The Scarlet Letter: Arthur - Tragic Hero Or Merely Tragic?
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In Nathaniel Hawthorne's torrid tale of The Scarlet Letter, Arthur Dimmesdale, a main character, is confronted with a number of circumstances, both in and out of his control, that lead to his ultimate demise. While it can be argued that Arthur is a tragic hero, he lacks the underlying goodness and strength essential for him to fulfill this role. Otherwise, it may be demonstrated that Arthur meets all the criteria as a tragic hero, though there are other discrepancies to be noted.
Arthur Dimmesdale, a minister, lives his life under the watchful yet admiring eye of the townspeople of Boston and, as a result, becomes a slave to the public opinion. His sin against Hester and Pearl is that ...
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his vague confession would be viewed." (127) They love him all the more for his honest and humble character, and this is Arthur's intent. Even as he plans to run away with Hester four days after their meeting in the forest, he comforts himself with the knowledge that he will give his sermon on predestination on the third day, and thus will leave his community with fond memories of his final exhortation. Arthur's flaw can be found in the fact that he chooses to value the public view above those of Hester, his love, and God, his master.
Arthur, punishing himself for his ugly secret, which his need for public affirmation will not let him reveal, gradually kills himself through guilt and masochistic ritual.
His inward trouble drove him more in accordance with the old, corrupted faith of Rome, than with the better light of the church in which he had been born and bred. In Mr. Dimmesdale's secret closet, under lock and key, there was a bloody scourge. Oftentimes, this Protestant ...
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his recognition and repentance incomplete. He confesses openly that he sinned, but he doesn't confess that he has, for all these years, been oppressed by his need for acceptance. He instead accepts Hester and Pearl, a positive though final step. Arthur recognizes that he should have put aside his desire for public worship when he says: "‘People of New England!...ye, that have loved me!--ye, that have deemed me holy!--behold me here, the one sinner of the world! At last!--at last!--I stand upon the spot where, seven years since, I should have stood; here, with this woman, whose arm, more than the little strength wherewith I have crept hitherward, sustains me, at this dreadful moment, ...
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The Scarlet Letter: Arthur - Tragic Hero Or Merely Tragic?. (2005, May 28). Retrieved April 30, 2024, from http://www.essayworld.com/essays/Scarlet-Letter-Arthur-Tragic-Hero-Merely/27621
"The Scarlet Letter: Arthur - Tragic Hero Or Merely Tragic?." Essayworld.com. Essayworld.com, 28 May. 2005. Web. 30 Apr. 2024. <http://www.essayworld.com/essays/Scarlet-Letter-Arthur-Tragic-Hero-Merely/27621>
"The Scarlet Letter: Arthur - Tragic Hero Or Merely Tragic?." Essayworld.com. May 28, 2005. Accessed April 30, 2024. http://www.essayworld.com/essays/Scarlet-Letter-Arthur-Tragic-Hero-Merely/27621.
"The Scarlet Letter: Arthur - Tragic Hero Or Merely Tragic?." Essayworld.com. May 28, 2005. Accessed April 30, 2024. http://www.essayworld.com/essays/Scarlet-Letter-Arthur-Tragic-Hero-Merely/27621.
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