Using plot points, dialogue, or other specific descriptions from the text, pick out at least three places from the first half of the novel (through "The Leech") that lead the reader to believe what is ultimately true: that Arthur Dimmesdale has a very big secret. Hawthorne gives the reader subtle hints throughout the first half of the novel that may lead to the identification of Hester's lover and Pearl's father, Arthur Dimmesdale, before he publicly announces his true identity near the end of the novel. ... " Reverend Dimmesdale opens conversation, pressing Hester ...

• Word Count: 582
• Approx Pages: 2

Character Analysis of Arthur Dimmesdale The Scarlet Letter is a story of characters that have to live and deal with the effects of sin in different ways. Of these characters, the Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale is the character portrayed as the most weak and unnoble. Despite this portrayal Dimmesdale was a stronger character than given credit for. ... We first see Dimmesdale portrayed as a nervous and sensitive individual. ... Dimmesdale was not courageous in his actions in the story but strong. ...

• Word Count: 480
• Approx Pages: 2
• Grade Level: High School

In the novel The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale commits adultery with Hester Prynne. ... The townspeople didn't even suspect Dimmesdale of committing any kind of sin. To the townspeople Reverend Dimmesdale is the holiest and most perfect person in the town. ... As a reverend and role model to the community in which he lived and served Dimmesdale didn't take responsibility for his action because he didn't want to loose his reputation as the holiest person in his town. For example, Dimmesdale had an opportunity to confess his crime to everyone, wh...

• Word Count: 391
• Approx Pages: 2
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

Arthur Dimmesdale In The Scarlet Letter, Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale is considered a very honorable person by almost everyone in the Puritan town. ... Adversely to the common opinion of the townspeople, Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale is not very honorable and does not deserve any praise whatsoever. ... Arthur Dimmesdale is also a masochist. ... Because of his fasting and the mark he created on his chest, the reverend begins to have hallucinations. ... As you can see, Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale is a coward, a masochist, and basically a hopeless man who keeps lying to himself t...

• Word Count: 676
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: High School

Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale: Not A Hero As a main character in Nathaniel Hawthorne's tale of "The Scarlet Letter", the Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale is confronted with circumstances both in and out of his control, that lead to his demise. ... Arthur Dimmesdale, a minister, lives his life under the watchful yet admiring eye of the townspeople of Boston and, as a result, becomes a slave to the public opinion. ... Reverend Dimmesdale wanted to be with Hester Prynne, but he was weak. ... Reverend Dimmesdale has a chance to speak out the truth, but he does not. ... Reverend Dimmesdale also l...

• Word Count: 2932
• Approx Pages: 12
• Grade Level: High School

But none suffered as did the secret father of Pearl, Arthur Dimmesdale, the town reverend who kept his secret bottled inside for seven years. ... He states that he would prefer to have the minister of her parish Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale, inquire as to the identity of the father, but Arthur is disinclined to query that information. ... Seven years pass, and still Arthur Dimmesdale has not come forth to declare his partnership in Hester's sin. ... The first scaffold scene brought upon the idea that private repentance for this sin was the wisest course of action, but Reverend Dimmesdal...

• Word Count: 1460
• Approx Pages: 6

The sin of adultery affects Hester Prynne, Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale, as well as the Physician Roger Chillingsworth. ... After many years, she earned the respect of many Puritans through her craftsmen work and sincerity of her silence; unlike her partner, and Pearls father, Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale. Additionally, the "A" affects the Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale emotionally, as well as, physically. ... These complications that lead Chillingsworth to live with Dimmesdale, as his physician. ... Hester Prynne, Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale, and the Physician Roger Chillingsworth were all...

• Word Count: 462
• Approx Pages: 2
• Grade Level: High School

The Metamorphosis of Dimmesdale in The Scarlet Letter In The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne, there are many characters that transform; one of them is Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale. ... (Page 49) Reverend Dimmesdale is seen as a godly man. ... (Page 65) This is the first scaffold scene Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale is not showing any signs of guilt at this point, he is still fairly the same and has not began to inflict punishment on himself or so it appears. ... Arthur Dimmesdale has become real pale and looks almost dead and also begins to lose his mind, this is scene on the scaffold. ... ...

• Word Count: 1308
• Approx Pages: 5
• Grade Level: High School

The writers use John Proctor and Arthur Dimmesdale as pawns to illustrate the happy endings through moral reconciliation and spiritual reassessment. Arthur Dimmesdale is a pastor for the Puritan church in New England, where Hawthorne sets up the novel. ... Arthur's secrecy is what leads him to his sickness and downfall. ... Reverend Mister Dimmesdale confesses his sins on the town platform. ... The day of John's hanging arrives, Reverend Hale begs Elizabeth to make him reconsider about signing the confession. ...

