... literary techniques to emphasize the reconciliations of their characters. The writers use John Proctor and Arthur Dimmesdale as pawns to illustrate the happy endings through moral reconciliation and spiritual reassessment. Arthur Dimmesdale is a pastor for the Puritan church in New England, where Hawthorne sets up the novel. Dimmesdale's situation is one of ultimate situational irony; he is supposed to be an innocent, pure ... minister, yet he hides a sinful secret. He is an adulterer and the father of an illegitimate child. Dimmesdale's sin makes him a better minister, ... sin, but she...

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• Grade Level: High School

"Life is hard, but accepting that fact makes it easier." this common phrase has been proven true in many people's lives, but is also a harsh fact that Boston's Rev. Dimmesdale, a key character in Nathaniel Hawthorne's the Scarlet Letter, had to face. In this twisted story of deception and adultery set in the Puritan era, Hawthorne introduces Dimmesdale as a weak and cowardly man who refuses to take responsibility for his actions. Yet, he transitions to a person who accepts his sins and the consequences, before it is too late, ultimately finding happiness. At the beginning of the novel, Dimmesd...

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... main character in Nathaniel Hawthorne's tale of "The Scarlet Letter", the Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale is confronted with circumstances both in and out of his control, that lead to his demise. Even though it can be argued that Reverend Dimmesdale is a tragic hero, he lacks the strength and underlying goodness essential ... for him to fulfill this role. With such discrepancies it is easier for me to argue that the Reverend is not the tragic hero that some believe. Arthur Dimmesdale, a minister, lives his life under the watchful yet admiring eye of the townspeople of Boston and, as a result...

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• Grade Level: High School

... . He makes Hester promise that she won't reveal his identity to anyone. The book covers a seven year period during which the identity of the father becomes known. It is the Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale, who is renowned as an especially holy and pious man. Wracked by guilt he starts to show outward signs of serious illness. Hester's husband under the assumed name Roger Chillingworth ... John Wilson, the eldest clergyman of Boston and a great scholar of his contemporaries in the profession, as the person of Reverend Clergyman to persuade and exhort Hester Prune to repentance, and to confessi...

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• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

... . During the seventeenth century, in Puritan New England, a sin was looked upon as merely a sin with no context to the causes or effects of someone's actions. The actions of Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale and Hester Prynne were done for the soulful purpose of love; however Puritan's society looked down upon Hester Prynne for the actions of her sins. Throughout the novel there are ... for adultery. Although Hester Prynne could not deny the guiltiness of her sin, for she was with child, her partner, Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale, could not face the consequences of confessing to such a sin amongst ...

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... reveal that he is her long lost husband, but swear that he will find and seek revenge on the father of this baby. Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale and his friend John Wilson are introduced at the scaffold begging Hester to reveal the father of the baby so that he may suffer just ... . Ironically, it turns out that Arthur Dimmesdale was the father of the baby and he and Hester knew it. Roger Chillingworth who was a physician as well as Hester's husband, moves in with Reverend Dimmesdale because Dimmesdale was growing sick. While staying with Dimmesdale, he grows suspicious that Dimmesdale is th...

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• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

... In The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne, there are many characters that transform; one of them is Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale. Dimmesdale committed a great sin of the puritan society, he slept with another mans wife and Hester Prynne became pregnant. Hester was punished for her sin but Arthur Dimmesdale had not admitted to it, so he lives with this guilt and it is much worst for him ... , perchance, hath not the courage to grasp it for himself--the bitter, but wholesome, cup that is now presented to thy lips!" (Page 65) This is the first scaffold scene Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale is n...

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... , however Randall Stewart has presented an argument that suggesur Dimmesdale as the Protagonist of the story. Hester Prynn is the character that the story focuses on, more then any other character. She is the mother of her only daughter, Pearl, who was conceived in sin with the Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale. Arthur Dimmesdale is the reverend of the small puritan society, and Hester's partner in ... sin. This also makes him Pearls Father. It most certainly appears that Arthur Dimmesdale is not the protagonist, but Hester Prynn plays this role. These two leading-role characters may have some ...

