The Power of Sin in The Scarlet Letter
Sin is a part of everyday life. Nathaniel Hawthorne's novel, The Scarlet Letter, revolves around the theme of sin and the effects it has on the mind, body, and soul.
A sin was committed by three of the main characters in the novel and throughout the novel Hawthorne tries to point out that sin, no matter how trivial or how substantial, is still sin. There have been debates on exactly who is the biggest sinner, but in Hawthorne's case, I think he believes that the sins were equal and throughout the novel he develops each of them, trying to get the reader to understand is reasoning.
Adultery, which was the sin surrounding two of the main characters, Hester Prynne and Arthur Dimmesdale, was the sin in which the novel was based on. Hester committed adultery with Dimmesdale, a Puritan pastor, and had a child (Pearl) as living proof of her sin. She confessed her sin and was looked down upon by the citizens living in the town. "She would become the general symbol at which the preacher and moralist might point, and in which they might vivify and embody their images of woman's frailty and sinful passion." Basically, she was an example of what nobody should become.
The sin of adultery was confessed by one of the two, but Arthur Dimmesdale decided to keep it a secret, which in time tore him apart. Being a pastor, he was afraid of the consequences that would result from his confession, so for seven long years he and Hester kept it a secret, and were never seen together in public.
Roger Chillingworth, Hester's husband, and the other sinner in this novel, sought revenge on whoever the father to Pearl was. He soon suspected Dimmesdale, and would not rest until got revenge on him. Chillingworth pretended to be a physician and was to take care of Dimmesdale, but at the same time he was slowly poisoning him and punishing him physically and mentally. "Calm, gentle, passionless, as he appeared, there was yet, we fear, a quiet depth of malice, hitherto latent, but active now...which led him to imagine a more intimate revenge than any mortal had ever wreaked upon an enemy.
A sinful nature is an aspect in man that makes him rebellious against God. Everyone has a sinful nature and it affects every part of us. Sin corrupts the human mind and has consequences for doing wrong in the eyes of the Lord. Every individual on Earth sins, and this is represented in the novel The Scarlet Letter. Nathaniel Hawthorne uses Hester Prynne and Arthur Dimmesdale to portray how different people cope with their sin and the consequences of that sin.
The life of secrecy wasn 't as easy as Dimmesdale had thought it would be because he is now very ill from all the stress by keeping it inside. His sickness nonetheless, is not physically, but mentally. Dimmesdale was prescribed medication to keep himself from shutting down. He is still fully committed to staying with Hester and their daughter, Pearl, even if their relationship cannot move any further at the time being because Hester is still making a good name for herself again. The medicine however, only works a little bit or for a small amount of time because of how much guilt Dimmesdale is giving himself from not confessing. Arthur Dimmesdale lives with the pain growing and growing without confessing, wanting to please Hester, keep his promise to her and make sure she gets treated the way she is supposed to from all the drudgery she has done to remake her life new. Dimmesdale, at the time has his concentration on keeping other people happy at his time of life to make up for the sin he has done that he did not focus on keeping himself happy and neither did anyone else. Arthur Dimmesdale did not have the opportunity to confess his sins to the town because Hester and he agreed to keep that part of their life a secret from people, not wanting to have an even higher punishment. After more and more time passes on, Dimmesdale continues his ministry following his new emotional path
...t with the sin in a completely different way not only because she was a different person, but because there was no additional weight of a secret that went along with the sin. Instead of trying to figure out her identity, the way Arthur had, and clinging onto the belief that what she had done was not a sin, she allowed herself to surrender and believe what the rest of society believed at that time. The people of Boston saw adultery as a sin, and there was no way that any good or love could come out of it. When Arthur's character is tested, he struggles to find the answer but is unable to, and literally dies trying. Hester, on the other hand, does not give such a noble attempt, but rather chooses, whether consciously or not, to go along with society’s views of adultery.
When a secret is hidden inside it can engulf and even destroy a person. Arthur Dimmesdale, a revered young minister in the town, demonstrates what happens to the soul. Dimmesdale, as it is later made known, commits the serious crime of adultery with a young married woman named Hester Prynne living in the Plymouth Colony. Hester is unwilling to reveal her partner in sin. Dimmesdale’s fear of persecution and humiliation forces him to keep his sin a secret. So he watches as Hester is placed before her peers on a platform in front of the whole town and is then called to speak to her and urge that she reveal her fellow adulterer. In essence, he is called upon to commit yet another sin, that of hypocrisy. Dimmesdale’s accumulated sins build inside of him, constantly afflicting his soul until it begins to affect him physically. Thinking himself a hypocrite, he tries to ease his conscience and requite his sin by scourging himself on the chest during the night, fasting for days on end and even climbing the same platform on which Hester began her humiliation.
