Three Scaffold Scenes - Progression of Dimmesdale

In The Scarlet Letter, Nathaniel Hawthorne portrays Arthur Dimmesdale as a troubled individual. In him lies the central conflict of the book. Dimmesdales soul is torn between both opposing forces: his heart, his love for freedom and his passion for Hester Prynne, and his head, his knowledge of Puritanism and its defense force of fleshly love. He has committed the sin of adultery that can non seek divine absolveness, believing as the Puritans did that sinners received no grace. His dilemma, his struggle to cope with sin, manifests itself in the three scaffold scenes visualised in The Scarlet Letter. These scenes form a progression done which Dimmesdale at first denies, then accepts reluctantly, and finally conquers his sin. During Hester Prynnes three-hour ignominy, Dimmesdale openly denies his sin. Hawthorne introduces Dimmesdale as a being who felt himself quite astray and at a loss in the pathway of human public (64). The author made it obvious that a grim hugger-mugger lies hidden in the depths of Dimmesdales soul. This secret, however, does not reveal itself immediately, since Dimmesdale hides it from the closely ceremonial occasion town. In addition, he magnifies his own denial of his sin when he charges Hester to speak issue the name of thy fellow-sinner and fellow-sufferer(65).

By deliberately disquisition to Hester as if the sinner were not himself, the pastor makes sure that zilch suspects him. One may also interpret Dimmesdales speech as a hint to Hester not to name him. He feels he must add hypocrisy to sin in rescript to keep his standing in the town. He thinks that if the town finds out about his sin, they pull up stakes never forgive him, much resembling his belief system tells him that God will never forgive him. So great is his relief when he finds that she will not speak that he stands in awe of the wondrous potence and generosity of a womans heart(66). Despite an inbound wish for his sin to be discovered, Dimmesdale feels better knowing that Hester will not willingly... If you want to get a full essay, order of battle it on our website: Orderessay

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