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Social perspectives of the scarlet letter
The scarlet letter social critique
The scarlet letter social critique
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“No one man for any considerable period can wear one face to himself and another to the multitude, without finally getting bewildered as to which may be the truth.” (Hawthorne 211). In the novel The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne, there is a comparison of Hester Prynne and Arthur Dimmesdale. Hester represents strength while Arthur represents weakness.
Throughout the novel, Arthur Dimmesdale constantly struggled to live two different lives. To the public, Arthur was an admired minister. His famous sermons spoke about sin and additionally how egregious committing sin was. Dimmesdale’s community thought he was a brilliant man who would in return never do anything inappropriate. On the inside Dimmesdale was a sinner. After committing adultery with Hester Prynne he attempted to bury the sin inside of him hoping that it would not affect him. His physical and mental health was suffering due to the feeling of guilt. If Dimmesdale would have confessed this sin, his life would not have been so awful and as a result he could have moved on, but then again he did not have enough willpower to admit.
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Dimmesdale represented weakness, he was not strong enough to admit to his wrong doing. During the first scaffold scene, Hester Prynne was being publicly humiliated in front of the entire Puritan community including Dimmesdale. When asking who the father was, Hester had no reply, but at the same time Dimmesdale did not blatantly say about the sin he helped create. “Be not silent from any mistaken pity and tenderness for him; for, believe me, Hester, though he were to step down from a high place, and stand beside thee on thy pedestal of shame, yet better were it so, than to hide a guilty heart through life.” (Hawthorne 65). Dimmesdale was much too weak to admit to his wrong doings on his own, he attempted to proclaim to Hester to speak of who this mystery man was. When Prynne had no reply, this set the path for the rest of Dimmesdale’s faulty life. In the novel, Hester Prynne is contradictory of Dimmesdale.
The letter ‘A’ that she wore on her bosom plastered Hester’s scandal all over the community. Pearl, the daughter of the sinner’s, was being parented by Hester, which constantly reminded her of the sin everyday. The community looked down upon Hester and Pearl, but instead of letting it get to them, Hester accepted the consequences therefore she tried to move on. Although the family dealt with a lot of criticism from fellow Puritans, they did not let those thoughts get into their heads. Hester was a popular seamstress in her time, even though she was unable to make wedding veils because of the sin she committed. “Why, look you, she may cover it with a brooch, or suchlike heathenish adornment, and so walk the streets as brave as ever!” (Hawthorne 49). The sin made Hester determined because she came to self-realization and broke free.
(SOURCE). Hester illustrates strength throughout the novel. Considering that she defied the laws of Puritanism and raised Pearl, and for this reason she represents a strong and independent woman. Hester could have fled the community and moved to start over, however she stayed where she was and owned up to her punishments.
Hester Pryne of The Scarlet Letter Hester Pryne, after being punished for her sin, lived an important life. In "The Scarlet Letter" by Nathaniel Hawthorne, Hester was convicted of adultery. However, after her conviction, she managed to raise a daughter, became an important seamstress in her community, and set an example for her close-knit community. Pearl, the daughter of a convicted sex offender, grew up living a different life from her peers.
The letter "A," worn on Hester's bodice, is a symbol of her adultery against Roger Chillingworth. This letter is meant to be worn in shame, and to make Hester feel unwanted. "Here, she said to herself, had been the scene of her guilt, and here should be the scene of her earthly punishment . . ." Hester is ashamed of her sin, but she chooses not to show it. She committed this sin in the heat of passion, and fully admits it because, though she is ashamed, she also received her greatest treasure, Pearl, out of it. She is a very strong woman to be able to hold up so well, against what she must face. Many would have fled Boston, and sought a place where no one knew of her great sin. Hester chose to stay though, which showed a lot of strength and integrity. Any woman with enough nerve to hold up against a town which despised her very existence, and to stay in a place where her daughter is referred to as a "devil child” is a very tough woman.
