The Characterization Of Arthur Dimmesdale Essay, Research Paper

Rev. Arthur Dimmesdale is one of the major characters in the story The Scarlet Letter.

In this story Arthur Dimmesdale plays the part of the towns reverend. He has a high position in society and is viewed as one of the good and polite kind of guy by the society.

This man has a sort of dark side; he has a little secret that no one knows except

for the main character, Hester Prynne. This little secret that he has kept hidden from the

Townspeople all this time; are in fact that he had commited adultery by having an affair with Hester Prynnee.

From keeping this secret hidden all this time, Arthur Dimmesdale has undergone

Some type of psylogical damage. Through this psylogical damage he also undergoes physical damage. This physical damage is a scar of an A on his chest. You may be

wondering why an A . Well, as you may recall, when Hester Prynne was commited as an adultress they made her wear the letter A on the chest area of her clothing. So, Arthur Dimmesdale must have felt so bad that he didn t confess to being the mand that Hester Prynne had an affair with, that his psylogical state of mind produced the A on his chest.

You may often find Mr. Dimmesdale with his hand over his chest. This may be because of the A on his chest, who knows? Or maybe it is because his soul has been injured and he feels pain from this.

Some good has come from this affair. Due to this affair, they have produced a

Beautiful little girl named Pearl. On the other hand, the bad that has happened was that

Dimmesdale didn t confess about the affair, which made him sort of a liar. Since he didn t confess, Hester and Pearl have to live in seclusion. Another bad thing that has

happened is vengence by the chilling husband of Hester Prynne, Dr. Roger Chillingworth.

Dr. Chillingworth seeks revenge on the man, who has had an affair with his wife,

Hester Prynne. When Dr. Chillingworth finds out about Rev. Dimmesdale and Hester, he tries to fill the reverend s mind with depressing thoughts of what he has done and by doing this tries to destroy the reverend s soul.

So in conclusion, Arthur Dimmesdale is a man with minor problems. He is a good man who in his heart asks the lord for the forgivness that he deserves. In the end he has found happiness with Hester and Pearl.