... intuition and that in doing so there is no guarantee of happiness, success, or reward. However, it is still necessary to follow one's heart in order to have any moral or personal integrity. The symbolism is used to reflect the physical world in a transcendental reality. Hester Prynne has sinned against God by committing adultery. She has admitted to it and is not afraid ... seeks to hide, with his hand always over his heart? Ha, Hester Prynne!" She links the two together and understands the relationship between it all. Mistress Hibbins and Pearl are unlike the rest of the people in the ...

• Word Count: 1820
• Approx Pages: 7
• Grade Level: High School

... an anguished Arthur Dimmesdale struggles to quiet his conscience and withhold the secret of his sin from being known. As his conscience continues to consume all that is his very essence, Arthur 3 Dimmesdale illustrates Hawthorne's theme of a sin-stained conscience and redemption only through truth. The novel begins to seek into the heart and conscience of Arthur Dimmesdale when Roger Chillingworth questions him about ... his thoughts on sinners and their secrets. Feeling full well the distress of his own secret, Arthur proclaims that those who hold such "miserable secrets will yield them...

• Word Count: 2338
• Approx Pages: 9
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

... he stuck by Dimmesdale's side like a leech, gently pressing Dimmesdale to confess his sin and take his punishment. Chillingworth's revenge consumed him and it was the only reason he had to live, he died a year after Dimmesdale dies because there was no more meaning in his life. Chillingworth changed from an ... "witch like" behavior was caused by her chaotic upbringing, none of which was actually her acting out of the evil in her heart. Pearl showed love and compassion to the ones dear to her. Her father was barely had a presence in her life yet Pearl loved him and shedded tears for ......

• Word Count: 1931
• Approx Pages: 8
• Grade Level: High School

... may have a disaster on his hands. In his dream he notices that as he and Aminidab were attempting to remove the Birthmark, "the deeper went the knife, the deeper sank the hand, until at length its tiny grasp appeared to have caught hold of Georgiana's heart; whence, however, her husband was inexorably resolved to cut or wrench it away (Hawthorne, 1963, p. 206)." Hawthorne does not believe ... . Shows us nothing but results (Hawthorne, 1963, p. 208)." Even after his many public encounters, Aylmer continues with the experiments. The narrator says, "Soon, However, he forgot these mortifying...

• Word Count: 1442
• Approx Pages: 6
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

... afraid at first to reveal his secret because he didn't know if people would have faith. When Owen was informed of Annie's engagement to Robert Danforth his heart broke. Even though Annie didn't know the depth of Owen's love "he had persisted in connecting all his dreams of artistical success with Annie's image" (Hawthorne.279). Owen went through a period of illness. He ... may actually agree with her husband, he found himself able to absorb that information without being tortured by it. Completing his dream somehow healed Owen's heart and spirit. The butterfly flew from the old watchmak...

• Word Count: 1481
• Approx Pages: 6
• Grade Level: High School

... a very holy man and is never suspected to be the man that was involved with Hester. He is even on the platform questioning Hester when she was put on the platform for ridicule during which someone yelled out "People say, " said another, "that the Reverend Master Dimmesdale, her godly pastor, takes it very grievously to heart that such a scandal should have come upon his congregation ... into a devil, if he will only, for a reasonable space of time, undertake a devil's office. This unhappy person had effected such a transformation by devoting himself, for seven years, to the constant ana...

• Word Count: 1923
• Approx Pages: 8
• Has Bibliography

... his vain show of expiation, Mr. Dimmesdale was overcome with a great horror of mind, as if the universe were gazing at a scarlet token on his naked breast, right over his heart." (130). This idea shows that Dimmesdale is morally troubled by his internal sin, to the point of horror. He feels that God is always watching him and is seeing every ounce of ... , that have loved me!-ye, that have deemed me holy!-behold me here, the one sinner of the world! At last!-I stand upon the spot where, seven years since, I should have stood." (220). Dimmesdale said this to finally confess his sin to the...

• Word Count: 1995
• Approx Pages: 8
• Grade Level: High School

... hiding his deed. Chillingworth sins by acting upon his desire for revenge, and by torturing Dimmesdale. Hester and Dimmesdale suffer from shame and guilt throughout the novel. It was a sin for which Hester Prynne was damned by society, and for which Arthur Dimmesdale damned himself (Loring 1). Hester is ... contrast to Hester, Dimmesdale doesn't publicly confess his sin, and it eats at him bit by bit. "He is not suspected by any of the townspeople. Even old Mrs. Hibbins, whose scent for moral carrion was as keen as that of a modern society magazine, can barely credit her own ... performs...

