Keywords: scarlet notice analysis, scarlet letter hawthorne, the scarlet letter symbolism
The scarlet letter "A" has a detailed interrelation to the novel's thematic structure which is devoted to the three scaffold moments in section 2, section 12, and chapter 23. At the first scaffold scene, the author presents the theme of sin, judgement and the faith. Dimmesdale's moral conflict is shown on the next scaffold world which symbolizes the center of conscience. At the last scaffold scene, Dimmesdale can get away from from his guilt and reconciles with Hester. When when Dimmesdale dies, Chillingworth doesn't need for his revenge. And Pearl can have a life that is filled with love and joy. Thus, the scarlet letter "A" impacts the lives of the primary characters, and it creates them be related with the icon "A": Hester Prynne's free will and adulterous romantic relationship with Arthur Dimmesdale provoke the anger of Roger Chillingworth, Dimmesdale's enthusiasm leads him to his spoil, and Chillingworth's seek out the seducer of his better half indicates the evil of the type of man.
Hypocritical work to conceal their hidden knowledge sins have Arthur Dimmesdale, Hester Prynne, and Roger Chillingworth collapse. This sort of hypocrisy and the tough and inhumane system make Hawthorn be disappointed with the Puritan society. Hawthorn criticizes this inhumane hypocrisy with the strategy of tragic irony in the novel. For instance, the irony of Dimmesdale's situation is the fact he becomes imperfect by seeking be perfect. The more his followers consider him as a saint, the greater he should dismiss himself as the vilest of all sinners. Thus, the storyplot is filled with tragic irony, and the author's purposes are well represented by it.
Paraphrase
At the outset, Hester with black sight and dark locks stands on the scaffold, holding her baby of 90 days old. With the scarlet notice "A" on her bosom, she means three time on the scaffold. Though she is stigmatized by the scarlet notice on her breasts, she has to withstand the public glances. Meanwhile, The Reverend Mr. Wilson offers his conversation about sin and emphasizes the symbolism of the notice "A". He persuades Hester to discover the father of her child, but she does not speak by any means. She suddenly views s Chillingworth, her hubby, standing up in the masses. He makes a gesture with his fingers in order never to disclose his individuality.
Back in her jail, she actually is in circumstances of anxious frenzy. That night, Chillingworth visits her in prison. She's an interview with him when he enters the dark jail as a physician who takes care of the distraught status of her following the public ordeal. She confesses to her partner that she does not feel any love for him. She admits that she's greatly wronged him with the letter of her shame, but she will not want to tell him who the child's father is. Requesting her to assure never to uncover his true identification as her man, Chillingworth decides to find the daddy of Pearl.
Three years after her produces from imprisonment, Hester does not leave Boston rather than moving into a tiny seaside shanty on the outskirts of Boston. She makes her living by doing stitchwork for local dignitaries, and spends her time assisting the poor and the ill. She slowly gains value from the folks of Boston. Her skill at needlework, her functions of kindness, and her self-reliance make her scarlet notice stand for something apart from adultery. Meanwhile, the Puritan specialists force Hester to stop her child, because an immoral woman like her is unfit to bring up a child. The governor Bellingham persuades Hester to improve Pearl in a Religious way and tries to take her away from Hester, but she does not give her up.
As the years pass, Pearl grows up and becomes Hester's delight and torture. Roger Chillingworth gets a good reputation as your physician, and becomes the medical adviser of Dimmesdale, providing him medical consultations. Because their personal friendship builds up, Dimmesdale even speaks of his personal matters to Chillingworth, and it makes them stay in the same house alongside one another. Chillingworth sees that Dimmesdale is deeply concerned with Hester. Chillingworth eventually identifies that Dimmesdale is the father of Pearl, and he chooses to revenge. To be able to get a confession from Dimmsdale, Chillingworth cautiously drives him to feel sinful.
Dimmesdale stands on the scaffold one nighttime. While he is located there, Hester and Pearl come. Dimmesdale message or calls those to the scaffold, plus they support. The three of them stand hand-in-hand there. At the same instant, Chillingworth is again present. He cruelly watches them sitting on the scaffold. In the mean time, Dimmesdale instructs Hester that he is worried of Chillingworth. Hester realizes that Dimmsdale is little by little being killed by Chillingworth, so she chooses to help him.
