One major theme of The Scarlet Letter is that a dark hidden secret, unless the secret is told to others, causes pain and suffering to the beholder. ... A person can keep a haunting secret for a certain amount of time before the secret starts haunting him. Dimmesdale's secret haunts him to his death. 4. ... It was a good, well-detailed story, which made me think about some of the secrets that I keep inside and if I should tell others about my secrets? I learned that I shouldn't let my secrets eat me form the inside, I should share them and ask others to help me to concur them....

• Word Count: 781
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: High School

"They grew out of his heart, and typify, it may be, some hideous secret that was buried with him, and which he had done better to confess during his lifetime." ... (Hawthorne 135) This shows that Dimmesdale wants to confess his sin to save his soul but he know the consequences of doing so, and he realizes that it is not worth it. " The heart, making itself guilty of such secrets, must perforce hold them, until the day when all hidden things shall be revealed." (Hawthorne 136) Dimmesdale knows that no one knows what sin he is hiding, and he believes that the heart holds this secret until God ju...

• Word Count: 1114
• Approx Pages: 4
• Grade Level: High School

However, only Hester was punished as Dimmesdale kept his part of the sin a secret. ... In the beginning of "Scarlet Letter" Dimmesdale ignored the situation he was in and kept it all a secret. ... When Hester was publicly ostracized for her sin, Dimmesdale never had the courage to stand up with her and share the throne of shame and humiliation. ...

• Word Count: 854
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: High School

In this novel, an anguished Arthur Dimmesdale struggles to quiet his conscience and withhold the secret of his sin from being known. ... Feeling full well the distress of his own secret, Arthur proclaims that those who hold such "miserable secrets will yield them up that last day with a joy unutterable." (Hawthorne118) By this expression, Arthur offers a glimpse into his tortured heart and shows how heavy a burden his secret is. ... A light is later shed upon this question as Chillingworth uncovers the secret Arthur had tried to keep intact. ... Pearl also serves to connect Hester and Dimmesd...

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

The true identities of Hester and Dimmesdale are brought to the surface throughout the novel because of the sin they share. ... Dimmesdale wants the burden of this sin to be lifted from his shoulders, simply by sharing it with at least one person. Dimmesdale is even willing to share this detrimental secret with an enemy just so he can release the burden from his mind. ...

• Word Count: 1347
• Approx Pages: 5
• Grade Level: High School

The Power of Guilt Repressed guilt and emotions will inevitably destroy a man. This was surely the case in Nathaniel Hawthorne's, The Scarlet Letter, a novel set in Puritan times that describes what guilt and sin truly are. Two main characters that live with guilt and sin throughout the novel ar...

• Word Count: 748
• Approx Pages: 3
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

" ― Nathaniel Hawthorne Roger Chillingworth has committed many sins that he hasn't shared with the public, he keeps all his secrets in his heart, knowing that it will eat him alive until he confesses. ...

• Word Count: 794
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: High School

Hawthorne describes the forest as secret and somber, a temptation to the subconscious mind of Hester Prynne. ... Since the Puritan woman share the same desires as Hester does subconsciously, they too would probably give in to their id if they were under the same circumstances as Hester. ... Mine burns in secret!...

• Word Count: 1599
• Approx Pages: 6
• Grade Level: High School

Hawthorne describes the forest as secret and somber, a temptation to the subconscious mind of Hester Prynne. ... Since the Puritan woman share the same desires as Hester does subconsciously, they too would probably give in to their id if they were under the same circumstances as Hester. ... Mine burns in secret!...

• Word Count: 1596
• Approx Pages: 6
• Grade Level: High School

The Scarlet Letter is a book revealing lives of sin, social identity, and humanity. The story displays some of the darkest elements of the human soul: guilt, revenge, and evil. With its complex, emotional plot and its rich symbolism, this masterpiece has become a highly prized classic in American li...

• Word Count: 3653
• Approx Pages: 15
• Grade Level: High School

His partner in the crime, Hester Prynne, was punished as she took all the blame for this shared crime and became a pariah of the community. ... Dimmesdale, refused to fall from grace as Hester did, and kept his involvement a secret. ...

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

Although Hester and Chillingworth did not share love, they were happy together. " he used to emerge at eventide from the seclusion of his study and sit down in the firelight of their home, and in the light of her nuptial smile." ... The revenge which he plans, therefore, depends above all things upon keeping his victim's secret." ...

• Word Count: 1089
• Approx Pages: 4
• Grade Level: High School

It is here that he reveals his ever-long secret to the community by exposing his chest, which has been scarred with the letter A'. ... In conclusion, Hester Prynne lived a life of prosecution for being proud of the love she shared with the Reverend Dimmesdale, but also a life of shame, for the mass hysteria and belief in superstition exhibited by the Puritan belief caused her to wear the temporary scar of her actions. ...

• Word Count: 1213
• Approx Pages: 5
• Grade Level: High School

Although Hester and Chillingworth did not share love, they were happy together. " he used to emerge at eventide from the seclusion of his study and sit down in the firelight of their home, and in the light of her nuptial smile." ... The revenge which he plans, therefore, depends above all things upon keeping his victim's secret." ...

• Word Count: 1075
• Approx Pages: 4
• Grade Level: High School

He needs her by his side to face the Puritan community and God himself when he confesses openly of their shared sin. ... Up to that point, Hester had kept the identity of her lover a secret taking on the ridicule of the community by herself to protect his reputation. ...

• Word Count: 3565
• Approx Pages: 14
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

While in the darkness of the forest, all things said or done are kept secret from the eyes of the outside world. ... They both share the same crime, and like Hester, he was once light but darkness slowly took over him. ...

• Word Count: 1649
• Approx Pages: 7
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

Hester is strong to love Pearl for who she is, and keep her dearest secret to herself. ... His beliefs are strictly transcendalist ideas, which contemporaries including Emerson and Melville both share with Hawthorne (Bradley 47-49)....

• Word Count: 1429
• Approx Pages: 6
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School