• Word Count: 1373
• Approx Pages: 5
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

... of mankind. They become more corrupted as their obsession with the knowledge of the evil around them grows. Roger, as a member of the human race, is corrupted because he mutilates the ideas of love and compassion. Immediately intrigued by the minister's physical state, the doctor takes it upon himself to dissect Dimmesdale's heart in hopes of finding the root of his patient's condition: "He had begun an investigation ... [ ] of human passions and wrongs [ ] But as he proceeded, a terrible fascination [ ] seized the old man [ ] He now dug into the poor clergyman's heart [ ] like a sexton...

• Word Count: 1412
• Approx Pages: 6

... mine. He bears no letter of infamy wrought into his garment, as thou dost; but I shall read it on his heart."" (75). This was the first but not the last time for which he will declare his revenge for Pearl's father. This fatal flaw leads to his sins of both anger ... before, when it had now become a constant habit, rather than casual gesture, to press his hand over his heart."" (125). Of course, as the story progresses, the effects of Chillingworth's revenge progress as well. Chillingworth finally gets his final revenge when, "that final word came forth with ... to reveal to anyone that C...

• Word Count: 1529
• Approx Pages: 6
• Grade Level: High School

... he published his second great novel, The House of Seven Gables, along with a book of stories for children called A Wonder-Book for Boys and Girls. (Baym 98) "Nathaniel Hawthorne was a mystery, even to himself,"" says Claudia D. Johnson. And like [Edgar Allen] Poe, he has remained a man of mystery in American literature, whose heart successive biographers have tried to bare ... , each one with a different expiation [ ] but coming to the conclusion that " his reticence comes from finding no solution to the problems that constantly beset him,"" said McPherson. "Its impossible to comprehend H...

• Word Count: 1751
• Approx Pages: 7
• Grade Level: High School

... through her trials as a sinner in the Puritan society. Although the Puritan society believes that Hester Prynne is immoral, the actions that she takes shows that she is actually very moral. Hester shows care towards Pearl, her daughter, which is a clear indication of the kindness in Hester's heart. "When the young woman- the mother of this child- stood fully revealed before the crowd, it seemed to be her ... first impulse to clasp the infant closely to her bosom;" (Hawthorne 50). This is an act of motherly affection, showing that Hester loves ... ...

• Word Count: 1429
• Approx Pages: 6
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

... a voice that rose over them, high, solemn, and majestic" (285). At the end of the novel Dimmesdale is finally able to acknowledge his family in front of the townspeople releasing! the sin he held so long hidden in his heart (285-287). This moment can be defined as the climax of the story. It is the moment of Dimmesdale's victory over Chillingworth. Although Chillingworth seems to be ... the master of the game, Dimmesdale thwarts his plans. Dimmesdale's development can be compared with a ... wave. At the beginning he is the powerful minister that everybody admired. In the middle of the s...

• Word Count: 1627
• Approx Pages: 7
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

... ears. Hester tells her lover that they should run away from all the laws and become new identities because only then, his remorse will diminish. Although the minister owns a way of swaying an audience and has the sweet, deep voice to steal a woman's heart, the readers are tuned into the conscious of Dimmesdale and the truth is revealed. He tends to have a split between his private and ... his public self. He even admits to it when talking to Hester in the forest: "As concerns the good which I may appear to do, I have no faith in ... , and listening to my words as if a tongue of Pentecos...

• Word Count: 1599
• Approx Pages: 6
• Grade Level: High School

... he would prefer to have the minister of her parish Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale, inquire as to the identity of the father, but Arthur is disinclined to query that information. Arthur feels "that it were wronging the very nature of woman to force her to lay open her heart's secrets in such broad daylight ... , and in presence of so great multitude." Here is the first presentation of Hawthorne's idea in regard to private versus public sin ... family. Dimmesdale even goes so far as to reveal his chest, which is interpreted by the reader to have a scarlet A scarred over his heart. Thus the thi...

• Word Count: 1460
• Approx Pages: 6

... its " ...glimmering to and fro with every emotion that throbbed within her heart" it is" ...causing him more trouble and horror than ever Georgiana's beauty...had given him delight" (43). The constant visibility of the mark becomes Aylmer's obsession. Aylmer dreams of the mark, yet does not even realize the potency of the dreams until Georgiana confronts him; "until now he had not been aware of ... the tyrannizing influence acquired by one idea over his mind, and of the lengths which he might find in his heart to go for the sake of giving himself ... peace"(45). The mark is always pres...

