The Changes of Arthur Dimmesdale: Oh, How
Secrecy Can Make a Man Suffer
Do secrets affect one’s health? Everyone has a secret that they never want to share with anyone else, but does that secret cause physical pain and suffering in both mind and body? Arthur Dimmesdale, one of the protagonists in the novel The Scarlet Letter, encounters such a scenario. In the beginning, Dimmesdale seems only slightly affected by his guilt, but throughout the rest of the novel he slowly deteriorates in mind and body, finding it increasingly difficult to control his negative thoughts and impulses. His strong Puritan beliefs play a central role in his suffering. Dimmesdale’s affection for Hester Prynne leaves him with a guilty conscience; he suffers to the brink of insanity, furthering Hawthorne’s overall theme. This theme regards the suffering one can bring upon oneself in regards to keeping a terrible secret to oneself.
Dimmesdale's Puritan beliefs weigh heavily upon his guilty conscience. Puritans believe that they are the model of civilization. They believe that God …show more content…
Dimmesdale absolutely hates himself for seven long years. After having a conversation with Hester in the woods about their plans for the future. He is so excited about leaving with Hester and their daughter, Pearl. This thought lifts his spirits, when he reaches home he rewrites his sermon for the next day. After the sermon Dimmesdale gathers enough courage to walk onto the scaffold where he should have stood seven years ago. There hand in hand with Hester and Pearl, Dimmesdale finally announces to the people of what he had done, “ye, that have loved me!--ye, that have deemed me holy!--behold me here, the one sinner of the world! At last!--at last!--I stand upon the spot where, seven years since, I should have stood...” After he finally told the truth, in his final moments his heart gave in to the stresses of seven long years of a tortured guilty
Secrecy Can Make a Man Suffer
Do secrets affect one’s health? Everyone has a secret that they never want to share with anyone else, but does that secret cause physical pain and suffering in both mind and body? Arthur Dimmesdale, one of the protagonists in the novel The Scarlet Letter, encounters such a scenario. In the beginning, Dimmesdale seems only slightly affected by his guilt, but throughout the rest of the novel he slowly deteriorates in mind and body, finding it increasingly difficult to control his negative thoughts and impulses. His strong Puritan beliefs play a central role in his suffering. Dimmesdale’s affection for Hester Prynne leaves him with a guilty conscience; he suffers to the brink of insanity, furthering Hawthorne’s overall theme. This theme regards the suffering one can bring upon oneself in regards to keeping a terrible secret to oneself.
Dimmesdale's Puritan beliefs weigh heavily upon his guilty conscience. Puritans believe that they are the model of civilization. They believe that God …show more content…
Dimmesdale absolutely hates himself for seven long years. After having a conversation with Hester in the woods about their plans for the future. He is so excited about leaving with Hester and their daughter, Pearl. This thought lifts his spirits, when he reaches home he rewrites his sermon for the next day. After the sermon Dimmesdale gathers enough courage to walk onto the scaffold where he should have stood seven years ago. There hand in hand with Hester and Pearl, Dimmesdale finally announces to the people of what he had done, “ye, that have loved me!--ye, that have deemed me holy!--behold me here, the one sinner of the world! At last!--at last!--I stand upon the spot where, seven years since, I should have stood...” After he finally told the truth, in his final moments his heart gave in to the stresses of seven long years of a tortured guilty