Arthur Dimmesdale's Guilt In The Scarlet Letter By Nathaniel Hawthorne

The weight of the heart that has been occupied by guilt can be considered as a heavy burden for an individual. Corrupted by his unwillingness to do the righteous action, he becomes indecisive since there is a high possibility of becoming ridiculed by his society. Such a theme certainly exists in Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter. Arthur Dimmesdale seems to have no consideration regarding the punishment of his lover, Hester Prynne, who has given birth to his child. Throughout the novel, however, he realizes the reality of which he becomes involved after the events that have followed Hester’s punishment, causing guilt to overflow in his heart and tears his body and soul piece by piece, which ultimately leads to his own form of repentance. Although he has found a brief sweetness of …show more content…
The novel states in chapter one, "She will not speak!", murmured Mr. Dimmesdale, who, leaning over the balcony, with his hand upon his heart, had awaited the result of his appeal. He now drew back, with a long respiration." As Hester becomes publicly criticized, he dwells among those who judge her for the actions she has committed, but little do they know that Dimmesdale is her partner in crime. Due to his cowardice, he dreads the thought of being ridiculed by the public and swears his lover into secrecy. Being a saint to the people, he struggles with an inner conflict involving whether to confess his sins. However, his position as a saint for the community also prevents him from performing this righteous act because he does not want to disappoint and appear as a hypocrite to his fellow people. Unable to decide on what course of action to take, he re-evaluates his situation even further, which brings into light, that his lack of conscience has