Four years have ended up by. Hester's position locally has risen because of her charity. Her scarlet notice "A" now means "Able. " On the other hand, Dimmesdale's hurting makes his sermon become more humane. 1 day Hester perceives Chillingworth picking natural remedies in the seashore, and she asks him to avoid torturing Dimmesdale, and she explains to him that she will disclose the fact that he's her spouse to Dimmesdale. While Hester and Pearl are going for a walk in the forest, they meet Dimmesdale. He appears despaired as if he doesn't have any want to live. He confesses his misery and unhappiness. Hester realizes that she still is in love with Dimmesdale, so she uncovers the personal information of Chillingworth as her partner. She asks him to forgive her deception. When Dimmesdale hears from Hester that Chillingworth is her spouse, he is furious initially, but finally forgives her. They agree to leave this Puritan community and go to European countries together with Pearl. Dimmesdale thinks that European countries offers more civilization and refinement, so going to Europe is the better choice.
Returning from the forest, Dimmesdale determines to expose himself for the serenity of his own heart and soul by confessing his sin before the whole congregation. He creates the Election Sermon with remarkable creativity. The sermon is prosperous. Meanwhile, on your day when Hester confirms a dispatch that will take all three of them to European countries, Chillingworth asks the ship's captain for taking him up to speed. After Dimmsdale surface finishes his sermon, he beckons to Hester and Pearl to come. Each goes to the scaffold and stand there mutually in his penitence. Chillingworth tries to stop them, Dimmesdale uncovers the secret of his sin to the crowd. After telling the individuals who he's a sinner like Hester. He dies on the scaffold. After Dimmesdale's death, Hester goes to European countries with her girl. Pearl happily marries there, but Hester results to Boston alone. She never eliminates her scarlet letter. When she dies, she actually is buried next to Dimmesdale. Her tombstone shares a scarlet letter "A. " with Dimmsdale's.
Connotation
1. Simile
". . . . I took place to place it on my breasts. . . It appeared to me then, i experienced a experience not entirely physical, yet almost so, by a burning warmth; and as though the letter weren't of red cloth, but red-hot flat iron. I shuddered, and involuntarily let it fall upon the floor. " (P 30)
- The notice "A" is in comparison to burning heat or red hot iron: It shows the relationships between spiritual notion of sin and the physical manifestation. (Simile)
2. Simile
"It might be, too, a witch, like old Mistress Hibbins, the bitter tempered widow of the magistrate, was to expire upon the gallows. "(P 63)
- a witch, like old Mistress Hibbins: A witch is compared to old Mistress Hibbins. (Simile)
3. Onomatopoeia, Metaphor
"Ah, but, " interposed, more softly, a wife, holding a child by the palm, "let her cover the make as she will, the pang of it'll be always in her center. "(P 66)
- pang. (Onomatopoeia)
- Pang in her heart and soul is compared to sin as pain. (Metaphor)
4. Assonance, Alliteration
"Within the breasts of her gown, in fine red cloth, surrounded with a more elaborate embroidery and fantastic flourishes of gold-thread, came out the letter "A". It was so artistically done, and with so much fertility and gorgeous luxuriance of extravagant, that it experienced all the result of a last and fitting decoration to the garments which she wore; and which was of the splendor relative to the tastes of this, but greatly beyond what was allowed by the sumptuary regulations of the colony. " (P 68)
- complex embroidery. (Assonance)
- fantastic flourishes. (Alliteration)
5. Imagery
"Never!" Replied Hester Prynne, looking, not at Mr. Wilson, but into the deep and troubled eyes of younger clergyman Dimmesdale. "It is too deeply brand. Ye cannot take it off. And would that I would go through his agony, as well as mine!" (P 91)
- deeply branded: Her sin is burned up into her like top quality cattle. (Imagery)
6. Simile
"Thy acts are like mercy, " said Hester, bewildered and appalled. "But thy words interpret thee as a terror!" (P 101)
- Thy serves are like mercy: Chillingworth's function is compared to the mercy on Hester. (Simile)
- thy words interpret thee as a terror: Chillingworth's words are in comparison to a terror. (Simile)
7. Alliteration, Assonance, Imagery
"But there is a fatality, a feeling so irresistible and inevitable that this has the power of doom, which almost invariably compels human beings to linger around and haunt, ghostlike, the location where some very nice and proclaimed event has given the color to their life-time; and still a lot more irresistibly, the darker the tinge that saddens it. " (P 105)
- a fatality, a sense. (Alliteration)
- amazing and unavoidable. (Assonance)
