving this theory and showing how Puritan society differs from that of today’s.
“The Scarlet Letter” was written by Nathaniel Hawthorne in 1828. “The Scarlet Letter” portrayed the punishment suffered by two individuals who committed adultery in a Puritan society and their struggle to deal with their sins. Throughout the novel Hawthorne uses Pearl to serve as a constant reminder to Hester and Dimmesdale of their sin.
Scarlet Letter Essay, Research Paper The human mind is a powerful force and often works in unexplainable and mysterious ways. In The Scarlet Letter, Nathaniel Hawthorne shows this through the lives and actions of Hester Prynne, Roger Chillingworth and Arthur Dimmesdale; three characters in a Puritan society who are affected by the sin of adultery.
Scarlet Letter Essay, Research Paper The story The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne this story takes place on puritan times, is about Hester Prynne who commits the act of adultery and has to b punished for her sin. Out of all the characters in the story, Hester suffers the most for one, she must wear the scarlet “A”.
Today’s Teen Essay, Research Paper How The Scarlet Letter is Relevant to Today’s Teenage ParentsNathaniel Hawthorn’s The Scarlet Letter is set in Boston, Massachusetts, a Puritan community in the 1600’s. Hester Prynne comes to the community as a young woman married to an older man. She lives in Boston for two years while her husband, know to us as Roger Chillingworth, makes his voyage from England.
In Nathaniel Hawthorne s The Scarlet Letter, life is centered on a Puritan society. In this society, people are not allowed to express their thoughts and feelings. Every human being needs the opportunity to express their thoughts and feelings; otherwise the emotions become bottled up until they begin to hurt a person.
Untitled Essay, Research Paper Scarlet Letter- Results of Sin By: Alan Eugene Sims, Jr. There are many ways to interpret literature. Nathaniel Hawthorne is considered
“To be fully human is to balance the heart, the mind, and the spirit. One could suggest the novel The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne, that one should not violate the sanctity of the human heart. Hester was well ahead of her time, and believed that love was more important than living in a lie. Dimmesdale s theology and his inclinations render him almost incapable of action; Chillingsworth dammed himself, along with Dimmesdale.
Scaelet Letter Essay, Research Paper In the novel The Scarlet letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne the society of a Puritan town exclude anyone who is in any way deviant and considers that person as being sinful. In order to fit in the people are willing to conceal and contain their passion and all their faults because of their fear of being excluded.
“The Scarlet Letter” Roger Chillinworth was once a good puritan who lived a good puritan life and he was married to Hester Prynne. Then he went to travel. When he came, instead of getting a good and warm welcome from his beloved wife he saw her standing on the town scaffold with a letter of shame on her chest. He stood there, completely wrecked and knew that his life as he knew it so far was all lost.
Scarlet Letter Essay, Research Paper The Puritan Beliefs As Told Through The Scarlet Letter Nathaniel Hawthorne was not a Puritan. But Hawthrone’s forefathers were Puritans, so he had an understanding of their belief system and their basis behind it. He stated that he hoped the sins of his forefathers had been forgiven.
Scarlet Letter Essay Essay, Research Paper Alienation Among Many Through out Nathaniel Hawthone?s The Scarlet Letter, the main characters suffer psychological damage as a result of different forms of alienation. The character traits they posses make them more susceptible to certain types of alienation.
The Scarlett Letter Essay, Research Paper The Affects of Sin on the Individual in The Scarlet Letter In the novel, The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne, there is a
A Tragic Hero A tragic hero displays many specific characteristics. Many of them are displayed by Arthur Dimmesdale in novel The Scarlet Letter. Arthur Dimmesdale is a tragic hero because he suffers beyond the depths of despair, and then comes to a moral resolution.
The Scarlet Letter Essay, Research Paper When Nathaniel Hawthorne wrote the Scarlet Letter he based it on a rigid Puritan society. Such a society was grounded on the belief that
Where The Blame Falls We go threw our lives hoping to do the right thing for ourselves and the right thing for others. Through our lives we take the blame for many things and sometimes we get the blame pushed upon us. This is shown in the book, The Scarlet Letter, by Nathaniel Hawthorne. Hester, Pearl, Chillingworth, and Dimmesdale are two of the main characters.
Dimmesdale And Chillingworth Essay, Research Paper In this book, two of the main characters are in complete contrast of each other regarding the effect of sin on their lives.
) Essay, Research Paper Evil of Isolation In the New Testament it states that “the wages of sin is death.” Though the penalty of sin in The Scarlet Letter is not a termination of life, the evil of isolation can be
The Mysterious Forest In Nathaniel Hawthorne s The Scarlet Letter, life is centered around a rigid Puritan society. In this society, people are not allowed to express their true thoughts and feelings. Every human being needs the opportunity to express how they truly feel; otherwise the emotions become bottled up until they begin to hurt the person.
Jacquie Kaloz10/13/00Symbolism of the Forest Nathaniel Hawthorne’s novel, The Scarlet Letter, is filled with a variety of symbols. The forest is a place where the characters can be free and careless, but is also known as a evil place where the Black Man lives. One of the symbols he uses is the forest, which is symbolic in a number of ways.
