Scarlet Letter Essay -

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to Hester Prynne, in front of the town,
Hester Prynne, ... I charge thee to speak out the name of thy fellow-sinner and fellow-sufferer! Be not silent from any mistaken pity and tenderness for him; for, believe me, Hester, though he were to step down from a high place, and stand there beside thee
on thy pedestal of shame, yet better were it so, than to hide a guilty heart through life. What can thy silence do for him , except it tempt him-yea, compel him, as it were-to add hyprocisy to sin? Heaven hath granted thee an open ignominy, that thereby thou mayest work out an open triumph over evil within thee, and the sorrow without. Take heed how thou deniest to him-who perchance, hath not the courage to grasp it for himself - the bitter,
wholesome, cup that is now presented to thy lips! (Hawthorne, 62).
The town does not know it yet, but Mr. Dimmesdale is Hester Prynne’s fellow sinner. Hester was married to Roger ...

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even more. Mr. Dimmesdale was not only caught in the public’s eye to be judged wrongly but he was stuck with the scarlet letter and all the unhappiness that it brought with it. On one occasion, while talking with his love Hester Prynne, the subject of the scarlet letter came up and he became upset and said to her, “Happy are you, Hester, that wear the scarlet letter openly upon your bosom! Mine burns in secret!” (Hawthorne, 167). The scarlet letter is a form of public humiliation which must be worn by the guilty party to show everyone what they have done. However, since no one knows that Mr. Dimmesdale is Hester’s fellow sinner, he does not wear one. Hester ...

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