- Linger, haunt, ghostlike is image of Hester's brain. (Imagery)
8. Alliteration, Imagery
"But it is not saved that, in one instance, her skill was called in help to embroider the white veil that was to protect the genuine blushes of any bride-to-be. " (P 110)
- blushes of the bride. (Alliteration)
- White veil is the images of purity and lack of sin. (Imagery)
9. Alliteration, Simile
"She stood apart from moral pursuits, yet close beside them, like a ghost that revisits the familiar fireside and can no longer make itself seen nor felt, no more smile with the household happiness, nor mourn with the kindred sorrow; or, should it succeed in manifesting its forbidden sympathy, awakening only terror and awful repugnance. " (P 112)
- familiar fireside (Alliteration)
- such as a ghost: Hester is compared to a ghost. (Simile)
10. Image, Imagery
"Throughout all, however, there is a characteristic of enthusiasm, a certain depth of hue. . . . The kid could not be made amenable to rules. . . . The mother's impassioned point out have been the medium through which were transmitted to the unborn infant the rays of its moral life; and, however white and clear actually, they had taken the deep discolorations of crimson and rare metal, the fiery lustre, the dark shadow, and the untempered light of the intervening compound. Above all, the warfare of Hester's soul, at that epoch, was perpetuated in Pearl. " (P 121)
- Pearl is symbolic of Hester's sin (sign)
- White and clear, crimson and rare metal, the fiery lustre, and the dark shadow will be the dual image about morality. (Imagery)
11. Image, Imagery
"I am my mother's child, " answered the scarlet vision, "and i am Pearl!" (P 154)
- Pearl is symbolic of her mother sin. In ways, Hester exchanged in everything she experienced; her relationship, her standing in a community. (Icon)
- Religious image, Pearl of great price from Matthew 13:45-46. (Imagery)
12. Metaphor
"After adding her finger in her mouth area, numerous ungracious refusals to answer good Mr. Wilson's questions, the child finally declared that she was not made by any means, but had been plucked by her mother off the bush of untamed roses that grew by the prison-door. "(p 157)
- Pearl has been a outdoors roses. (Metaphor)
13. Simile, Imagery
"Roger Chillingworth - the man of skill, the kind and friendly medical professional- strove to go deep into his patient's bosom, delving among his rules, prying into his recollections, and probing everything with a cautious touch, like a treasure-seeker in a dark cavern. Few secrets can get away from an investigator, who may have opportunity and permit to attempt such a pursuit, and skill to follow it up. A guy burdened with a top secret should especially steer clear of the intimacy of his medical professional. " (P 177)
- Treasure is compared to the seeker in a dark cavern (Simile)
- Being able to proceed through someone's brain and discover their thoughts (Imagery)
14. Imagery
"When, an uninstructed multitude attempts to see with its eye, it is exceedingly apt to be deceived. When, however, it sorts its common sense, as it usually does, on the intuitions of its great and warm center, the conclusions thus accomplished are often so profound and so unerring, concerning possess the type of truths supernaturally unveiled. " (P 182)
- Image of group or public, as if these people were an individual. (Imagery)
15. Allusion
"Come away, mother! Come away, or yonder old Dark colored Man will get you! He hath got hold of the minister already. Come away, mom, or he'll capture you! But he cannot get little Pearl!" (P 193)
- Dark man can be an allusion to Satan, and sometimes a mention of Chillingworth. (Allusion)
16. Implication
"Then I need ask no further, " said the clergyman, somewhat hastily increasing from his chair. "You package not, I take it, in remedies for the spirit!" (P 196)
- Medication for the heart and soul is implication of religious healing. It's the a very important factor Dimmesdale needs. It really is as though he recognize on some level that Chillingworth cannot help him. (Implication)
17. Metaphor, Implication
"But, if it be the soul's disease, then will i commit myself to the main one Physician of the heart!. . . But who are thou, that meddlest in this subject? that dares thrust himself between the sufferer and his God?" (P 197)
- Physician of soul is in comparison to God (Metaphor)
- Soul's disease means that the heart can be tired in quite similar way the body can be suffering. (Implication)
18. Metaphor, Allusion
"But using what a crazy look of surprise, job, and horror! With what a ghastly rapture. . . . making itself even riotously manifest by the extravagant gesture with which he threw up his forearms towards the ceiling, and stamped his feet upon the floor! Had a man seen old Roger Chillingworth, at that time of his ecstasy, he would have had no need to ask how Satan comports himself whenever a precious human heart is lost to heaven, and gained into his kingdom. " (P 199)
