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Character Review: Arthur Dimmesdale of 'The Scarlet Letter'

The Reverend Everyone Loved

By Anna BloomPublished 6 years ago 3 min read
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The Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale's hamartia is his self-inflicted isolation for a sin that was committed in love, not in vain. His guilt turns him into a man not even himself can recognize. A minister is a caring man with a few mysterious tendencies. A noble and pious person, Dimmesdale is first introduced in the novel as a preacher and head of the community, and although he maintains this personality throughout the ill-fated story, he succumbs to his inner demons. Hawthorne portrays Dimmesdale as a man surrounded in a cloak of mystery and pain. The same questions the reader has at the beginning of the novel are the same inquiries one has at the end. Who is Arthur Dimmesdale? Why does he love Hester? How did he succumb to sin? No matter the answer, Arthur Dimmesdale is a person who, despite his flaws, is someone to inspire a passion for righteousness in every reader.

Dimmesdale's decline starts to decay well before his sin is revealed or addressed. When Hawthorne emphasizes Dimmesdale's ill health at the beginning of the story, the author foreshadows that Dimmesdale's failing external health is an indicator of his internal struggle: "'a sickness, a sore place, if we so may call it, in your spirit hath immediately its appropriate manifestation in your bodily frame'" (Hawthorne 1910). In the start of the novel, Chillingworth ultimately is to blame for the majority of Dimmesdale's suffering. One may assume that the weight of Hester's sins lies upon his shoulders, but alas, Mr. Chillingworth bears the burden of Dimmesdale's suffering: "[torture] was accomplished with a subtlely so perfect, that the minister, though he had constantly a dim perception of some evil influence... could never gain a knowledge of its actual nature" (Hawthorne 1950). Therefore, Chillingworth's torment affects Dimmesdale by leaving a dark cloud of mysterious torture over his conscience. Much like how Hester's sin outwardly broadcasted to the public that she committed a crime, Dimmesdale's sin internalized for only himself to bear the brunt of the pain. Nothing productive ever comes out of hiding pain. If Dimmesdale vocalized his struggle, maybe he could have sought strength from others and obtained the power to defeat Chillingworth and his inner demons. The Puritan lifestyle corrupts Dimmesdale. If he was not bound tightly under the austere societal pressures of his time, then he might have been spared from his internal suffering.

Dimmesdale's character starts to splinter towards the middle of the novel. The scene with the meteor and the scaffold was particularly revealing. In this scene, the minister goes into a fit of insanity: "Dimmesdale was overcome with a great horror of mind, he shrieked aloud, an outcry that went pealing through the night" (Hawthorne 2063). If Dimmesdale were truly sane, he would not have stood on top of the scaffold and shrieked like a banshee. Part of Dimmesdale's problem is that he internalized all of his pain; only Hester knows his secret. Although Chillingworth suspects Dimmesdale and tortures him thoroughly, Chillingworth cannot prove the sin. Therefore, Dimmesdale's fits of insanity are likely caused by his isolation.

Dimmesdale's peace from his admission of his guilt is too late; the damage already fractured and damaged his soul. Dimmesdale obtains peace from Hester and her uplifting words, yet Dimmesdale is not strong enough to repel his inward demons.

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