Scarlet Letter Adultery
“…I charge thee to speak out the name of thy fellow-sinner and fellow-sufferer! Be not silent from any mistaken pity and tenderness for him; for, believe me, Hester, though he were to step down from a high place, and stand there beside thee on thy pedestal of shame, yet better were it so, than to hide a guilty heart through life.” (Hawthorne, 20) Arthur Dimmesdale speaks to the Miss Hester Prynne after she is convicted of the sin of adultery and is standing on a pedestal in town square being the subject of a passionate sermon spoken only by the man who committed adultery with her. At the time no one knew that he was the man he charged her to tell, but this couple sets the perfect scenario for a common debate. Which is more influential in a person’s life, public or private guilt? Hester experienced public guilt while Arthur suffered private guilt and both of them had effects on all aspects of their life. Nathaniel Hawthorne presents this problem using the long-term and short-term effects of such a sin as adultery in a community that strives to be a community that follows the
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Word of God. Hester Prynne, the adulteress that was convicted and punished publically, handled the ridicule in a peculiar way that would have made the authorities of that very upset.
With being forced to wear the scarlet letter “A” on her clothing for the rest of her life, she chose to wear the letter with pride and confidence. She walked down the streets of early Boston with pride in something that wasn’t prideful. “No lie hung over her head. Society had heard her story, and had done its worst. (Loring, 4) The community tried everything in their power to make her feel worthless and at times she did but she held her pride. After many years the letter had become a symbol of familiarity, the people began to respect Hester for the letter. The letter did the exact opposite of what it was supposed to accomplish. The public humiliation had an effect on Hester but not quite what it could have done to her
life.
Arthur Dimmesdale, the beloved pastor of a town striving after the Lord who performs adultery with the beautiful Hester Prynne, is forced into a much different form of punishment. The community almost idolized this man for how godly he was. He knew that what he had done and how wrong it was and he lived his life in private torture. He felt the guilt of his sin for years after the sin was committed. He whipped himself and even scorched his own letter “A” on his chest. He preached sermons on guilt and the oblivious community over-looked it. He suffered for long seven years while Hester lived an almost normal life. He lived his life in private infamy and public idolization, which had more of an impact on his life overall than Hester’s situation. The Scarlet Letter leaves the reader with a solid debate on whether private or public guilt has more of an effect on the sinner’s daily life. Hester lived a hard few years but the scarlet letter later became a sin of respect and she could live a half-way normal life past that. Arthur Dimmesdale, lived in private infamy, every waking moment he lived the guilt of his sin. It ate away at every aspect of his life. The short-term and long-term effects on the public and private guilt that set in due to adultery were excellently displayed in the Scarlet Letter.
Works cited
Loring, George B. "Hawthorne's Scarlet Letter." Massachusetts Quarterly Review 3 (1950): 12.\
Hawthorne, Nathaniel. The Scarlet Letter. New York: Bantam, 1986.
Word of God. Hester Prynne, the adulteress that was convicted and punished publically, handled the ridicule in a peculiar way that would have made the authorities of that very upset.
With being forced to wear the scarlet letter “A” on her clothing for the rest of her life, she chose to wear the letter with pride and confidence. She walked down the streets of early Boston with pride in something that wasn’t prideful. “No lie hung over her head. Society had heard her story, and had done its worst. (Loring, 4) The community tried everything in their power to make her feel worthless and at times she did but she held her pride. After many years the letter had become a symbol of familiarity, the people began to respect Hester for the letter. The letter did the exact opposite of what it was supposed to accomplish. The public humiliation had an effect on Hester but not quite what it could have done to her
life.
Arthur Dimmesdale, the beloved pastor of a town striving after the Lord who performs adultery with the beautiful Hester Prynne, is forced into a much different form of punishment. The community almost idolized this man for how godly he was. He knew that what he had done and how wrong it was and he lived his life in private torture. He felt the guilt of his sin for years after the sin was committed. He whipped himself and even scorched his own letter “A” on his chest. He preached sermons on guilt and the oblivious community over-looked it. He suffered for long seven years while Hester lived an almost normal life. He lived his life in private infamy and public idolization, which had more of an impact on his life overall than Hester’s situation. The Scarlet Letter leaves the reader with a solid debate on whether private or public guilt has more of an effect on the sinner’s daily life. Hester lived a hard few years but the scarlet letter later became a sin of respect and she could live a half-way normal life past that. Arthur Dimmesdale, lived in private infamy, every waking moment he lived the guilt of his sin. It ate away at every aspect of his life. The short-term and long-term effects on the public and private guilt that set in due to adultery were excellently displayed in the Scarlet Letter.
Works cited
Loring, George B. "Hawthorne's Scarlet Letter." Massachusetts Quarterly Review 3 (1950): 12.\
Hawthorne, Nathaniel. The Scarlet Letter. New York: Bantam, 1986.