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Hester Prynne Dimmesdale's Morality

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Hawthorne depicts Dimmesdale to be morally chained to “a tinge” of Christianity through his indecisiveness over escaping with Hester Prynne – whether to run away to be with her or to retain his Puritan faith (185 Hawthorne). Dimmesdale creates an ethical battlefield in his mind as he fights his need to cling to his ardent bonds of Puritan society and religion as he constructs a placebo love for Hester. In other words, Dimmesdale’s “love” for her solely exists to compensate for his sin, adultery - believing if he acts as if he has been in love with Hester, God will forgive his sin. Moreover, Hawthorne vaguely refers to Dimmesdale’s defective love by describing Hester’s endurance of “the lukewarm grasp of his hand” as her “eyes… mingle and melt

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