Dimmesdale And Tawdry In Nathaniel Hawthorne's 'The Scarlet Letter'
The secrecy behind Dimmesdale and Hester’s tawdry affair emphasizes a sole, unique aspect within the three individuals that, when combined, create the crucial essences contained in each human being: the malicious facet, religious loyalty and guilt, and the need for redemption.
Dimmesdale inhabits the shame brought on by religiosity. After sinning twice, first the adultery he commit with Hester and second by lying and hiding the first, Dimmesdale wallows in his own guilt. He begins to have visions of Hester and Pearl pointing out his guilt and of members of the community mocking him. He wishes to stand with Hester and Pearl on the scaffold. He wishes to tell his congregation, "to speak out, from his own pulpit, at the full height of his voice, and tell the people what he was" (125), but he hides this and the guilt gnaws at him. It gnaws at him until …show more content…
This mark he shows when he finally seizes the chance to prove his loyalty to his religion and confess. When he confesses on the scaffold, Dimmesdale calls out "in the Name of Him" and rambles on "the will which God hath granted" him (219). It is not out of societal guilt or personal redemption that he confesses but instead religious loyalty. After proclaiming his sin to the colony, Dimmesdale dies as if in the moment of his confession God had decided that the minister's time on earth had finished, that he had completed his purpose.
Roger Chillingworth embodies the evil essences within all human beings, brought about by temptation and sin. The liaison between his wife and the minister causes Chillingworth to focus all of his energy on punishing the
Dimmesdale inhabits the shame brought on by religiosity. After sinning twice, first the adultery he commit with Hester and second by lying and hiding the first, Dimmesdale wallows in his own guilt. He begins to have visions of Hester and Pearl pointing out his guilt and of members of the community mocking him. He wishes to stand with Hester and Pearl on the scaffold. He wishes to tell his congregation, "to speak out, from his own pulpit, at the full height of his voice, and tell the people what he was" (125), but he hides this and the guilt gnaws at him. It gnaws at him until …show more content…
This mark he shows when he finally seizes the chance to prove his loyalty to his religion and confess. When he confesses on the scaffold, Dimmesdale calls out "in the Name of Him" and rambles on "the will which God hath granted" him (219). It is not out of societal guilt or personal redemption that he confesses but instead religious loyalty. After proclaiming his sin to the colony, Dimmesdale dies as if in the moment of his confession God had decided that the minister's time on earth had finished, that he had completed his purpose.
Roger Chillingworth embodies the evil essences within all human beings, brought about by temptation and sin. The liaison between his wife and the minister causes Chillingworth to focus all of his energy on punishing the