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... up with a child instead. Chillingworth remarks that the man who was her partner in the crime of adultery will eventually be known. The Reverend Mr. Dimmesdale is exhorted to make Hester tell the gathered crowd who the father is. She refuses and instead tells him that she will bear his ... . When the Governor approaches, Pearl falls excitedly falls silent. Chapter Eight: The Elf-Child and the Minister Summary Governor Bellingham, accompanied by the Reverend John Wilson, Arthur Dimmesdale and Roger Chillingworth, enters the hall of his mansion. He first sees Pearl, dressed lavishly in her s...

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• Grade Level: High School

... ; there was a single man who was mostly responsible for her appearance. This brings the second part of community influence into play, family. Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale is the man who was mostly responsible for Hester's somber cast. Hester did not reveal Reverend Dimmesdale as her companion in the adulterous act at first. Her reason for not doing this can be debated; she did not want her ... she was like any other young child, rambunctious, imaginative and playful, not devilish or hateful. Most of the labeling can be related to the strict faith of the Puritan town. Reverend Arthur Dimmes...

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• Grade Level: High School

Arthur Dimmesdale In The Scarlet Letter, Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale is considered a very honorable person by almost everyone in the Puritan town. Practically no one would believe that he would have the ability to do any evil, much less the sin of adultery. On the contrary, Dimmesdale feels that he is a terrible person for ... to come about with more intensifying sermons. Adversely to the common opinion of the townspeople, Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale is not very honorable and does not deserve any praise whatsoever. In fact, he is a coward. Dimmesdale is not courageous enough to tell the town t...

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... scenes, Hester Prynne stands alone under direct scrutiny from the public. By the second of such scenes, the story is in the middle of its development, and the guilt of Arthur Dimmesdale has fully developed. Though he is unable to confess to the townspeople, he tries to soothe some of his inner pain by revealing his secret to the night. It is ... anguish of his life had returned upon him - (137). Though she is but a young little girl, Pearl illuminates the limited nature of Dimmesdale's confession, and she solidifies his inability to reveal himself to the town. Examining Hester Prynne, A...

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• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

... upon themselfs as punishment. The harsh rules are apt to bring on sins in the novel The Scarlet Letter, written by Nathaniel Hawthorne. The sin of adultery affects Hester Prynne, Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale, as well as the Physician Roger Chillingsworth. After Hester was convicted of adultery, she is forced to wear the scarlet letter "A" upon her breast for everyone to see. ... a stronger-willed person. After many years, she earned the respect of many Puritans through her craftsmen work and sincerity of her silence; unlike her partner, and Pearls father, Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale. Addit...

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... reveal their secrets, thus showing some similarities (as well as differences) between the good and evil portrayed in the story. Arthur Dimmesdale, by and large, was represented goodness and purity in the story. The entire town revered him and he was a highly respected Reverend.   Also, he was generally esteemed for the "holy and pious" life that he led, and the fact that he ... , they were slightly afraid of him, because of the devilish look about him, and surely he was shunned after it was discovered what he had been doing to the good Reverend Dimmesdale for all those years.   Secondl...

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In the novel, The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne, Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale has committed the sin of adultery with Hester Prynne. The story begins with Hester coming out of a jail and being put on the ... cursed child in hand. The town is ashamed at her for this horrible act but they do not know who she has committed the crime with. Ironically, Reverend Dimmesdale asks Hester "who she has committed the sin with?", but luckily for him she refused to answer. Now, all the town shame and punishment is placed upon ... which he had done better to confess during his lifetime." In this Roger ...

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... -punishment. The sin begins to gnaw away at his sanity. As forms of penance he engages in late night vigils, starvation, and very severe self-mutilations. Throughout The Scarlet Letter, Arthur Dimmesdale has many opportunities to acknowledge his wrongdoing. He could have confessed during the first scaffold scene as Hester stood in front of the townspeople ... not been able to openly admit his horrible sin, it tortures him from the inside preventing him from repenting his sin. The respect given to Arthur Dimmesdale for being of high social standard in his society was an honor that ended u...

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... life. Pearl's wit and perception, even at three years old, lead many to believe her father to be the Devil. Only Hester knows the real truth; Arthur Dimmesdale, the reverend, is Pearl's father. Because she committed adultery, Hester represents everything dark and sinful, whereas the young gorgeous Pearl represents everything light and beautiful. Hawthorne uses contrasting symbols ... symbiotic relationship, eventually concluding in Chillingworth dying soon after the reverend. Eventually, Chillingworth becomes so infatuated with Dimmesdale's suffering that he himself suffers if Dimmesdal...

