In his novel, The Scarlet Letter, Nathaniel Hawthorne indirectly addresses social issues that were occurring in the time period during which the book was written. Some of these have proven to have great effects on the characters of the Puritan society. The act of repression is ridding the conscious mind of "all our unhappy psychological events", which affects two of the main characters immensely (Hazlet slide four). An explanation for this can be found within psychoanalytic criticism. Psychoanalysis is often used when examining literature because it helps to "better understand human behavior" (Hazlet slide two). According to Freud, the author of psychoanalysis, it is almost impossible to control the subconscious mind. Freud also believed that people are driven by "unconscious desires, fears, needs, and conflicts" (Hazlet slide three). Several of these qualities display themselves through the main characters within The Scarlet Letter. After Pearl's birth, Hester Prynne was guilty because of pressure coming from the people in the Puritan society. The woman was unmarried when she birthed her child and this was a sin the society would make her regret. She was unable to live the life that she wished for; she could never reveal to the …show more content…
He has a secret that he is withholding from the rest of the world and it is taking a tole on his health. Dimmesdale fathers Hester Prynne's child. He refers to Pearl as "my little Pearl" (Hawthorne 162); however, he does not reveal he is her father for much of the novel. Therefore, the Puritans cannot directly make him feel guilty for his sins. His subconscious mind can though. He has repressed guilt for so long, his subconscious mind is taking over his physical appearance; he has become "sick, sin-stained, and sorrow-blackened" (Hawthorne 216). Dimmesdale begins to develop a "death-like hue" and once he finally reveals that he is Pearl's father, he dies (Hawthorne
Eventually coming to terms with his societal offense and accepting the love he shares for Hester and the product of his sin, Pearl, Dimmesdale decides to end his torment by revealing himself to society. However, as he relieves himself from the curse cast upon him, his body succumbs to his mental distress and physically weakness, leaving him a freed man as he takes his last breath. Dimmesdale inflicts himself with agony and distress as he chose to have an affair with Hester, but his ultimate downfall resulted because of his fear of social judgement and the consequences for committing such a crime. His choice to hide his dishonorable actions from society worsened his physical and mental health as he lived in constant angst of someone uncovering his scandalous secret and consequently leading to his passing away. As demonstrated by Oedipus and Dimmesdale, it is not one’s crime that leads them into misery; it is the emotional distress and guilt that tortures them and brings upon their greatest
As a living reminder of Hester’s extreme sin, Pearl is her constant companion. From the beginning Pearl has always been considered as an evil child. For Hester to take care of such a demanding child, put lots of stress onto her life. Hester at times was in a state of uncontrollable pressure. “Gazing at Pearl, Hester Prynne often dropped her work upon her knees, and cried out with an agony which she would fain have hidden, but which made utterance for itself, betwixt speech and a groan, ‘O Father in heaven- if Thou art still my Father- what is this being which I have brought into the world!’” (Hawthorne, 77).
Dimmesdale, the “father” in this family shies away from his patriarchal duties and stands by while he lets Hester do all of the work regarding Pearl. First of all, Dimmesdale is absent for the majority of Pearl’s life. He is present in the town but hardly ever sees Pearl, even though she is his daughter. He says that Pearl has, only “twice in her little lifetime” shown kindness to him(Hawthorne Ch.19). Out of seven entire years, Dimmesdale and Pearl have shared only two meaningful moments together. Dimmesdale has obviously shied away from his duties as a father to Pearl. Even though she is illegitimate, it is his responsibility to help raise her. He also does not deal with Pearl directly when she is acting like a crazed animal. He implores Hester to calm her, telling Hester to “pacify her,” through any means to show him “if thou lovest me!”(Hawthorne Ch. 19). Hawthorne uses specific images through the words of his characters to show how much Dimmesdale is shying away from his responsibilities as a father. As a father, Dimmesdale should be raising his child to become a contributing member of the Puritan society in Massachusetts. Instead of doing this, Dimmesd...
