Free College Essays - Rev. Arthur Dimmesdale the Wuss in Hawthornes The Scarlet Letter :: Scarlet Letter essays

The florid Letter Dimmesdale the Wuss                   But (Hester) is not the help the chief actor, and the tragedy of The Scarlet Letter is not her tragedy, but Dimmesdales. He it was whom the sorrows of death encompassed_. His public excuse is one of the noblest climaxes of tragic literature. This statement by Randall Stewart does not contain the same ideas that I believe were contained within The Scarlet Letter, by Nathaniel Hawthorne. I, on the contrary to Stewarts statement, think Dimmesdale is a coward and a hypocrite. Worse, he is a self-confessed coward and hypocrite. He knows what he has to do to still the theatrical role of his conscience and make his peace with God. Throughout the entire stage his confession remains an obstacle . While Hester is a relatively constant character, Dimmesdale is implausibly dynamic. From his fall with Hester, he moves, in steps, toward his public hint, at the end o f the novel, of sinning. He wants to unburden himself  by revealing his sin to his congregation, but somehow base never quite manage this. He is a typical prototype of a wuss, using todays terminology. To some extent, Dimmesdales story is one of a single man tempted into the depths of the hormonal world. This world, however, is a menage where the society treats sexuality with ill grace. But Dimmesdales problem is tremendously complicated by the fact of Hesters marriage (for him no technicality), and by his have got image of himself as a cleric devoted to higher things. different other young men, Dimmesdale cannot accept his loss of innocence and go on from there. He must struggle futilely to get back to where he was. Torn between the desire to confess and atone for his sin and the cowardliness that holds him back, Dimmesdale goes slightly mad. He takes up some morbid forms of penance, fasts and scourgings, but he can neither whip nor starve the sin from his soul. In his a gony, he staggers to the pulpit to confess, but his words come out as generalized and meaningless declarations of guilt. The reverend seems to want to reveal himself, but Chillingworths puzzle out and his own shame are stronger than his weak conscience. Dimmesdale cannot surrender an identity which brings him the cacoethes and admiration of his parishioners. He is far too intent on his earthborn image to willingly reveal his sin.