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• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

... chapters of the novel signifies that Hester will not reveal the identity of Pearl's father. The Reverend Wilson demands that Hester reveal the name of the father, but she refuses to say. Believing that Hester's pastor could discover the name of Pearl's father, Reverend Wilson asks the Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale to speak with Hester. She refuses to state the name of Pearl's father ... . Dimmesdale, relieved, responds: "Wondrous strength and generosity of a woman's heart! She will not speak!" (Hawthorne 66). Hawthorne later reveals that ... Arthur Dimmesdale is Hester's lover and the fath...

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• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

... . Hester stubbornly refuses to let the people know who her child's father is. Unable to get a hint out of her, the magistrates call on the Reverend Dimmesdale, the most popular minister of the town, to decide Hester's fate. Reverend Dimmesdale pleads to Hester to reveal the father's identity, but still, she refuses. She is led back to the prison with her infant in a stony ... story; she is Hester's salvation, pride, and joy, and also acts as an eternal reminder of Hester's sin. Pearl and Hester are both avoided carefully by the community. Meanwhile, venerable Reverend Dimmesdale's body s...

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• Grade Level: High School

... , but he knows of his own sin. Even though he is not subject to the community's prejudice as Hester had for her involvement of adultery, Reverend Dimmesdale is the worst off of the main characters because of his declining mental state due to the guilt he has for partaking in a great sin. In ... fall from grace as Hester did, and kept his involvement a secret. What seems so mocking to the situation later in the book, Reverend Dimmesdale commanded Hester to speak the name of her fellow sinner: I charge thee to speak out the name of thy fellow-sinner and fellow ... does not. The social impli...

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• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

... disobedience of the known will of God. Sin in The Scarlet Letter is not only committed by Chillingworth but by Hester Prynne, Arthur Dimmesdale, and also the Puritan society as a whole. Both Dimmesdale and Hester commit the sin of adultery while Chillingworth commits the mortal sin of having anger, hatred, and envy towards the two ... her sins in the end. Seeing that Hester is sorry for her sins and bases it on love her sin is not the greatest. The Reverend Dimmesdale, a "saintly young minister who is the leader of those extorting Hester to name Pearls father"(Darrel 1) conceals his se...

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• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

... name of Roger Chillingworth had committed the worst sin of all; he basically killed another character, Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale. Everyone has been in a position where they have had the chance of blackmailing or plotting revenge on someone. Chillingworth did exactly that and ended torturing Dimmesdale to his death. Dimmesdale was not the only one affected by Chillingworth's evil doings. Chillingworth had a wife, but no one ... knew of their relationship. Her name was Hester Prynne and she had a daughter named Pearl. The Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale had an affair with Hester, and he is th...

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... get worse as the story goes on. These three sinners, in the eyes of the puritan community are the beautiful Hester Prynne, the esteemed Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale, and the cold-hearted doctor, Roger Chillingworth. Like Hawthorne, I believe that evil is the nature of man but that there are different magnitudes ... him after he arrived in North America. She still goes against the strict Puritan rules, and breaks Commandment 7, which was often punished by death. Arthur Dimmesdale is a strong pillar of the community and a very devoted Puritan. What could he do that is worse than young Hester...

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• Grade Level: High School

... and the scarlet letter. The first public appearance made by adulteress Hester and her child Pearl are on the scaffold where they are joined by Reverend Dimmesdale does not stand with Hester on the scaffold, instead he stands on the balcony with those who pass judgment on her. During this time ... , Hester's husband appears; Roger Chillingworth and Reverend Wilson demands the name of Hester's lover. He gives her the chance to "take the scarlet letter off her breast" if she were to " ... "black man" or devil. The second scene at the scaffold was the climax for Hester. During this scene bot...

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Shame is a painful sense of having done something wrong, improper or immodest. In Nathaniel Hawthorne's novel The Scarlet Letter, Arthur Dimmesdale struggles to overcome sin, guilt, and public shame in Puritan society. Arthur Dimmesdale reveals his guilt and shame towards the end of the novel when Hester and Pearl stand with him on the scaffold while he confesses his sin to the townspeople. To ... ;without any effort of his will, or power to restrain himself, he shrieked aloud" (Hawthorne 153). With a guilty conscience, Dimmesdale's mental health suffers, along with his ability to restrain hi...

• Word Count: 939
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• Grade Level: High School