- Chiilingworth's ecstasy is in comparison to Satan's ecstasy. (Metaphor)
- His kingdom is Hell: Chillingworth's delight over the fighting of another person is compared to Satan's happiness when a sinner sins and gets another step nearer to hell. (Allusion)
19. Metaphor, Oxymoron
"a quiet depth of malice, hitherto latent, but lively now. . . which led him to imagine a more close revenge than any mortal had ever wreaked after an adversary. " (P 201)
- Malice is metaphor for bad growing such as a disease (Metaphor)
- Intimate revenge (Oxymoron)
20. Duality
"Towards the untrue man, the complete universe is false, - it is impalpable, - it shrinks to nothing at all within his grasp. . . . The only truth that continued to provide Mr. Dimmesdale a real existence on this earth was the anguish in his inmost heart" (P 212)
- Lifestyle or non-existence, true or false: Simple truth is equated to existence, and falseness is equated to non-existence. (Duality)
21. Irony
"Satan lowered it there, I take it, intending a scurrilous jest against your reverence. But, indeed, he was blind and foolish, as he ever and always is. A 100 % pure hand needs no glove to repay it!" (P 232)
- Dimmesdale's side is not clean. He does desire a glove to protect it in accordance with the Sexton's comment. (Irony)
22. Metaphor
"The scarlet notice had the result of the combination on the nun's bosom. It imparted to the wearer some sort of sacredness which enabled her to walk firmly amid all peril. " (P 241)
- The scarlet notice is a defensive talisman much like an nun's combination. (Metaphor)
23. Paradox
"It really is remarkable that individuals who speculate the most boldly often conform with perfect quietude to the exterior regulations of population. " (P 245)
- Those who respond the best secretly imagine the actual sin will end up like. (Paradox)
24. Imagery
"It lays not in the pleasure of the magistrates to remove this badge. . . . Were I suitable to be give up of it, it would fall season away of its dynamics, or be changed into something which should speak another purport. " (P 253)
- Fall season away of its nature is simple image of dynamics. (Imagery)
25. Metaphor
"What choice got you?" asked Roger Chillingworth. "My finger, pointed. . . at this man, could have hurled him from his pulpit into a dungeon, - thence, peradventure, to the gallows!"(P 256)
- My finger is compared to Chillingworth's accusation. (Metaphor)
26. Imagery, Oxymoron, Alliteration, Metaphor
"Let men tremble to win the hands of girl, unless they earn along with it the most passion of her center! Else it can be their miserable lot of money, as it was Roger Chillingworth's, when some mightier touch than their own may have awakened all her sensibilities, to be reproached even for the calm content, the marble image of happiness, that they will have imposed upon her as the warm fact. " (P 265)
- Tremble is image of fear. (Imagery)
- Miserable fortune. (Oxymoron)
- Calm content (Alliteration)
- Marble image of joy is metaphor for marriage without enthusiasm. (Metaphor)
27. Symbol, Alliteration
"Truly will i!" Answered Pearl, looking brightly into her mother's face. "It is for the same reason that the minister helps to keep his give his heart!" (P 269)
- Dimmesdale's give his heart is sign of his sin. (Icon)
- Hand over his heart and soul. (Alliteration)
28. Metaphor
"But mother, tell me now! Will there be such a Black colored Man? And didst thou ever meet him? And is also this his symbol?'. . . . 'Once in my own life I met the Dark Man!" said her mom. "This scarlet notice is his tag!" (P 279)
- Scarlet notice is metaphor for sin and the tag of Satan. (Metaphor)
29. Contrast
"Thou shalt forgive me!" cried Hester, flinging herself on the fallen leaves beside him. "Let God punish! Thou shalt forgive!"(P 294)
- Contrasting who doing action: individuals forgives, God punishes. (Contraction)
30. Metaphor
"That old man's revenge has been blacker than my. . . sin. He has violated, in chilly blood vessels, the sanctity of any human heart and soul. Thou and I, Hester, never did so!"(P 294)
- Blacker: Amount of black is connected to the gravity of sin. Blacker means worse. Colour as degree of sin. (Metaphor)
31. Metaphor, Imagery, Onomatopoeia
"There played around her oral cavity, and beamed out of her sight, a radiant and sensitive smile, that looked like gushing from the very center of womanhood. A crimson flush was glowing on her cheek, that were long so pale. " (P 307)
- gushing. (Onomatopoeia)
- Beam, radiant, and glowing is image of light. (Imagery)
- Smile is compared to blood. (Metaphor)
32. Implication, Dual meanings
"At least, they shall say of me, " thought this exemplary man, "that I leave no open public duty unperformed, nor sick performed!" (PP 325-326)
- Private duties are left unperformed. (Implication)