Arthur Dimmesdale's character is the epitome of hypocrisy as his admirable outward appearance is completely different from the reality of his sinfulness. In Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter, the development of appearance versus reality through the character Arthur Dimmesdale reveals the theme of the omnipresence of hypocrisy throughout the novel.
Although Hester and Pearl are isolated for a while after their punishment (85), the Puritan society’s view of her changes in chapter 13. In chapter 13, Hester is shown to have become a servant of the community, and, rather than scorning her, the community praises her as holy (134). Even the symbol that embodies her punishment, the scarlet letter A, transforms into a symbol of her holiness, being interpreted by the people as meaning “Able” (134). In chapter 24, the story’s conclusion, Hester mentors young women, furthering the idea that she brings redemption from her sin by using her lessons to help others
In Nathanial Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter, the reader meets the character Hester Prynne who as the novel progresses, one notices the changes in her character are very dramatic. The changes are both physical and in her mannerism’s. There are many significant events which took place before the start of the novel and during the novel. Some of these events that lead to this dramatic change include the affect of wearing the scarlet letter, the secrets which she keeps, and her daughter Pearl’s evil characteristics. By these events, Hester Prynne’s image is transformed throughout the time of the story.
The way Hester and Dimmesdale approached their sins has a direct correlation with how they lived the rest of their lives. Hester confessed her sin because she had no choice she already had incriminating evidence in the form of a child and had to confess or be expelled from the community. In this sense, Hester had no choice but to confess or leave the community and she chose to confess. Although, we may not know why she made this choice, but we know she made it and she decided to stay with it and not leave the community in order to possibly confess her sins. Arthur Dimmesdale did not confess his sins for all the wrong reasons. He didn’t confess for mostly two reasons those being: his belief that man did not judge other men but only God can do that or that he will better serve his people with a sinful heart and not a sinful appearance. Arthur had to deal with all the pressures of a life of sin but also the pressure of his own conscience to confess those sins. The pressures on his body were worse than that of Hester who had confessed her sins. One of the main reasons that Arthur was in poor physical condition was that the wise Doctor Chillingworth had poisoned him, and kept poisoning him until he had confessed of his sins at the end of the book. This and the fact that his grief and guilt had led him to totally decimate his body both spiritually and physically he had just driven himself too far. Farther than any person should take this kind of self-mutilation. His social life also suffered as a result of this physical and mental torture because he had turned into a walking zombie and had not been very responsive to anything but his terrible torment. In this way, he was degrading himself and thought it necessary to do so for repentance. Although, he had not voiced his sin publicly he had preached about himself not being pure and being a sinner. In spite of this, the unknowing congregation worshiped him all the more for his self-proclamation of sinfulness without telling what his sin was.
Through the use of numerous symbols, Nathanial Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter serves as an allegory for the story of Adam and Eve and its relation to sin, knowledge, and the human condition that is present in human society. Curious for the knowledge of good and evil, Adam and Eve sinned in the Garden of Eden, which resulted in the revelation of their “humanness” and expulsion from the “divine garden” as they then suffered the pain and joy of being humans. Just as Adam and Eve were expelled from their society and suffered in their own being, so were Hester Prynne and Arthur Dimmesdale in The Scarlet Letter. Hester was out casted and shunned, while Dimmesdale suffered under his own guilt. After knowledge of her affair is made known, Hester is forced to wear a scarlet letter “A” on her chest to symbolize her crime of adultery, and is separated from the Puritan society. Another “A” appears in the story, and is not embroidered, but instead scarred on Dimmesdale’s chest as a symbol of guilt and suffering. Hester’s symbol of guilt comes in the form of her daughter, Pearl, who is the manifestation of her adultery, and also the living version of her scarlet letter. Each of these symbols come together to represent that with sin comes personal growth and advancement of oneself in society as the sinner endures the good and bad consequences.
Hester Prynne, the main character of the novel, was a courageous and honorable person; even though, what she had been known for wasn’t such an admirable deed. Hester Prynne was a very strong person in one’s eyes, because even though she had been publically humiliated in front of all of Boston, she still remained confident in herself and her daughter. She was ordered to wear a scarlet colored piece of fabric, with the letter “A” embroidered in gold on it, on her bosom at all times to show that she had committed adultery. She was mocked all the time and constantly looked down upon in society, because of her sin; but instead of running away from her problems, she st...
