This scene is left to be determined by the reader, but later in the novel, the minister is seen clutching his heart several times. ... Although the scarlet "A" keeps her in the dark, she also is a symbol of it. ... It is one piece of beauty in this dark, dull atmosphere. ... (Fossum 13) The forest is symbolic of nature and contains aspects of both light and dark. ... The dark aspect of the woods can be shown through the black man that Pearl sees, who was the people's symbol for the devil. ...

• Word Count: 1366
• Approx Pages: 5
• Grade Level: High School

She followed her heart and therefore dealt with the consequences that soon followed. ... Although the scarlet letter burned a hole to her heart, Hester wears it and never denies it, which shows a true strength from within. ... He is acting as a leech, sucking away at Dimmesdale's life, trying to pry into all of his deep, dark secrets. ... Dimmesdale's health is quickly going down the drain and he is having heart trouble, not to mention various other health complications. ... They both exchange some words, but Chillingworth simply leaves Hester with the idea that this horrible thing h...

• Word Count: 1678
• Approx Pages: 7
• Grade Level: High School

The novel begins to seek into the heart and conscience of Arthur Dimmesdale when Roger Chillingworth questions him about his thoughts on sinners and their secrets. ... (Hawthorne118) By this expression, Arthur offers a glimpse into his tortured heart and shows how heavy a burden his secret is. ... Not only is the health of Arthur's body in question, but the condition of his heart and soul is questionable. ... Later, Dimmesdale goes to the scaffold as a place where he can escape from the anguish of his concealed transgression and the evil-hearted schemes of Roger Chillingworth. ...

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

The Romantic literary movement was at its height, but Hawthorne and Poe strayed from typical Romantic writings with their darker tales concerning sin and morality (www.trackstar.com). ... And like [Edgar Allen] Poe, he has remained a man of mystery in American literature, whose heart successive biographers have tried to bare, each one with a different expiation [ ] but coming to the conclusion that " his reticence comes from finding no solution to the problems that constantly beset him,"" said McPherson. ...

• Word Count: 1751
• Approx Pages: 7
• Grade Level: High School

Reverend Dimesdale's image radiates the dark, gloomy truth of his impurities as well as the severe internal conflict within that is threatening to tear his soul. ... Forth peeped at her, out of the pool, with dark glistening curls around her head and an elf-smile in her eyes, the image of a little maid, whom Pearl, having no other playmate, invited to take her hand and run a race with her." ... The very limited light that shines onto the looking glass is used to burn deep into the minister's soul, prodding at the shameful secret he hides within his heart, and shine the consequences b...

• Word Count: 2043
• Approx Pages: 8

In Chapter 8, we see him through Hester's eyes, as a man who "Looked now more careworn and emanciated than as we described him at the scene of Hester's public ignominy: and wether it were his failing health, or whatever the cause might be, his large dark eyes had a world of pain in their troubled and melancholy depth" (124). ... the sin he held so long hidden in his heart (285-287). ... You burrow and rankle in his heart! ...

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

Just like the forest, the subconscious mind is dark, secretive, and extremely private. ... Although the minister owns a way of swaying an audience and has the sweet, deep voice to steal a woman's heart, the readers are tuned into the conscious of Dimmesdale and the truth is revealed. ... I have laughed, in bitterness and agony of heart, at the contrast between what I seem and what I am! ...

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

Unlike the man she married, however, he is portrayed with images of a dark nature. ... His half-hearted attempt to secure Hester's confession is due to his fear of incriminating himself. ... When he grabs Pearl hand, the narrator states, "The moment that he did so, there came what seemed a tumultuous rush of new life, other life than his own, pouring like a torrent into his heart and hurrying through all his veins, as if the mother and the child were communicating their vital warmth to his half-torpid system- (137). ...

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

Just like the forest, the subconscious mind is dark, secretive, and extremely private. ... Although the minister owns a way of swaying an audience and has the sweet, deep voice to steal a woman's heart, the readers are tuned into the conscious of Dimmesdale and the truth is revealed. ... I have laughed, in bitterness and agony of heart, at the contrast between what I seem and what I am! ...

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

The significance of the scarlet letter in the life of Dimmesdale, whose guilt remains hidden, is suggested by a hidden scarlet letter on his heart. ... Ironically, Hester and Pearl walk past the scaffold, and the minister calls for them to join him, for it is protected by the cover of darkness. ...

• Word Count: 1285
• Approx Pages: 5
• Grade Level: High School

The shaming of Dimmesdale happens when Roger Chillingworth suspiciously talks about the meaning of the dark weed growing on the grave outside their house. ... The pain of his heart makes him scream and the guilt he feels embarrasses and shames him. ...

• Word Count: 1253
• Approx Pages: 5
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

This is an important quote because it show how kind, seemingly normal people can have blackness in their hearts. ... "A stern, a sad, a darkly meditative, a distrustful, if not a desperate man, did he become, from the night of that fearful dream. ...

• Word Count: 1379
• Approx Pages: 6
• Grade Level: High School

The Puritan community was a dark, strict society, feeling indifferent to the humanity of the woman standing before them on the scaffold, with her infant daughter against her chest. ... The red also could represent the A's place on Hester's heart. ...

• Word Count: 1352
• Approx Pages: 5
• Grade Level: High School

Dimmesdale is as guilty as Hester, however he does not have to wear the "A- like she does, but it still effects him because he is always holding his hand over his heart I the same place that Hester's "A- appears. ... "When Wilson spoke, the scarlet letter seemed to derive its scarlet hue from the flames of the infernal pit-(P.74) When Hester returns to the prison, some thought the letter "threw a lurid gleam along the dark passageway of the interior.""...

• Word Count: 1455
• Approx Pages: 6
• Grade Level: High School

Hawthorne's works focused on what can be called the darker side of human nature. ... When the people found that Hester had Pearl, her daughter, out of wedlock, Hawthorne wrote that the village "scorned them in their hearts and reviled them with their tongue" (Hawthorne 86), proving that the Puritans discriminated people who did not follow their way of life. ...

• Word Count: 1291
• Approx Pages: 5
• Has Bibliography

It should be mentioned that while Dimmesdale was asleep one day, Chillingworth opened up Dimmesdale's shirt to find the letter "A" across his heart. ... "It was whispered, by those who peered after her, that the scarlet letter threw a lurid gleam along the dark passage-way of the interior"(48). ...

• Word Count: 1480
• Approx Pages: 6
• Grade Level: High School

It should be mentioned that while Dimmesdale was asleep one day, Chillingworth opened up Dimmesdale's shirt to find the letter "A" across his heart. ... "It was whispered, by those who peered after her, that the scarlet letter threw a lurid gleam along the dark passage-way of the interior"(48). ...

• Word Count: 1589
• Approx Pages: 6
• Grade Level: High School