Nathaniel Hawthorne uses conflicts to further progress the characters in The Scarlet Letter. These conflicts affect Hester and Dimmesdale’s appearance and role in society. Although Hester is an adulteress, she is progressively able to live a normal life; Dimmesdale, on the other hand, lives with guilt which slowly deteriorates his health. Dimmesdale is most affected by the events that occur between Hester and him. In The Scarlet Letter, Dimmesdale lives in a society that looks upon him as “a young clergyman, who had come from one of the great English universities, bringing all the learning of the age into our wild forest-land.”(Hawthorne 62). In the town he is looked at like a gift from the lord and is loved by everyone. Dimmesdale holds power
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Although Dimmesdale is a reverend, he went against his teachings and has a child with another women named Hester. Dimmesdale keeps this a secret to avoid punishment even though he is equally at fault in the relationship. This leads to Dimmesdale hiding the secret for years allowing his guilt to build up inside him. His health deteriorates greatly because of his guilt leading to the town believing he is gravely sick and moving a physician named Roger Chillingworth in with him. This physician,who is the husband of Hester, is searching for the man that took his wife. He suspects that Dimmesdale is the man he's been looking for all these years. He holds his hand upon his heart allowing some to believe that he has chest pains. Chillingworth, on the other hand, thinks that he is hiding an A under his shirt. Chillingworth is very determined and finally gets what he was looking for “But with what a wild look of wonder, joy, and horror!..he threw up his arms towards the ceiling, and stamped his foot upon the floor!”(Hawthorne 126). Although Hawthorne never fully states if Chillingworth finds a letter A under his shirt, one is left to imagine an outcome. With this knowledge, Chillingworth proceeds to secretly torture and harass Dimmesdale for
Although Dimmesdale is a reverend, he went against his teachings and has a child with another women named Hester. Dimmesdale keeps this a secret to avoid punishment even though he is equally at fault in the relationship. This leads to Dimmesdale hiding the secret for years allowing his guilt to build up inside him. His health deteriorates greatly because of his guilt leading to the town believing he is gravely sick and moving a physician named Roger Chillingworth in with him. This physician,who is the husband of Hester, is searching for the man that took his wife. He suspects that Dimmesdale is the man he's been looking for all these years. He holds his hand upon his heart allowing some to believe that he has chest pains. Chillingworth, on the other hand, thinks that he is hiding an A under his shirt. Chillingworth is very determined and finally gets what he was looking for “But with what a wild look of wonder, joy, and horror!..he threw up his arms towards the ceiling, and stamped his foot upon the floor!”(Hawthorne 126). Although Hawthorne never fully states if Chillingworth finds a letter A under his shirt, one is left to imagine an outcome. With this knowledge, Chillingworth proceeds to secretly torture and harass Dimmesdale for