Scarlet Letter Essay, Research Paper In Hawthorne s The Scarlet Letter, life is centered around a crappy , Puritanistic society in which one is unable to divulge his or her innermost thoughts and secrets. Every human being needs the opportunity to express how they truly feel, or the emotion is bottled up until it becomes volatile.
, Research Paper ATROPINE POISONING: WAS IT THE CAUSE OF DIMMESDALE S DEATH? In an article in the New England Journal of Medicine, Dr. Jemshed A. Khan claims that Roger Chillingworth poisoned Arthur Dimmesdale with the drug atropine in Hawthorne s The Scarlet Letter. Certainly, Chillingworth was a man of skill in all Christian modes of physical science (Hawthorne 65) and was very knowledgeable about medicinal roots and herbs (Hawthorne 65).
Paper The Scarlet Letter – Puritan Society In Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter, life is centered around a rigid Puritan society in which one is unable to divulge his
Scarlett Letter Essay, Research Paper In “The Scarlet Letter” , Nathaniel Hawthorne presents this novel in a dramatic point of view, starting with the scene of the prison. Hester is displayed as an adulterous woman in a Puritan society, where sin is harshly accounted for. She is forced to wear her badge of shame throughout life along side her daughter Pearl, yet the irony of it all is that she becomes one of the most helpful, phenomenal, virtuous people in her society.
Paper Rev. Arthur Dimmesdale is one of the major characters in the story The Scarlet Letter. In this story Arthur Dimmesdale plays the part of the towns reverend. He has a high position in society and is viewed as one of the good and polite kind of guy by the society.
Scarlet Letter-The Forest Essay, Research Paper The Secret World In The Scarlet Letter, life is centered around a rigid Puritan society, where one is unable to express his or her innermost thoughts and feelings. Everyone needs the opportunity to express how they truly feel; otherwise the emotions stay bottled up until they become explosive.
Character Flaws Essay, Research Paper Character Flaws Macbeth, John Procter, Auther Dimmesdale, and Ethan Frome are all men with flaws. But, that is normal since everyone who is mortal or remotely so have at least one imperfection. Some are minor than others, but in the case of the characters listed above, their flaws proved to be fatal.
Paper In The Scarlet Letter, Nathaniel Hawthorne uses three scenes on the scaffold to emphasize suffering and torment in Hester Prynne and Arthur Dimmesdale. Throughout the book, the scaffold has been the symbol of puritan society?s harsh punishment for sinners. The three scaffold scenes in The Scarlet Letter convey the theme of sin not being tolerated whatsoever in Puritan Society.
– Progression Of Dimmesdale Essay, Research Paper In The Scarlet Letter, Nathaniel Hawthorne portrays Arthur Dimmesdale as a troubled individual. In him lies the central conflict of the book. Dimmesdale?s soul is torn between two opposing forces: his heart, his love for freedom and his passion for Hester Prynne, and his head, his knowledge of Puritanism and its denial of fleshly love.
, Research Paper In chapter 20 of Nathaniel Hawthorne’s novel The Scarlet Letter, Hester and Dimmesdale plan to leave the colony on the fourth day en route for the Old World. Dimmesdale’s decision to leave with Hester fills him with a sense of freedom from his place of torture, Boston. By creating false hopes for the future, he relinquishes his suffering from his guilt conscience.
Scarlet Letter – Dimmesdale Analysis Essay, Research Paper The Scarlet Letter – Dimmesdale Analysis Character Analysis : Dimmesdale Dimmesdale is one of the most intriguing characters in The Scarlet Letter. I think this because he demonstrates in this story that he is a coward, and that he is strong, yet not courageous.
Scarlet Letter Essay, Research Paper Symbol of Sin In The Scarlet Letter, by Nathaniel Hawthorne, the scarlet letter symbolizes many things. The literal meaning of symbol, is something that represents something else by association, resemblance, or convention. This paper will tell many of the ways in which this is true.
Essay, Research Paper Sofia Kaufman E-Block 12/15/99 Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter and Arthur Miller’s The Crucible are both distinctly different narratives of the Salem Witch trials. The Scarlet Letter is a novel and The Crucible is a play. While The Scarlet Letter deals mainly with the sin of adultery, The Crucible mainly deals with witchcraft.
Scarlet Letter Essay, Research Paper Greg Cober 10/26/98 English P. 4 Scarlet Letter In Hawthorne’s, The Scarlet Letter, life evolves around a rigid and harsh Puritan view. In this society people are not free to express themselves as well as they are today. This is very sad because it is a necessity for humans to be able to express their deepest thoughts and desires.
Paper Pearl is the living embodiment of the scarlet letter because she forces Hester and Dimmesdale to accept their sins. The Puritan society looks at Pearl as a child of the devil, and a black hearted girl because she is the result of sin. Hester and Dimmesdale are both in the same situation in Pearl?s eyes. Pearl wants Hester to realize that she is not the worst person in the world before she removes the scarlet letter.