Throughout the course of the book, Hawthorne uses Hester, Pearl, and Arthur Dimmesdale to signify and contrast both the Puritanical and Romantic philosophies. ... Puritanism puts all of its stock in the religious leader of the community; Arthur Dimmesdale was the Religious leader of the community where the story takes place. ... To Dimmesdale, it is bad that Hester is shown publicly as a sinner, but what is far worse than public shame is Dimmesdale's own cruel inner shame. ... The weak mortality of Reverend Dimmesdale is also depicted by Nathaniel Hawthorne's exercise of mirrors thro...

• Word Count: 2043
• Approx Pages: 8