... ; 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...

• Word Count: 4111
• Approx Pages: 16
• Grade Level: High School

... people and objects and makes them symbolic of events and thoughts. Throughout the course of the book, Hawthorne uses Hester, Pearl, and Arthur Dimmesdale to signify and contrast both the Puritanical and Romantic philosophies. Hester Prynne, as seen by Puritanism is an extreme sinner; she has gone ... ) Pearl had a knack of fitting in with natural things. Puritanism puts all of its stock in the religious leader of the community; Arthur Dimmesdale was the Religious leader of the community where the story takes place. The reader soon discovers hates himself and must physically inflict pain ...

• Word Count: 2043
• Approx Pages: 8

... -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...

• Word Count: 898
• Approx Pages: 4
• 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...

• Word Count: 2203
• Approx Pages: 9
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

... in placing it upon Hester's breast, the magistrates had blasphemously usurped the function of God, as Chillingworth later usurps it in his plot against Dimmesdale. Yet it serves her well in freeing her from all danger of trying to live such a lie as consumes her lover. She presents what ... decides to take Pearl away from Hester because Pearl states that she was plucked from a bush of wild roses instead of being created by God. Reverend Dimmesdale later persuades Bellingham that it was God's will to keep Pearl with her mother. Bellingham's ultimate decision to carry out God's will was th...

• Word Count: 942
• Approx Pages: 4
• Grade Level: High School

... . Main conflicts include man versus man, man versus self, and man versus society. The initial man versus man conflict was between Arthur Chillingworth and Reverend Dimmesdale. It had turned out that Chillingworth was Hester's former husband. He was a prominent figure in the society and had told Hester ... , in essence, to keep quiet about their relationship. He went on pretending to be Dimmesdale's friend. He plotted and schemed a way to fix his revenge, because he was hateful and jealous. Chillingworth wanted to ruin Dimmesdale ... held guilt that ripped him apart, because he was letting...

• Word Count: 1115
• Approx Pages: 4
• Grade Level: High School

... of convenience or as a means of financial gain or social status. Could the lust for social status and financial security at this time have contributed to Hester's later lust for Reverend Dimmesdale? Perhaps Hester gained a sense of boldness at her first taste of freedom and independence which caused her to tread down a path that perhaps in another place or another time she ... who Hester believed herself to be as a person. Her own daughter Pearl does not acknowledge Hester when she takes the symbol off her dress as she sits and converses with Arthur Dimmesdale in the forest. Pearl deman...

• Word Count: 1295
• Approx Pages: 5
• Grade Level: High School