• Word Count: 1411
• Approx Pages: 6
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

... ears. Hester tells her lover that they should run away from all the laws and become new identities because only then, his remorse will diminish. Although the minister owns a way of swaying an audience and has the sweet, deep voice to steal a woman's heart, the readers are tuned into the conscious of Dimmesdale and the truth is revealed. He tends to have a split between his private and ... his public self. He even admits to it when talking to Hester in the forest: "As concerns the good which I may appear to do, I have no faith in ... , and listening to my words as if a tongue of Pentecos...

• Word Count: 1596
• Approx Pages: 6
• Grade Level: High School

... he came from a "race of honest men and Christians" and that his father would have never gone on this journey. Needless to say, the Devil is quick to point out he was with his father and grandfather when they were flogging a woman or burning an Indian village (615). ... he is unconsciously entering this service of converts to the devil. Then, the leader of the service addresses the crowd of converts in a disturbing manner. He informs them that all the members of the congregation are the righteous, honest, and incorruptible of the community. The sermon leader informs the crowd of their le...

• Word Count: 1752
• Approx Pages: 7
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

... could not purify, himself." Dimmesdale seems to not understand the mirror is a gateway to the truth, and he is still not yet released from his sins. The very limited light that shines onto the looking glass is used to burn deep into the minister's soul, prodding at the shameful secret he hides within his heart, and shine the consequences back in his face over and over again. "In ... and their relationships to each other. Most importantly, the author wants to exhibit to the reader the close relationship between good and evil, and the importance in telling the truth under all circumstance...

• Word Count: 2043
• Approx Pages: 8

... throughout the novel always in the same place "The Scaffold." The town is all out to witness the punishment of Hester Prynne some of the women are suggesting other punishments and the women are telling us about Hester and Dimmesdale. People say," said another, "that the Reverend Master Dimmesdale, her godly pastor, takes it very grievously to heart that ... such a scandal should have come upon his congregation." (Page 49) Reverend Dimmesdale is seen as a godly man. A man who does not commit sin and in his own mind at this point he feels fine and does not have any guilt. Dimmesdale at th...

• Word Count: 1308
• Approx Pages: 5
• Grade Level: High School

... a stubborn, naughty child. Since they are shunned by the community, they live on the outskirts of Boston. Later, community officials attempt to take Pearl away from Hester, but with the help of young Father Arthur Dimmesdale, the two are able to stay together as a family. Father Dimmesdale, however, is suffering from severe, mysterious heart trouble that seemed to be caused by psychological grief. Chillingworth ... becomes close with the ailing minister and moves in with him so he can provide round ... -the-clock care. He then begins to suspect that the minister's suffering may have some...

• Word Count: 1497
• Approx Pages: 6
• Grade Level: High School

... food and uses her talent in embroidery to donate clothes. Although she gives them their essential needs, the poor continue to humiliate her nonetheless. The continued humiliation shows that Puritans value the word of God over everything and that whatever Hester does, she notices that her guilt will not pass ... was red-hot with infernal fire" (Hawthorne 82). The letter not only symbolizes the humiliation of the public, but also the deep burn that guilt evokes. The children in the village are taught to look at the woman who bears the scarlet letter "as the figure, the body, the reality of...

• Word Count: 1253
• Approx Pages: 5
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

... and mind. By the end of the novel, the revenge on Dimmesdale became his only purpose of living. During the many "therapy" sessions between the two men, Chillingworth began to learn that it was, indeed, Dimmesdale who was with his wife. It should be mentioned that while Dimmesdale was asleep one day, Chillingworth opened up Dimmesdale's shirt to find the letter "A" across his heart. The scene finalized that ... Dimmesdale was the father of young pearl. It also caused Chillingworth to become even more infatuated with torturing his victim. Chillingworth attempted to keep ... ...

• Word Count: 1589
• Approx Pages: 6
• Grade Level: High School

... it is important to visualize a few possible meanings for the color. There is the constant comparison to the rosebush that is vividly growing on the jail's door. This could represent the youth and freedom of Pearl. It also could represent the passion of Hester's affair. The red also could represent the A's place on Hester's heart. While the actual meanings of the letter A are main points, it is also important to recognize ... the burning color of the letter that appears on Hester. Hawthorne's tragic ... ...

• Word Count: 1352
• Approx Pages: 5
• Grade Level: High School

... ) There are many signs that Arthur Dimmesdale is physically deteriorating and should repent through confession. In the center of the novel's action, a meteor passes across the sky in the shape of the letter "A". To Dimmesdale this implies that he should wear the mask of shame like Hester does, even though the community interprets the "A" in the sky as angel, marking Governor Winthrop's entry to heaven. In Chapter 10 of ... to confess his sin, or it was simply a hallucination of Chillingworth, consumed with evil and hatred. This scene is left to be determined by the reader, but later in t...

• Word Count: 1366
• Approx Pages: 5
• Grade Level: High School