He says, “It is to the credit of human nature, that, except where its selfishness is brought into play, it loves more readily than it hates.” (p. 140) Additionally, he describes love as an infectious sentiment that spreads and cannot help but illuminate life. Dimmesdale and Pearl, for different reasons, are unable to experience all of these sensations for much of the story. Pearl because she has none to share, Dimmesdale because his public office and private shame prevent him from doing so. Pearl’s baptism into the sphere of passion serves as her introduction to life, too, as Hawthorne’s words promise that she would not, “…for ever do battle with the world, but be a woman in it.” (p. 222) Prior to this moment, Pearl would act aggressively toward the local towns children, throwing things at them and making foul noises when they looked at her. But with this she is granted a second birth, but this time without her duty as a “messenger of anguish.” (p. 222) Finally she is able to live. Dimmesdale finds himself questioning whether or not he will earn his daughter 's acceptance as he wonders aloud, “So thou thinkest the child will love me?” (p. 178) After seven years of suppression and knowing that he cannot, “…any longer live without her (Hester’s) companionship;” (p. 175), once Dimmesdale at last finds his relief, “…there came what seemed a
As she raises Pearl to be moral and kind, she also molds herself to be the same way, even though her that is not her main intention. By serving others, acknowledging her mistakes, and working to raise her daughter past her shameful birth into the world, she exemplified the values of her Puritan community. The hypocrisy of those around her, such as the reverend minster Arthur Dimmesdale does not deter her from service, but rather fuel her passion to help them. She did not look down on him for not telling the townspeople, especially his congregation, the truth, but rather sought to help him reform his heart and convert his spirit into confessing his sin to the world. Just as Hester worked to form Pearl into as moral of a person as possible despite the circumstances, she also worked to turn Reverend Dimmesdale into a man of contrition and helped him muster the courage to confess to those whom adored him, despite any consequences. By helping the minister the same way she helped her child, Hester gave Arthur Dimmesdale the peace of mind he needed to finally die. Where divine intervention failed, Hester Prynne
ATTENTION-GRABBER The Scarlet Letter is written by Nathaniel Hawthorne. It takes place in the middle of the sixteenth century but was written in the eighteenth century. Hawthorne tells the story through his point of view about the scarlet letter he finds years before writing the story. When the story begins, Hester is being tried for the sin she committed while holding a baby. She commits adultery and receives a punishment of wearing the letter “A” on her bosom. Throughout the novel, the story behind the letter is revealed and many of the secrets behind the letter are revealed. Hawthorne believes hope can change outcomes for the better over time. Hawthorne shows hope through Hester who changes for the better, Dimmesdale who admits his sin, and Pearl who gives hope to Hester.
4. The Scarlet Letter was written and published in 1850. The novel was a product of the Transcendentalist and Romantic period.
By being with Hester, Pearl got to experience a different manner in life which enabled her to see an outside perspective of Puritan life and learn moral lessons from it. Pearl was not born into the typica...
“Burn the witch!” has been a condemning cry for centuries, but those flames are not always real. Words, looks, and guilt can burn a sinner far more effectively than the pyre ever could, as evidenced by the torments inflicted on the sinners in The Scarlet Letter, by Nathaniel Hawthorne. Each of the characters was burned in a different way, just as they represent different types of sin. Hester Prynne, the adulteress, represents open, acknowledged, and public shame. Through her, we recognize that acknowledging sin eventually leads to forgiveness and healing, in contrast with Reverend Dimmesdale, who represents the festering wound of concealed sin. And the depraved man who seems to be sent to torment them both, Roger Chillingworth, represents revenge, and punishment for sin. Hester Prynne, who wears the Scarlet Letter, has her ignominy before the whole world. Her scarlet A reminds both Hester and everyone else that she is an adulteress. Much of The Scarlet Letter talks about her treatment at the hands of the townspeople, because her transgressions are out in the open, and they can punish her. On the other end of the spectrum is the Reverend Dimmesdale, who fairly goes mad from guilt. Every person considers him a godly, amazing man, while he has actually sinned as much as Hester. His concealed sin eats away at him, and he constantly wishes that he would be brave enough to confess. Some of Dimmesdale’s torments are the cause of Roger Chillingworth, Hester’s former husband. Through Chillingworth, Hawthorne reveals the evilness of revenge. He also represents the punishment for Hester and Dimmesdale’s sin, and is a physical manifestation of their torment. At the same time, Chillingworth is both revenge and punishment. And in addit...