For Hester’s crime of adultery, she is forced to wear a scarlet letter for as long as she lives. The puritans, in this case, hope that the letter will make her feel remorse for her terrible sin. At first for Hester the letter is a constant reminder of her sin, but
Hester Prynne and Arthur Dimmesdale in the novel, The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne, struggle to go about life. The characters Hester and Dimmesdale both are ostracized in the story and run into complications with the puritan society and how its morals affect them. The literary elements symbolism, imagery, and setting emphasize the motivations and reactions with the conflict of individual vs. society.
...scourse” (77). Dimmesdale as well, was greatly affected by the environment and by what was going on around him. Dimmesdale was accepted by society, but because he was greatly praised for being a “miracle of holiness” (125) he became greatly burdened and guilty. He was in a dilemma of wanting to tell all the townspeople about what he had done, yet he could not due to the fear that was inside of him. This pushed him to punishments in which he inflicted upon himself and always thinking about the incident pushed him to his limits mentally-seeing visions of his dead parents and Hester as they point a condemning finger at him along with judgmental looks in their eyes (127).
Arthur Dimmesdale was involved in the adulterous act along with Hester Prynne. One fact that makes this event more criminal for him is that Dimmesdale is a minister. Another reason for Dimmesdale's acts to be more shameful than Hester's is that she confessed and served the punishment for her crime. While Hester was on the scaffold, Dimmesdale expresses that he does not have the courage to admit his sin and sacrifice his good name. However, when Dimmesdale says "who, perchance, hath not the courage to grasp it for himself--the bitter, but wholesome, cup that is now presented to thy lips" he is inviting Hester to confess Dimmesdale's involvement with her to the townspeople with the explanation that it will be a bitter but wholesome relief to the both of them. Although Dimmesdale was tortured by his conscience for his wrongdoings, he did not publicly admit his guilt until seven years later on.
It is believed in Puritan society that “The wages of sin is death.” In Nathanial Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter, Hester Prynne and Arthur Dimmesdale are both sufferers of this harsh seclusion for committing adultery. Hester and Dimmesdale are victims of the brutal isolation from Puritan society on the foundation of their sins. Degradation and isolation confiscate Hester of her spirit and energy while guilt tears on Dimmesdale's soul more torturously for its absence of confession. The result of their sin is death while their child is "the sweet moral blossom that may be found along the track."
In The Scarlet Letter by Nathanial Hawthorne, Hester Prynne is labeled as an adulteress by the community. Many people are often labeled by others. As humans labeling is a part of life; it helps people to categorize their thoughts. I know that when I started dancing, I labeled myself as a dancer. By the time I left St. Mary’s, and maybe even a little bit now, dance defined me, just as Hester’s adultery defined her. It became the only thing that people knew about me, and the only thing I knew how to talk about. Hawthorne says, “It is a good lesson …to step aside out of the narrow circle in which his claims are recognized” (24 Hawthorne). I wanted to broaden my horizons, as paradoxical as it sounds, the best way for me to do that was through dance.
Arthur Dimmesdale presented himself as an uncorrupted man by his social status. Inside he felt unworthy and corrupt form the sin he has committed. The town’s people looked up to Dimmesdale as a man who could commit no grand sin. “People say that the Reverend Master Dimmesdale, her godly pastor, takes it very seriously to heart that such a scandal should have come upon his congregation.” (48). Little did they know that the scandal that Dimmesdale took to hear was the fornication that happened between Dimmesdale and adulteress Hester Prynne. His sinful ways was affecting his health greatly. “Some declared, that, if Mr. Dimmesdale were really going to die, it was cause enough, that the world was not worthy to be any longer trodden by his feet.” (106). The town’s people respected him so much so that they figured it was the world that is corrupt and not Dimmesdale.