Hester Prynne had been tainted with sin once she had committed the crimme of adultry. Mistress Prynne has "raised a great scandal" in the town of Boston.(chapter 3) Hester left to the new world before her husband had. Her husband has not returneed in the past two years, and she had a daughter of three months. Meaning Hester has sinned by cheating on her husband and having anothers man's child. This goes against the Puritians ways of being holy which means Hester is not only a sinner but a criminal as well. Prynned had commited one of the seven deadly sins which is lust. She is put onto a platform so society may look down at her for commiting a sin. However Hester doesnt view herself as the worst sinner in the town of Boston but, views Chillingsworth as the worst sinner of all. In chapter 15 Hester states how Chillingsworth has "done me worse wrong than I have done him." Hester believes all of her memories with Chillingsworth have been her ugliest remembrances. She views him as a monster for marrying her and thinking that they could be happy since she was young and he was a old scholar. hester no longer see's her old husband but a deformed monster in his place. She disregards any happy memories she ever had with and believes he has deeply wronged her which makes him the biggest sinner of all for ruinnig Hesters life. Hester tries to seek justice by escaping to the o...
Micheal Jordan famously wrote “If you accept the expectations of others then you never will change the outcome” (Jordan). One can appreciate the context of the quote when relating it to one of William Shakespeare’s greatest work, “Romeo and Juliet”, in which two long-feuding families finally end their strife after their children defy the societal expectations, and consequently take their lives away. The two lovers struggle to live up to the expectations society demands from them, which oppose the existence of their love. For example, the audience sees Juliet challenge her family’s expectations in order to protect her relationship with her true love, Romeo. Additionally, both Romeo and Juliet challenge their gender roles in order to love freely without any opposition from society. Also, as the love between the two intensify, both Romeo and Juliet struggle to abide to the social expectations of their Christian faith. In a nutshell, one of William Shakespeare’s most celebrated plays, “Romeo and Juliet”, is about how two lovers choose to defy the social expectations demanded by their society in an attempt to create an environment where the “true love” they possess can exist.
wither in their pride/ Ere we may think her ripe to be a bride.” From
“He who falls in love meets a worse fate than he who falls from a
His love for Rosaline is great but yet she can not say the same and
says this to threaten Juliet as if to say if you do not do this then
William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet `Romeo and Juliet` is one of the best love stories of all time but although Shakespeare wrote the play, the story wasn't original. It all started hundreds of years before Shakespeare was born, in Italy when myths and folktales travelled about two young lovers from enemy families. After that, a poem was written called `The tragical history of Romeus and Juliet` by Arthur Brooke in 1562. So although Shakespeare's ideas weren't original, he has developed the basic ideas so well that now the whole world are familiar with the deeply touching love story of `Romeo and Juliet`.
...to portray through Dimmesdale and Chillingworth, that without responsibility for wrongful deeds our world will eventually be destroyed just like these two individuals. However, Hawthorne, through the portrayal of Hester, shows that he has not given up on humanity. If our world is going to survive for future generations it has to model itself after Hester’s behavior. Yes, sin is inevitable but we must learn to respond to it with responsibility, forgiveness, and redemption rather than with guilt, revenge, and uncertainty. More importantly we must learn to remain honest and truthful in whatever action we carry out because in the end only God will have the power to grant us the ultimate forgiveness by saving us or damning us to Hell.
The Scarlet Letter is a novel that deals with the theme of sin. Throughout history, people have committed all types of sins, and whether they are major or minor, people have been punished. However, the severity of a punishment is very difficult to agree on. Some people feel that sinners should be deeply punished no matter how little the wrongdoing was. Others feel that a person's punishment should be based upon the severity of their crime. However, what many people overlook is the fact that in time, we all have committed sins.
In Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter, there are many moral and social themes develped throughout the novel. Each theme is very important to the overall effect of the novel. In essence, The Scarlet Letter is a story of sin, punishment and the importance of truth. One theme which plays a big role in The Scarlet Letter is that of sin and its effects. Throughout the novel there were many sins committed by various characters. The effects of these sins are different in each character and every character was punished in a unique way. Two characters were perfect examples of this theme in the novel. Hester Prynne and The Reverend Dimmesdale best demonstrated the theme of the effects of sin.
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