Even Shakespeare, one of the greatest writers of all time, had trouble answering this age-old question: what’s in a name? Are we defined by our given names, our nicknames, or by our personalities and actions, especially the mistakes we make? Nathaniel Hawthorne explores this idea with the characters in his novel, The Scarlet Letter. In contrast to modern-day Boston, Hawthorne depicts a time period where there were no deadlier sins than the lust for revenge, corruptness(especially in high society), and the overwhelmingly evident act of adultery. Vengefulness is still prominent in today’s society, but there is next to no one who showcases such a need for revenge than Roger Chillingworth. A character that should be virtually sin-free, the sister of Governor Bellingham, Mistress Hibbins, represents corruptness in the form of witchcraft in this Puritan town. There may be no better representation of sin than Hester Prynne, who bears her sin publicly and constantly; Hester embodies sin, physically and mentally. Even from the beginning of the story, it was clear everyone would be affected by Hester’s unforgivable act, especially her betrayed husband; although, he hadn’t been entirely innocent either.
Her parents had died in England and her husband refused to be associated with her because of her sin. Her impregnator also didn’t talk to her because he held a high position in the Puritan community and didn’t want his reputation as a leader and man of God to be ruined. But Hester’s sin did affect all of these people, even if she wasn’t physically close to them, and her ostracization affected her baby most of all. Pearl, Hester’s baby, was greatly affected by Hester’s sin. The lack of a father figure in Pearl’s life made her different from all the other Puritan children. Usually, in a Puritan community, the father was the one that rebuked a child and the mother was the loving one. In this case, Hester tried to play both roles but failed to play the father figure. So Pearl was different, “Pearl saw, and gazed intently, but never sought to make acquaintance. If spoken to, she would not speak again. If the children gathered about her, as they sometimes did, Pearl would grow positively terrible in her puny wrath, snatching up stones to fling at them, with shrill, incoherent exclamations, that made her mother tremble, because they had so much the sound of a witch's anathemas in some unknown tongue (55).” This also happened to O.J. Simpson except this affected his girlfriend. During the trial, O.J. Simpson was dating Paula Barbieri but his trial led to her getting bad publicity. She dumped him publicly
Throughout The Scarlet Letter, the effects of guilt and sin are evident within the lives of Dimmesdale and Pearl. Chapter twenty-three in particular is able to portray the negative effects that Dimmesdale’s sins have had on his life. As Hester and Pearl are standing on the scaffold, Dimmesdale turns to them and says, “‘Is not this better,’ murmured he, ‘than what we dreamed of in the forest?’” (304; Ch. 23). In this moment, Dimmesdale reveals his internal struggles to Hester and Pearl. The sin that Dimmesdale committed has caused a constant sense of guilt to be instilled within him. This guilt was so intense that readers are able to infer that he carved a scarlet letter into his chest, and ultimately died due to the overwhelming sensation his
Hester Prynne committed adultery in the book; therefore, she was given a big “A” on her chest to represent adultery. Although she did undergo a terrible act, she gave birth to a little girl named Pearl who ultimately kept Hester sane. As the story continues, Hester was shamed by all the towns people for committing such a hatred act. “Here, she said to herself, had been the scene of her guilt, and here should be the scene of her earthly punishment; and so, perchance, the torture of her daily shame
Pearl is an offspring of sin whose life revolves around the affair between her mother and Reverend Dimmesdale. Due to her mother's intense guilt during her upbringing, she is not able to become more than a mirror image of her surroundings; like a chameleon, she mimics everything around her, and the changes that occur externally affect her internally. Pearl stands out as a radiant child implicated by the sin of her parents. Without a doubt, if Pearl hadn't been born and such a burden had not been put upon Hester, she would have experienced a life without visible ridicule. It is only when the sin is publicly revealed that she is liberated by the truth.
One argument for this is that Hester held the power to reveal the father to the community. The townswomen are gossips and they all want to know first who is the father of Pearl: “And who, by your favor, Sir, is the father of yonder babe... and the Daniel who shall expound it is yet awanting” (Hawthorne 6). The community is on edge to hear the news, and at first look it would appear like Hester has power over them. However, Hester would never give up Dimmesdale due to her loyalty to him. Hester and Dimmesdale were too connected romantically that Hester, being the kind woman she was, was too loyal to make him undergo the same treatment she had faced. Despite this, Dimmesdale would not have had to face the same treatment that Hester faced, which shows that Hester was weaker than Dimmesdale. Hester had to confess to her sins because of Pearl and after time passed she was free to live albeit the Letter. Dimmesdale had to live with more than seven years of keeping his secret and still maintain his status as a role model for the