Sin in the Scarlet Letter
The Scarlet Letter, a historical fiction novel by Nathaniel Hawthorne, is a hopeless tale of one Hester Prynne, who committed adultery and now has to pay for her crime, and her relationship with the rest of the characters in the book; this reveals how a harsh society can ruin lives. The negative impact of committing sin and secret-keeping is seen throughout the entire tale of The Scarlet Letter; it is portrayed through Hester’s fate, the intertwined lives of Chillingworth and Dimmesdale, and the ultimate end.
The scarlet letter Hester Prynne now bears on her chest will unfairly and negatively rule the rest of her life. Her own wrongdoing led to the attainment of the scarlet letter, the symbol of an adulterer. Hester …show more content…
Chillingworth keeps the secret of his identity, but his false persona leads him into close proximity with Dimmesdale which leads to his own self destruction. Dimmesdale was already suffering with the weight of his misconduct. He was decaying before the very eyes of the public. Because he would not tell anyone in the town what the real cause for it was, a physician was sent for him. Chillingworth, Hester’s true husband, had just come back into town under the guise of such a physician that Dimmesdale might need for his so-called affliction. “Such was the clergyman’s condition, and so imminent the prospect that his dawning light would be extinguished, all untimely, when Roger Chillingworth made his advent to the town” (Hawthorne 82). Roger Chillingworth would not let go of his suspicion of what was going on, “The latter had his suspicions, indeed, that even the nature of Mr. Dimmesdale’s bodily disease had never fairly been revealed to him” (Hawthorne 86), and this eventually led to Chillingworth’s intense mistreatment of Dimmesdale. Dimmesdale’s secret-keeping goes against the church, his position, and proper morals so he resorts to self destruction to “punish” himself. The keeping of his secret took everything from Dimmesdale, and it consumed his life and spirit. He would effectively torture himself, and the knowledge he kept …show more content…
"The Scarlet Letter in the Scarlet Letter." The Scarlet Letter: A Reading, Twayne, 1986, pp. 83-92. Twayne's Masterwork Studies 1. Twayne's Authors Series, go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?p=GVRL&sw=w&u=avlr&v=2.1&id=GALE%7CCX1712900015&it=r&asid=fbdd475b47b5e0de05c4627b511074db. Accessed 5 Nov. 2017.
Bercovitch, Sacvan. “The Scarlet Letter: A Twice-Told Tale.” Eldritchpress.org, 29 June 1996, www.eldritchpress.org/nh/sb1.html.
Hawthorne, Nathaniel. The Scarlet Letter. Ticknor and Fields, 1850.
Pringle, Michael. "The Scarlet Lever: Hester's Civil Disobedience." Children's Literature Review, edited by Dana Ferguson, vol. 163, Gale, 2011. Literature Resource Center, go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?p=GLS&sw=w&u=avlr&v=2.1&it=r&id=GALE%7CH1420105284&asid=0d7d5a6518f9e063cfe57b9b1a0e66cf. Accessed 6 Nov. 2017. Originally published in ESQ: A Journal of the American Renaissance, vol. 53, no. 1, 2007, pp.
The Scarlet Letter, a historical fiction novel by Nathaniel Hawthorne, is a hopeless tale of one Hester Prynne, who committed adultery and now has to pay for her crime, and her relationship with the rest of the characters in the book; this reveals how a harsh society can ruin lives. The negative impact of committing sin and secret-keeping is seen throughout the entire tale of The Scarlet Letter; it is portrayed through Hester’s fate, the intertwined lives of Chillingworth and Dimmesdale, and the ultimate end.
The scarlet letter Hester Prynne now bears on her chest will unfairly and negatively rule the rest of her life. Her own wrongdoing led to the attainment of the scarlet letter, the symbol of an adulterer. Hester …show more content…
Chillingworth keeps the secret of his identity, but his false persona leads him into close proximity with Dimmesdale which leads to his own self destruction. Dimmesdale was already suffering with the weight of his misconduct. He was decaying before the very eyes of the public. Because he would not tell anyone in the town what the real cause for it was, a physician was sent for him. Chillingworth, Hester’s true husband, had just come back into town under the guise of such a physician that Dimmesdale might need for his so-called affliction. “Such was the clergyman’s condition, and so imminent the prospect that his dawning light would be extinguished, all untimely, when Roger Chillingworth made his advent to the town” (Hawthorne 82). Roger Chillingworth would not let go of his suspicion of what was going on, “The latter had his suspicions, indeed, that even the nature of Mr. Dimmesdale’s bodily disease had never fairly been revealed to him” (Hawthorne 86), and this eventually led to Chillingworth’s intense mistreatment of Dimmesdale. Dimmesdale’s secret-keeping goes against the church, his position, and proper morals so he resorts to self destruction to “punish” himself. The keeping of his secret took everything from Dimmesdale, and it consumed his life and spirit. He would effectively torture himself, and the knowledge he kept …show more content…
"The Scarlet Letter in the Scarlet Letter." The Scarlet Letter: A Reading, Twayne, 1986, pp. 83-92. Twayne's Masterwork Studies 1. Twayne's Authors Series, go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?p=GVRL&sw=w&u=avlr&v=2.1&id=GALE%7CCX1712900015&it=r&asid=fbdd475b47b5e0de05c4627b511074db. Accessed 5 Nov. 2017.
Bercovitch, Sacvan. “The Scarlet Letter: A Twice-Told Tale.” Eldritchpress.org, 29 June 1996, www.eldritchpress.org/nh/sb1.html.
Hawthorne, Nathaniel. The Scarlet Letter. Ticknor and Fields, 1850.
Pringle, Michael. "The Scarlet Lever: Hester's Civil Disobedience." Children's Literature Review, edited by Dana Ferguson, vol. 163, Gale, 2011. Literature Resource Center, go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?p=GLS&sw=w&u=avlr&v=2.1&it=r&id=GALE%7CH1420105284&asid=0d7d5a6518f9e063cfe57b9b1a0e66cf. Accessed 6 Nov. 2017. Originally published in ESQ: A Journal of the American Renaissance, vol. 53, no. 1, 2007, pp.