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The Scarlet Letter: Dimmersdale is a Coward and a Hypocrite
"But (Hester) is not the protagonist; the chief actor, and the tragedy of
The Scarlet Letter is not her tragedy, but Dimmesdales. He it was whom the
sorrows of death encompassed_.. His public confession is one of the noblest
climaxes of tragic literature."
This statement by Randall Stewart does not contain the same ideas that I
believed were contained within The Scarlet Letter, by Nathaniel Hawthorne.
I, on the contrary to Stewart's statement, think Dimmesdale is a coward and
a hypocrite. Worse, he is a self-confessed coward and hypocrite. He
knows what he has to do to still the voice of his conscience and make his
peace with God. Throughout the entire story his confession remains an
obstacle . While Hester is a relatively constant character, Dimmesdale is
incredibly dynamic. From his fall with Hester, he moves, in steps, toward
his public hint of sinning at the end of the novel. He tries to unburden
himself of his sin by revealing it to his congregation, but somehow can
never quite manage this. He is a typical diagnosis of a "wuss".
To some extent, Dimmesdale's story is one of a single man tempted into the
depths of the hormonal world. This world, however, is a place where the
society treats sexuality with ill grace. But his problem is enormously
complicated by the fact of Hester's marriage (for him no technicality), and
by his own image of himself as a cleric devoted to higher things. Unlike
other young men, Dimmesdale cannot accept his loss of innocence and go on
from there. He must struggle futilely to get back to where he was. Torn
between the desire to confess and atone the cowardice which holds him back,
Dimmesdale goes slightly mad. He takes up some morbid forms of penance_
fasts and scourgings_but he can neither whip nor starve the sin from his
soul. In his agony, he staggers to the pulpit to confess, but his words
come out generalized, and meaningless declarations of guilt.
The reverend seems to want to reveal himself, but Chillingworth's influence
and his own shame are stronger than his weak conscience. Dimmesdale cannot
surrender an identity which brings him the love and admiration of his
parishioners. He is far too intent on his earthly image to willingly
reveal his sin. Once Hester explains Chillingworth's plans, and thus breaks
Chillingworth's spell, Dimmesdale begins to overcome him. He does it,
though, in a way which brings him even more earthly glory. Thus, he never
loses his cherished image, and consequently, is pushed down the "slippery
slope" even further.
I, unlike the community, think there is a problem with Dimmesdale. During
his struggles to tell his parishioners the truth, they misunderstand his
statements, he loses his faith, which is never completely regained.
Dimmesdale's sin has eaten away at him, reducing him to a shriveling,
pathetic creature. The only thing that brings him any strength is a re-
affirmation of his sin with Hester, and the plot to escape the town (201):
"It was the exhilarating effect_upon a prisoner just escaped from the
dungeon of his own heart_of breathing the wild, free atmosphere of an
unredeemed, unchristianized, lawless region." In short, fallen nature has
set him free from his inner distress, but left him in an "unchristianized"
world, a heathen world, damnation. He has given in to sin. He has, in
effect, willingly agreed to commit more sins. Dimmesdale realizes he is
doing this but is too much of a coward to admit his original sin to the
public. He becomes a figure that no one can help but himself.
Dimmesdale begins as a fallen man, falls farther, and near the end is,
according to Mistress Hibbins, a servant of the devil (242). Hibbins' words,
however, should not be taken lightly. She seems to be one of the only
characters who shows herself to have a mouth of truth. Dimmesdale attempts
to recover, though, with a massive effort, when he ascends the scaffold
with Hester and Pearl. When Chillingworth exclaims, "Thou hast escaped me!"
(256), he is speaking not only for himself, but for Evil. Dimmesdale has at
least escaped damnation. He makes another small step forward when Pearl
kisses him. "A spell was broken" (256). The redeeming angel has pulled
Dimmesdale clear of the shadow of sin but not away from its' presence.
After the kiss, Dimmesdale returns to speaking of God as merciful, and
returns to praising Him. He claims, "Had either of these agonies
[Chillingworth's influence and the "burning torture upon his breast"] been
wanting, I had been lost for ever!" (257). He believes himself to be saved.
I, on the contrary believe that his attempt to confess was not a complete
confession at all. He never truly states that he had committed adultery
with Hester, and that Pearl was, in fact, his daughter. The reverend could
bring them up to the scaffold, but still did not have the courage to
honestly confess. The sermon in which there was supposed to be a "noble
climax," was empty of such a thing. An incomplete confession is a useless
one to the people of the town, and that is exactly what Dimmesdale had.
Dimmesdale's problem, during the course of the story, is that he isn't much
of a priest. He has lost his faith, and is thus false to himself, his
congregation, and his god. Yet his penance has been much more harsh. It
seems that the heroic effort Dimmesdale makes to climb back into the light
is an effort that only a desperate man could have made. He used all his
strength to make one final grasp at redemption but still falls quite short.
Dimmesdale has the potential, though, of climbing much higher after death.
Hester is as Hester was and as Hester will always be. Dimmesdale, the weak,
fallen priest, was taken from earth at the height of his pathetic ascent
because if he hadn't been, he would surely have fallen again. It is as if
God was waiting for him to make his last, valiant leap to reach Him, and
then snatched him at the apex of his pathetic trajectory. Dimmesdale is
redeemed, but, it would seem, conditionally. If the Puritans believed in a
Purgatory, Dimmesdale would be there. However, with only a Heaven and Hell,
Dimmesdale must be admitted into Heaven, grudgingly.
Hawthorne writes, "According to these highly respectable witnesses, the
minister, conscious that he was dying,--conscious, also, that the reverence
of the multitude placed him already among saints and angels..." (259).
Hawthorne simply can't accept Dimmesdale's total redemption any more than
he could Hester's, the same reason being: sin is permanent. When Hawthorne
follows this passage with, "Without disputing a truth so momentous," it is
clear he is being sarcastic.
All of these comments and observations make it quite clear that Dimmesdale
is a complete coward. He has the chance throughout the entire novel to
confess. Despite it all, he is caught up in the fame and the excitement of
his reverend-hood, which pushes him down the "slippery slope" inch by inch.
His confession is never a true public one, and because of that, I believe
the last scene of the novel was not quite as noble as Randall Stewart
claims.
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