Arthur Dimmesdale's Quotes From 'The Scarlet Letter'

Hester and the minister sat upon the heap of moss, watching little Pearl.

“She is a splendid child! See with what skill she has made those flowers adorn her. But I know whose brow she has!”

“Dost thou know, Hester,” said Arthur Dimmesdale, “how that has caused me such panic? That my own features are partly repeated in hers. I feared the world might discern (1) this. Oh what a heinous (2) thought that is!” After a pause, he noted, “But she is mostly thine.”

“No!” answered the mother, with a smile. “A little longer, and thou will easily see whose child she is.”

It was with an awe-stricken feeling that they sat there awaiting Pearl.

These past seven years during which they had so desperately sought to conceal the sin of their past, Pearl

“Do not let her see your eagerness,” Hester whispered. “Our little Pearl is intolerant (4) to emotions she cannot fathom (5). But do not fear - she loves me and will love thee!”

“O, how my heart dreads yet desires for this meeting. Children are often wary of me, yet Pearl has shown me kindness--twice!”

Hester smiled. “Then fear nothing. She may be strange and shy at first, but will soon learn to love thee!”

By this time, Pearl had reached some distance across the brook. There she stood, gazing silently at Hester and the minister.

There, by chance, the brook reflected an impeccable (6) image of her. The other child was so nearly identical to the living Pearl that one might wonder if the child was real herself.

Indistinctly, Hester felt herself estranged from Pearl in that moment. There was truth to this, but the separation was of Hester’s doing, not of Pearl’s. Since she had strayed into the woods, another had entered her mother’s interior circle, modifying it so that when Pearl returned, she could not find her

Her body convulsed (12) and she shrieked, voice piercing the air. And in that mysterious wood, Pearl’s shrieks echoed. It was as though the entirety of the forest was lending her its sympathy and encouragement.

And all the while, she continued to point her finger at her mother’s breast.

Hester paled in realization, but then grew miffed (13). “Children will not abide any change,” whispered Hester. “Pearl misses what she has always seen me wear.”

“I pray you,” the minister hastily said. “If you know how to pacify the child, do so at once!”

With a heavy sigh, Hester turned towards Pearl. “Pearl,” she said sadly, “look there--before thy feet! On this near side of the brook.”

The child turned her eyes to where her mother indicated. There lay the scarlet letter.

“Bring it hither!”

“Thou can come to take it!” Pearl answered.

“That child!” exclaimed Hester, aside to the minister. “But, in truth, she is right. I must bear this token until we have left the town. The forest cannot hide it, but the ocean shall swallow it up forever!”

Thus, she advanced to the brook, took the scarlet letter, and fastened it onto her