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Relationships in The Scarlet Letter

            In The Scarlet Letter, as relationships change between the characters a turn of events occur. The story takes place in Boston back to a time of Puritanism. Hester Prynne is committed of adultery. This story is about how she copes with her sin and how her it affects the people around her. The relationship that Roger Chillingworth and Dimmesdale have with each other is somewhat unusual. Chillingworth is Dimmesdale's physician. He decides to move in with Dimmesdale to take better care of him since his health is declining. The townspeople approve of the idea that the two live with each other and think only good of it. You'd think that Chillingworth is a harmless guy since he's a physician and is responsible for tending to the minister. In actuality he is the enemy. But Dimmesdale is so terrified of everyone in the town finding out his secret that he doesn't realize that his enemy is living in his own home. Chillingworth knows that Dimmesdale is hiding some deep dark secret. So he spends a great deal of time and energy to make him reveal it. .
             One night after the minister fell asleep Chillingworth put his hand over Dimmesdale's heart to read it. Hawthorne's write that he acted, How Satan comports himself when a precious human soul is lost to heaven and won into his kingdom. Chillingworth wants to hurt the minister as much as possible. It consumes him to the point that he can only focus on causing him pain. Little Pearl plays a major role in the story. She is a living version of the scarlet letter. Her mother even makes her clothes look like the letter that she wears on her bosom. Pearl is not affected by the community. She is a free-spirited child. Pearl is curious and always asks her mother what the letter means. But every time she asks, her mother refuses to tell her. Although Pearl is an every day reminder and living proof of Hester's sin, Hester finds great joy in her daughter rather than resenting her.


Essays Related to Relationships in The Scarlet Letter

1. Scarlet Letter

... important symbols that connect with the storyline and serve to better steer the ideas generated by the work to fit a theme. Many objects, events, and relationships in these three works overflow with symbolism. The Scarlet Letter, being the inspiration for many of these later cinematic works, offers the most amount of symbolism. The Scarlet Letter offers four distinct symbols: the scarlet letter, the meteor, Pearl, and the rosebush next to the prison door. The scarlet letter is definitely the most pronounced symbol within ... this novel. The insignia assists to further concentrate Hester...

  • Word Count: 397
  • Approx Pages: 2
  • Grade Level: Undergraduate

2. The Distinguishing Between Hester And Dimmesdale In Nathaniel

... characters in the Scarlet Letter. They suffer with the guilt of the sin of adultery that they committed. At the time, the Puritans looked down on this type of sin. Hester and Dimmesdale can be compared and contrast in the way they handled their scarlet letter, their cowardliness, and their belief of what the afterlife is. Hester and Dimmesdale both bear a scarlet letter but the way they handle it is different. Hester's scarlet letter is a piece of clothing, the "SCARLET LETTER ... life will be like, but he knows that it will be the way God wanted it to be. Although Dimmesdale and Hester...

  • Word Count: 706
  • Approx Pages: 3
  • Has Bibliography
  • Grade Level: High School

3. The Scarlet Letter

The Scarlet Letter, written by Nathaniel Hawthorne in 1850, is a book that was set at a time where the strict Puritan way of life was key. Hawthorne wrote about an intimate romance between Hester Prynne and Arthur Dimmesdale. The various relationships and feelings behind these relationships are intense, one can never really be quite sure of the true emotion. The moral of the story is to be true, yet each character is a ... are held back in public, yet when in the forest, she feels free enough to recognize the scarlet letter's role in her life and is not afraid to hate Dimmesdale. She is true...

  • Word Count: 995
  • Approx Pages: 4
  • Grade Level: High School

4. Modern Scarlet Letters

... really just learn to deal with it in a normal every day sort of way. We still see many problems with the actions of people in our society today; it's just that we have many different and more severe problems in our world. Contemporary scarlet letters are more serious than the ones in the Scarlet Letter, written by Nathaniel Hawthorne, but still ... relate to what Hester experienced. Adultery was the theme of The Scarlet Letter it was seen as one of the most awful and disrespectful acts that could be committed at that ... in scale than the ones in the past, and people definitely react t...

  • Word Count: 1073
  • Approx Pages: 4
  • Grade Level: High School

5. The Scarlet Letter Puritanism Vs. Romanticism And Reflection

... the poor minister now dealt with." The looking glass frankly reveals that Reverend Dimesdale's existence now relies on "the anguish in his inmost soul." Within The Scarlet Letter, Nathaniel Hawthorne analyzes his main characters" distinctions through his use of mirrors. By using this device of imagery, the reader of the novel can easily grasp Nathaniel Hawthorne's dark opinions of the world, man, society 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 tr...

  • Word Count: 2043
  • Approx Pages: 8

6. The Scarlett LEtter

... ways and meet in the forest, but Hester will not. This shows that Hester is not the worst evil in the world, but does have one of the worst punishments, which is labeled unfair by most. (Novelguide) Nathaniel Hawthorne uses symbols very well in his novel The Scarlet Letter. They not only add a deeper meaning, but help the reader to understand many of the complex relationships that exist within the novel. The Scarlet Letter is one of ... the first American, symbolic novels, and has helped ... ...

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

7. The Scarlet Letter-villainy

... led him to "some pretty dark conclusions about the world, man, society and their relationships to each other" (preface p1). Chillingworth's villainy enhances this by showing that he is willing to make Dimmesdale suffer and help Dimmesdale's guilt eat away at his soul in order to get the revenge he wants. One of Hawthorne's purposes in writing The Scarlet Letter is to show that "sin is evil, not ... because it violates God's laws, but because it destroys the sinner" (p271). Chillingworth is the ... ...

  • Word Count: 670
  • Approx Pages: 3
  • Grade Level: High School

8. Scarlet Letter - Chillingworth A Torn Man

... and a "friend" as he seeks vengeance. Chillingworth is a scholar and uses his knowledge to disguise himself as a doctor, intent on tormenting Dimmesdale. Through Roger Chillingworth's deceptive relationships, Nathaniel Hawthorne shows how sin overwhelms and corrupts an individual. Chillingworth's quest for revenge overrides his obligatory responsibility to Hester Prynne and Arthur Dimmesdale throughout ... spent in peace and harmony, in stark contrast to the last seven years he spent in suffering. Pearl, who symbolized the product of sin, finally seems to take on more humanlike qualities...

  • Word Count: 1082
  • Approx Pages: 4
  • Has Bibliography

9. The Scarlet Letter: Arthur Dimsdale

... let their readers make their own decisions about the events or characters in the story. The ambiguousness of The Scarlet Letter, by Nathaniel Hawthorne leaves many of the actions, events, and issues involving the characters up to the reader's own assumption. One of the issues posed by Hawthorne during the story is that of responsibility. Hawthorne illustrates that the lack of responsibility is harmful and should be ... another to cover their rear after having the chance to make up for their sins and continually receiving more chances of reconciliation without utilizing them is purely ine...

  • Word Count: 1146
  • Approx Pages: 5
  • Grade Level: Undergraduate

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