Flexibility In Charlotte Bronte's The Scarlet Letter

The young and beautiful Hester Prynne was once married to a man who had been missing for around three years and committed adultery with another man. Considering the time period this was no small action especially since her unnamed partner is Reverend Dimmesdale and in disguise her long lost husband is actually Roger Chillingworth. Both characters are covering up parts of their life that play a big role in who and why they are for their own individual reasons. Dimmesdale is cowardly covering up his crime in order to protect his holy name as well as himself from the shame and embarrassment that the truth will bring.

Hester and Dimmesdale have both committed adultery, but Hester accepts and embraces what has happened. Alternatively, for Dimmesdale, enduring seven long years of guilt and sin are required to get him to finally reveal the truth. Taking so many years to do so shows how

In the meanwhile, Dimmesdale was the cause of all this he was the accomplice and the father of the child. On the day of Hester’s hearing, the day on the scaffold, Hester refused to tell the name of the man who was involved, and Dimmesdale knowing it was himself wanted everyone to know

Outcasted from the community, Hester embraced her sin. In contrast, Dimmesdale, ironically, maintained the position of the minister in the town. Unable to absolve his own mistakes, Dimmesdale suffered through his secrecy. Moral consequences of hidden sin, exhibited when one's inner self becomes nothing but self-hate, is only redeemed with the truth. Dimmesdale received extensive internal punishment for his concealed sin, yet remained unforgiven, whereas Hester trivialized her sin and reinstated herself as an active member of society.

Dimmesdale suffers differently from Hester, because while she “bore it all” to the townspeople (181), his fears forced him to hide his sin, living a life full of “nothing but despair” (177). Hester, though made a social pariah of the town, has a more honest and healthy way of dealing with her sin. Because Hester is forced to face her wrongdoings under the watchful eye of her Puritan neighbors, she did not have the same guilt of secrecy that Dimmesdale did. Dimmesdale, by hiding his sin, allows himself to become a captive to his guilt. The way that Dimmesdale dealt with his guilt was unhealthy for him, both mentally and physically.

The book The Scarlet Letter by Nathanial Hawthorne has symbolism all throughout it. People and objects are symbolic of events and thoughts. Throughout the book, Nathaniel Hawthorne uses Hester, Pearl, and Arthur Dimmesdale to signify philosophies that are evident during this time period. Hester Prynne, through the eyes of the Puritans, is an extreme sinner; she has gone against their ways, committing adultery. For this sin, she must wear a symbol of shame for the rest of her life.

The Prison Door In this Chapter from The Scarlet Letter, Hawthorne introduces the setting of the book in Boston. He uses a gloomy and depressed tone in the beginning of the chapter. He is able to convey this tone using imagery while describing the citizens, the prison, and the cemetery. However, as he continues to discuss the rose-bush, he uses parallelism to shift the tone to be brighter and joyful. To create a gloomy and depressed tone, Hawthorne uses imagery.

Many people are said to be weak individuals, because of how they choose to live their lives. In Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter, Arthur Dimmesdale is being characterized as a very weak individual who can only make bad decisions that cause him guilt and stress. Dimmesdale denies being the father of Pearl, and having an affair with Hester. Guilt begins to take over his life, and to make himself feel better about hester taking all the punishment, he harms himself.

Dimmesdale, a young minister, and Hester Prynne committed adultery together. Hester was forced to bear her shame publicly whereas Dimmesdale’s sin went unknown. This did not save him from internal turmoil however. He was filled with great guilt and anxiety. The Scarlet Letter talks about these feelings.

When Jane meets Helen at Lowood school, Jane is amazed and confused at Helen’s ability to tolerate the abuse directed at her by the teachers. Both Helen and Jane struggle at the school however, Helen and Jane endure the mistreatment from the teachers individually. “I heard her with wonder: I could not comprehend this doctrine of endurance” (Brontë 6). Jane refuses to conform to the teachers complaints, her free

Dimmesdale sinned with Hester Prynne by committing adultery. Although this was terrible and looked down upon, his crime was self inflicting and done out of passion. After Hester was punished for the crime, Dimmesdale was overwhelmed with guilt and sadness. This showed that Dimmesdale was a good person

To deliberate these points further, the setting of Gateshead, Lowood and Thornfield will be closely analysed. Additionally, it will discuss how Bronte used the setting of Jane Eyre, to demonstrate that women can go beyond the oppressive limitations of their gender, and social class and find fulfilment. It will also consider how the setting reflects the political and social conditions of the era. The novel opens with a vivid description of the setting at Gateshead, which epitomises the first stage of the protagonist’s Jane Eyre’s life journey and her childhood development. The passage declares that ‘the cold winter wind had brought with it clouds so sombre and a rain so penetrating’ (Bronte, Jane Eyre, [1847] 2000, 1.1, all subsequent page

First, Jane Eyre’s attributes displays women in our society who are still in search for meaning and love in their lives. Just like Jane’s spirit of passion despite abuse, these women continue to search for respect from other

Effect of Sin and the Chance of Redemption Sin is a powerful action that has an everlasting consequence of guilt. Once done, the person wants to forget about his felonious actions; however, hopefully a person’s conscience is a constant, nagging reminder. In order to be free of the constant pain, redemption is pursued for even the person who sinned in public or private. In The Scarlet Letter, Nathaniel Hawthorne proves that the truth of sin eventually need to be confronted in order for a person to stop suffering.

Jane goes against the expected type by “refusing subservience, disagreeing with her superiors, standing up for her rights, and venturing creative thoughts” (Margaret, 1997, p. 325-346). She is not only successful in terms of wealth and position, but more importantly, in terms of family and love. These two needs that have evaded Jane for so long are finally hers. Adding to her victory is her ability to enjoy both without losing her hard-won independence. Everybody has the rights to pursue happiness, to pursue the true spirit of life, which can be seen from Jane Eyre’s struggle for independence and equality.