- Dimmesdale is an excellent man, and Dimmesdale as a negative man. (Dual meanings)
33. Alliteration, Imagery
"Ha, tempter! Methinks thou fine art too later part of the!" replied the minister, encountering his eyesight, fearfully, but solidly. "Thy electric power is not what it was! With God's help, I shall avoid thee now!" (P 384)
- fearfully, but firmly. (Alliteration)
- Tempter is a image of Satan. (Imagery)
34. Metaphor
"Thou hast escaped me!" he repeated more often than once. . . . "May God forgive thee!" said the minister. "Thou, too, hast deeply sinned!" (P 389)
- Chillingworth is in comparison to Satan. (Metaphor)
35. Alliteration, Onomatopoeia
"Hush, Hester, hush!. . . Regulations was broke! - the sin here so awfully unveiled! - let these by itself maintain thy thoughts! I fear! I fear! It may be that, whenever we forgot our God, - when we violated our reverence each for the other's heart, - it was thenceforth vain to trust that people could meet hereafter, in an everlasting and 100 % pure reunion. " (P 390)
- Hush, Hester, hush. (Alliteration)
- Hush. (Onomatopoeia)
36. Imagery
"that the dreadful symbol was the result of the ever-active tooth of remorse, gnawing from the inmost center outwardly, and finally manifesting Heaven's dreadful view by the obvious existence of the notice. " (P 393)
- Tooth of remorse is unpleasant Image. Remorse as an emotion that eats away at a person. (Imagery)
37. Oxymoron
"Without disputing a real truth so momentous, we should be allowed to consider this version of Mr. Dimmesdale's report as only an instance of that stubborn fidelity with which a man's friends-and especially a clergyman's-will sometimes uphold his persona, when proofs, clear as the midday sunshine on the scarlet letter, create him a bogus and sin-stained creature of the dust particles. " (P 394)
- stubborn fidelity: Fidelity means real truth and faithfulness, however the stubborn means not changing one's judgment in light of facts. (Oxymoron)
38. Imagery, Alliteration
"Hester comforted and counseled them as best she might. She assured them, too, of her company notion, that, at some brighter period, when the world should have grown up ripe for this, in Heaven's own time, a fresh truth would be unveiled, in order to determine the whole relationship between man and girl over a surer ground of mutual contentment. "(P 400)
- comforted and counsel. (Alliteration)
- Duration of time is the image of Heaven's own time, brighter period, harvested ripe. (Imagery)
39. Insinuation, Assonance, Alliteration, Imagery
"The angel and apostle of the arriving revelation must be a female, indeed, but lofty, genuine, and beautiful; and wise, in addition, not through dusky grief, but the ethereal medium of delight; and exhibiting how sacred love should make us happy, by the truest test of your life successful to this end!" (PP 400-401)
- angel and apostle (assonance)
- truest test (alliteration)
- Insinuating that girls are usually clean naturally: The angel and apostle of the approaching revelation must be considered a female, indeed, but lofty, pure
- Dusky grief is the image of sinner
40. Metaphor
"a new grave was delved, near an old and sunken one, for the reason that burial-ground beside which King's Chapel has since been built. It had been near that old and sunken grave, yet with a space between, as if the particles of the two sleepers experienced no to mingle. Yet one tombstone offered for both. "(P 401)
- Dust is set alongside the ashes of two dead people; Dimmesdale and Hester. (Metaphor)
- Sleepers is compared to useless people. (Metaphor)
Attitude
Nathaniel Hawthorne is a impressive ironist who makes good use of the remarkable irony. He respect human beings as actually imperfect creatures. The dehumanization in a Puritan population in The Scarlet Notice is criticized with the method of tragic irony which is carefully related to a dualistic view of life. A lot of the character types are Puritans. They may be innocent and make an effort to build an ideal culture in their own way. Such a perfect Puritan community hold its own secrets and sin within each member. This creates irony or hypocrisy and has each individual feel guilty. Inside the book, Hester, Dimmesdale, and Chilligworth are isolated from a standard society plus they suffer from the various areas of sin. Hypocritical action to conceal their secret sins make sure they are collapse. Although Hester seems humility and embarrassment because of her sin, she is the only person who's spiritually free. When Dimmesdale finally uncovers his sin to the people about the scaffold, they won't believe that he is sinner like Hester. The actual fact this is the susceptible minister and a magic formula sinner results in an endless maze of irony. Dimmesdale's dual identification is shown in Hester with the shameful scarlet letter on her breasts and in Chillingworth with his magic formula revenge for Dimmsdale.