• Word Count: 835
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: High School

In The Scarlet Letter, Nathaniel Hawthorne uses three scenes on the scaffold to emphasize suffering and torment in Hester Prynne and Arthur Dimmesdale. ... Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale is tormented throughout the story and in all three scenes with the scaffold. ... Dimmesdale's torture is stretched throughout the story in all three scaffold scenes. ... This serves as an alternate way of branding the A into Dimmesdale's mind. ... All in all, Arthur Dimmesdale suffers the ultimate punishment for his sin. ...

• Word Count: 598
• Approx Pages: 2
• Grade Level: High School

In the novel, The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne, Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale has committed the sin of adultery with Hester Prynne. ... Ironically, Reverend Dimmesdale asks Hester "who she has committed the sin with?"... Now, Chillingworth does not yet suspect that Dimmesdale is the other adulterer so he helps the reverend to become well again. ... Dimmesdale doesn't respond well to this and Chillingworth begins to suspect Dimmesdale of hiding something. ... Because of the guilt that Chillingworth has brought out of Dimmesdale, The Reverend becomes mentally unstable. ...

• Word Count: 735
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: High School

As his mental stability falls quickly down into his own hell, Reverend Dimmesdale proves to be the worst off among the main characters. ... Throughout the story, the reverend was struggling to cope with the immense guilt of partaking in this crime. ... What seems so mocking to the situation later in the book, Reverend Dimmesdale commanded Hester to speak the name of her fellow sinner: I charge thee to speak out the name of thy fellow-sinner and fellow-sufferer! ... The social implications of confessing his sins to the townspeople would be devastating to the reverend. ... Who but Arthur Dimmesd...

• Word Count: 1021
• Approx Pages: 4
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

Reverend Dimmesdale and his physician, Roger Chillingworth, experience several transformations in their character. ... Chillingworth becomes the Reverend's "leech" that uses his intuition to sense a great burden in Dimmesdale's soul. ... At the end of "The Leech and his Patient", Chillingworth's shows himself worthy of his name, giving the chills to Reverend Dimmesdale as he plots his imminently fatalistic plan glimpsed in the closing events of this chapter. ... Hawthorne describes the physician's intentions with Arthur Dimmesdale mentioning he " strove to go deep i...

• Word Count: 699
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

While he was gone, his wife Hester, had an affair with Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale. ... Dimmesdale is a young reverend who had an affair with Hester. ... He torments Dimmesdale throughout the entire story. ... Dimmesdale's sin was very bad. ... Dimmesdale was the one she had an affair with. ...

• Word Count: 438
• Approx Pages: 2
• Grade Level: High School

Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale and his friend John Wilson are introduced at the scaffold begging Hester to reveal the father of the baby so that he may suffer just as Hester does. Ironically, it turns out that Arthur Dimmesdale was the father of the baby and he and Hester knew it. Roger Chillingworth who was a physician as well as Hester's husband, moves in with Reverend Dimmesdale because Dimmesdale was growing sick. ... In this novel, an anguished Arthur Dimmesdale struggles to quiet his conscience and withhold the secret of his sin from being known. ... In the novel, Arthur Dimmesdale wa...

• Word Count: 2338
• Approx Pages: 9
• Grade Level: High School

In Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter, Arthur Dimmesdale has a difficult time finding a way to relieve his sin. ... It is the one place where Dimmesdale felt liberated to say anything he wished. ... When they perceived it was the Reverend Dimmesdale in another of his midnight vigils rather than a cry for help, they stumbled right back to their sleeping chambers. Dimmesdale is tortured by his silence. ... He felt it critical to admit his sin to himself and to his community and brethren, "... the Reverend Mr. ...

• Word Count: 723
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: High School

It is the Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale, who is renowned as an especially holy and pious man. ... Chillingworth soon discovers that the Reverend is Pearl's father. ... Arthur Dimmesdale, located above her on the balcony with the other reverend authorities, makes a plea to Hester Prynne to reveal the father but also to consider her actions carefully. If he is speaking of himself when he speaks of the other sinner, Arthur Dimmesdale is admitting that he has not the courage to confess. ... On the other hand, Arthur Dimmesdale is well respected in Boston and do not wish for his affair with Heste...

