1. Irony of the Scarlet Letter
The man, Reverend Dimmesdale, hides his sin from the world, is almost worshipped by the townspeople, but is filled with the shame of his action. ... The towndesire to seek out and personally condemn sinners is also the source of conflict in The Crucible. ... In The Scarlet Letter, Dimmesdale hides his sin to prevent punishment, but this was not the only reason. ... He does not want people to think his daughter actually signs the Black Manbook, and wants to hide her mysterious illness from the parishioners. ...
Reverend Dimmesdale would not have any sin to hide that would almost cause him death by not admitting to the sin. ... Lastly, Roger Chillingsworth would not have caused himself an early death by making it his sole purpose in life to seek revenge on Reverend Dimmesdale for inpregnating Hester. ...
This only seeks to add an increasing amount of depth and understanding of the character Hester. ... She is unwilling to succumb to the notion that she should hide and be ashamed for decisions she has made in her life. ... She has chosen not to hide the part of her life that has been demeaned by others. ...
Reverend Parris, one of characters who seek power within all the hysteria that has swept the town, is a prime example of a Puritan. ... For example Hester and Dimmesdale prove to the townspeople that they don't always have to be perfect in a sense where they must hide how they really feel and live false lives. ...
But never wrong that he would seek revenge. ... 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." ...
Hester first appears in the story emerging from her jail cell with her bastard child, at first she clutches the child to conceal the A on her chest but then "In a moment, however, wisely judging that one token of her shame would but poorly serve to hide another, she took the baby on her arm, and, with a burning blush, and yet a haughty smile, and a glance that would not be abashed, looked around at her townspeople and neighbors." (50) She is not proud of what she has done, but refuses to be belittled by the gossiping people of the village. ... And my child must seek a heavenly father; she sha...
He watches Hester suffer and face her sin while he hides his inside like a coward. ... One single choice, the choice to seek revenge changed everything he was. ... Chillingworth goes far enough to follow Dimmesdale, Hester and Pearl to Great Britain to seek his revenge. ... He is dedicated to seeking his revenge and it is scary in a way. ...
Her silent and brazen act of rebellion proves that Hester can keep her pride even through the toughest trials; she confronts the crowd with defiance rather than hide from it. ... Because she cannot undo the past, Hester seeks to refine the future. ...
When she walked down the street from the prison to the scaffold, the narrator talks about her realization of how foolish and cowardly she would be if she were to try to hide her mark with the product of her sin, her baby girl. ... At first I thought that Chillingworth might have tried to seek revenge against Hester, but then came to the conclusion that he viewed her public disgrace as more punishment than he could ever have managed. ...
As for her child, Hawthorne writes "that look of naughty merriment was likewise reflected in the mirror, with so much breadth and intensity of effect, that it made Hester Prynne feel as if it could not be the image of her own child, but of an imp who was seeking to mold itself into Pearl's shape." ... In chapter fifteen, Pearl "flirted fancifully with her own image in a pool of water, beckoning the phantom forth, and--as it declined venture--seeking a passage for herself into its sphere of impalpable earth and unattainable sky. ... The very limited light that shines onto the looking glass...