The irony of Dimmesdale's situation is the fact that he becomes imperfect by pretending to be perfect. Dimmesdale tries to appear to be always a perfect man, for he considers there is complete good and evil on the planet.
By using tragic irony, Hawthorne accumulates the plot which gives us constant curiosity about his novel. Thus, The Scarlet Letter is chiefly made up of tragic irony, and the author's purposes are well represented by it.
Shift
In section 16, Dimmesdale appears to be in despair, as though he does not have any purpose or prefer to live whereas in section 18, he will take courage and determines to leave the Puritan society with Hester and his little princess, Pearl. He is reborn with great energy, He believes everything positively. However in chapter 23, he instantly provides up everything. He cannot react against his conscience. In such a chapter, Chillingworth manages to lose his purpose of revenge completely when Dimmesdale dies. He no longer has Dimmesdale to confess his sin. Hester also lose her love. She doesn't need feel the loneliness she's already has when Dimmesdale dies. Pearl can have a life which is full of love and contentment.
In chapter 13, Hester's position in the community steadily changes because of her charity and kindness. She helps the indegent and the unwell. She slowly gains good reputation from the people of Boston. Her skill at needlework and the charity for the needy make her scarlet notice symbolize something apart from shameful adultery. Hester's scarlet "A" now stands not for "shame" but also for "Able. " It really is no longer a token of her shameful adultery.
The readers can easily see the switch of Dimmesdale's conscience by looking at the three scaffold views in chapter 2, chapter 12, and chapter 23. In the first landscape, he will not want to disclose his technique sin In the second scaffold scene, he confesses his sin in private at night, so it does not seem to be a public confession. In the final scaffold arena, he confesses his sin in public. At the moment, his conscience finally clears.
Themes
This section will discuss the following four topics: sin, conscience, Puritanism, and forgiveness.
Sin
By choosing a Puritan modern culture and adultery as the setting up for this book, Hawthorne is free to explore the subconscious impact of sin on everyone included.
In Puritan population adultery is both a crime and a sin. As a female whose husband is absent, Hester's motherhood is proof her immoral relationship with a man, not her man. Puritans usually impose the loss of life penalty on adulterers, however, since Hester's husband might be dead they refrain from administering it in cases like this. They cannot let her sin go unpunished, so they phrase her to 3 years in jail, and she must wear the "A" on her behalf upper body for adulteress for the others of her life. Furthermore, she actually is cast out of the community. To the Puritans, sin is similar to infectious disease. Hester is "quarantined" in the trust that her sin won't pollute the city. Puritanism is a demanding version of Christianity. In other sects after Christians confess their sins and perform penance, their sins are forgiven and they receive reconciliation with God and their community. Hester for her part acknowledges her wrongdoing and endures her consequence with sophistication. Upon her release from jail, she makes a full time income for herself and her little girl by sewing and embroidery. Her industriousness and thrift allow her to carry out many works of charity for the poor. Although her life is not really a happy one, her sin and succeeding penance create an opportunity for her religious development and personal progress.
Dimmesdale provides the weight of sin in private. He will not make spiritual progress instead he becomes a hypocrite. Puritans expect their ministers to acquire high moral requirements. He seems guilty that he is not living up to them. He attempts to execute penance in private, but his efforts do not offer him any spiritual relief. His spiritual agony starts to have an impact on his physical health adversely, to the stage where his congregation commences to stress about him.