• Word Count: 2453
• Approx Pages: 10
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

By the second of such scenes, the story is in the middle of its development, and the guilt of Arthur Dimmesdale has fully developed. ... Examining Hester Prynne, Arthur Dimmesdale, and Roger Chillingworth in the context of the scaffold scenes, shows that honesty overcomes deception. ... Examining Hester Prynne, Arthur Dimmesdale, and Roger Chillingworth in the context of scaffold scene one, shows the seeds of honesty and deception. ... Examining Hester Prynne, Arthur Dimmesdale, and Roger Chillingworth in the second scaffold scene, shows the development of honesty and deception at th...

• Word Count: 1627
• Approx Pages: 7
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

Arthur Dimmesdale, and their daughter Pearl will follow. ... The first public appearance made by adulteress Hester and her child Pearl are on the scaffold where they are joined by Reverend Dimmesdale does not stand with Hester on the scaffold, instead he stands on the balcony with those who pass judgment on her. During this time, Hester's husband appears; Roger Chillingworth and Reverend Wilson demands the name of Hester's lover. ... During this scene both Hester's daughter pearl and Reverend Dimmesdale are together for the first time. "...The three formed an electric chain" a...

• Word Count: 739
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: High School

Evil Within The Scarlet Letter, Nathaniel Hawthorne portrays the contrast of good and evil through the Reverend Dimmesdale and through his physician, Roger Chillingworth.   ... Arthur Dimmesdale, by and large, was represented goodness and purity in the story. The entire town revered him and he was a highly respected Reverend.   ... Also, they were slightly afraid of him, because of the devilish look about him, and surely he was shunned after it was discovered what he had been doing to the good Reverend Dimmesdale for all those years.   ... Arthur Dimmesdale and Roger Chillingworth repr...

• Word Count: 1430
• Approx Pages: 6
• Grade Level: High School

In Nathaniel Hawthorne's novel The Scarlet Letter, Arthur Dimmesdale struggles to overcome sin, guilt, and public shame in Puritan society. Arthur Dimmesdale reveals his guilt and shame towards the end of the novel when Hester and Pearl stand with him on the scaffold while he confesses his sin to the townspeople. ... With a guilty conscience, Dimmesdale's mental health suffers, along with his ability to restrain himself from talking to Reverend Wilson while he was on the scaffold. However, Dimmesdale does not speak to the Reverend, the guilt he feels inside has caused him to believe ...

• Word Count: 939
• Approx Pages: 4
• Grade Level: High School

Hester's life is torn between two men, her husband, Roger Chillingworth, and Arthur Dimmesdale, the minister and father of her child. ... (Hawthorne, 44) While Chillingworth is in the crowd growing angrier at the thought of his betrayal, the reverend Dimmesdale is crying out to Hester to reveal his name. ... (Hawthorne, 48) Reverend Dimmesdale, looking deep into her eyes tells her, "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 ...

• Word Count: 1498
• Approx Pages: 6
• Grade Level: High School

She is the mother of her only daughter, Pearl, who was conceived in sin with the Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale. Arthur Dimmesdale is the reverend of the small puritan society, and Hester's partner in sin. ... Hester chooses not to reveal Arthur Dimmesdale's identity because she does not want to hurt him. ... Hester Prynn is also the person who allows Roger Chillingworth to secretly torture Arthur Dimmesdale. ... She instigates Arthur Dimmesdale's torture and eventual death. ...

• Word Count: 855
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: High School

This theme along with its symbolism is demonstrated through the lives of the three main characters - Hester Prynne, Arthur Dimmesdale, and Roger Chillingworth throughout the story. ... The Reverend seems to want to reveal himself; at times he realizes his hypocrisy and comes to the verge of confession, only to retreat into vague proclamations of guilt. ... Seeing as how Dimmesdale's mounting of the scaffold and standing with Hester and Pearl at night will not suffice, Arthur knows that sooner or later the symbolic acceptance of his guilt must actually take place publicly in the daylight...

• Word Count: 1149
• Approx Pages: 5
• Grade Level: High School

In this excerpt from The Scarlet Letter, Arthur Dimmesdale, standing on a scaffold, reveals before the assembled town people that it was he who impregnated Hester Prynne. When Roger Chillingworth, the main antagonist of the novel, tries to stop Dimmesdale from acknowledging Hester and Pearl in the crowd, Dimmesdale says to him, "Methinks thou art too late! ... Because so, Dimmesdale says to Chillingworth, as he is about to confess, "With God's help, I shall escape thee now!" ... King David and Arthur Dimmesdale are two men of high status in their communities. Well respected and reverend, ...

• Word Count: 587
• Approx Pages: 2
• Grade Level: High School