Chillingworth has a reader's sympathy initially because he's a man that has been wronged by his wife. Marrying a much more youthful woman does not qualify as a sin. But as time passes he offers himself to sin by seeking revenge on the man who slept along with his wife. The sin of revenge in physical form transforms him in the following ways: accelerated ageing, deformation of cosmetic features, and the stoop in his backside. He can be said to personify the term "ugly as sin. "
Conscience
For Hawthorne, specific conscience plays a valuable role. When a person relies on his intuition and sympathy for others, he/she is able to make good moral decisions. The Puritans, on the other hand, have little use for individual conscience. In order to do what's right, a Puritan only has to follow the religious rules of community. As such individual conscience is subordinate to the spiritual commandments of the Bible, Hester uses her own intuition to make moral decisions, a feature which pieces her apart from her fellow Puritans. Dimmesdale's conscience torments him. The viewers can easily see the trends of his conscience by contrasting the three scaffold displays in section 2, section 12, and section 23. Within the first world, he exhorts Hester to name the daddy, but it is clear from his two times speak that he does not want his sin to be uncovered. In the second scaffold scene, he is changed to confess his sin out loud, but he is alone during the night, so it does not matter as a general public confession. In the ultimate scaffold picture, after his election day sermon, he confesses he is Hester's partner in sin in front of the complete congregation. His conscience finally clears, but he has lived with the guilt for such a long time that he has no strength to live a life after his confession. Chillingworth begins with a conscience as evidenced by his dialog with Hester where he admits marrying her against her wants is a mistake that leaves her prone sin of adultery. When he suspects that the other get together to adultery continues to be around, he manages to lose his conscience in direct percentage to his work to exact revenge on Dimmesdale. With revenge as his entire purpose for living, he cannot survive after Dimmesdale's confession, which renders revenge inadequate.
Puritanism
Puritanism has an strong effect on The Scarlet Letter. In the novel, Hawthorne wants to describe how Puritanism in the 17th century seemingly ignores the sanity of real human minds in every aspect of abuse and salvation. He provides us the substance of the Puritan thoughts of Boston, like the Puritan's view on man's sinful situation, and the intolerant Puritan frame of mind towards sinner. The Puritan leaders at that time condemn everyone who fails morally and push them to handle a open public penitence. The Puritan laws is definately not God's divine love which embraces all sinners having imperfect mother nature and human being weakness.
Hawthorne is disappointed with the intolerable system of Puritan contemporary society and its demanding and inhumane moral code which denies man's imperfection. Inside the novel, the Puritans impose overweight a penalty on Hester, although she is a sinner. Hester realizes that she can not evade from severe punishment by strict Puritan regulations, and also realizes God's love for the poor and the needy. Meanwhile, Dimmesdale is referred to as an average scapegoat who can not evade from the influence of inhumane and merciless Puritan dogmas.
Certainly the greatness in the Scarlet Letter is based on the type of Hester Prynne, for she dares to achieve her religious greatness despite of her own humane weakness and the prejudice of her Puritan population.
Forgiveness
The reader picks up early on clues about Hawthorne's frame of mind toward forgiveness in the custom house because he explicitly mentions offering forgiveness to his enemies. Hester can forgive her enemies for the most part. Hester, as a part of moral development, discovers how to forgive and she actually is also able to exhort others to forgive. For instance in section 14, she asks Chillingworth to forgive Dimmesdale and present up his revenge. A really moral being is able to forgive and have for forgiveness. Among the indicators that Chillingworth has turned to Satan is the fact he is not capable of forgiving. In chapter 11, he is given the label "the Unforgiving. " Even some other of the Puritans can handle forgiving Hester's frailty, and symbolically delivering her back into the city by discussing her as "our Hester. " In chapter 17, when Hester discloses Chillingworth's individuality to Dimmesdale, initially he is unwilling to forgive her, but finally he does so of his own free will. He makes a spot of requesting God for forgiveness for both of these. For Dimmesdale, forgiveness by God is more important than human forgiveness. This isn't amazing because to a minister forgiveness of sins by God is necessary for admission to Heaven. As Dimmesdale is dying on the scaffold, he does not forgive Chillingworth instead he calling on God to forgive his tormentor.
