Arthur Dimmesdale

* 1926
* 1934
* 1979
* 1995

The Scarlet Letter (1995)

Gary Oldman (1995)

The Minister

Roger Chillingworth (opposer, deceased)

### Personalities

Young, faithful, wise, noble, pious, kind, devoted, compassionate, tormented, delicate, afraid, shy, lovable, selfish, eloquent, sensitive, insane, well-educated, hypocritical, spiritual, guilty, sinful, frustrated, secretive, weak, emotional, sickly, frail

### Appearance

Thin, pale, wears Puritan minister clothing, has an “A”, symbol carved on his chest

### Allies

Hester Prynne
Pearl

John Wilson

### Dislikes

Trying to reveal his sins to the public, torturing himself

### Goal

To keep his affair a secret from anyone

To travel to Europe with Hester and Pearl and start a new life (both failed)

### Fate

Reveals his secret by showing off his scarlet letter imprinted on his chest on the town scaffold and dies in Hester’s arms

### Famous quotes

“He has violated, in cold blood, the sanctity of human heart. Thou and I, Hester, never did so!”

> "*To the untrue man, the whole universe is false- it is impalpable- it shrinks to nothing within his grasp. And he himself is in so far as he shows himself in a false light, becomes a shadow, or, indeed, ceases to exist.*"
> ― Chapter 11
>
>

Rev. Arthur Dimmesdale is a major character in Nathaniel Hawthorne's *The Scarlet Letter*. He is the love interest of Hester Prynne and the father of Pearl.

A well-known and respected Puritan minister in his community, Dimmesdale could not have the courage to reveal his adultery sin to the public and secretly punishes himself for it. His health declines and had nearly confessed his sin to the town at his death.

## Description

A young minister loved and worshipped by the Puritans, Arthur Dimmesdale is also a man who lacks the courage to reveal his secret to the townsfolk. While Hester Prynne was publicly shamed for adultery, Dimmesdale is shamed for it quietly and constantly torments himself physical and psychologically when he is having a hard time exposing the truth. He has true devotion to God and his religion, and knowing that not confessing his sin to the public and to God would have consequences for him.

He may have been in love with Hester and fathered her child, but his sin was more greater than hers. He was present at Prynne's public shaming and defended her daughter from being taken away by authorities. He tried to be like a normal person, and had managed to keep his inner emotions private. He doesn't know when it would be the right time to confess to everyone and accept his punishment. He had lashed himself as torture and could have burned the "A" letter into his own flesh to atone for his sins. His health fails possibly from his stress that prevented him from being closer to Hester and from raising his daughter.

While Dimmesdale never meant to have an illegitimate affair with Hester, he chose to die than live another day of guilt and shame. He died only showing a mark of his crime and not his full confession and lets Hester and Pearl live a more decent life without him. Most sinners would receive their harsh punishments since they deserved it, but Dimmesdale hated himself for the actions he did and hopes that he may only be forgiven by God than Hester and the Puritans.

## Personality/Appearance

Arthur Dimmesdale is a young man who is deeply religious and devoted to his profession as a Boston minister. He believes in his Christian morals and often depicts the words of God in his sermons. At times, his sermons can be powerful and eloquent, which may be the reason why he is so beloved and respected by the locals, as they were deeply moved by his sermons and his soft, compassionate voice. He is talented enough to offer education and morality to the human heart and to the Boston citizens, as well as argue about the importance of his secret daughter to Hester while defending her from the authorities. He originally received his education from an English university and is often intelligent at his position. In addition, he is devoted towards God and often thinks about the consequences that his saviour can bring to him and to his people, including when he would rather be punished from God than the townsfolk and tells Hester that the holy lord can decide their fate in the afterlife when they would be with each other again. His sermons were originally about spiritualism and God's virtue to the Puritans, but as he becomes more insane and demented, the topic then focuses on sin and makes him tremble when in the presence of his parishioners.

Despite his respect and intelligence, he is usually a fearful, sensitive and weak man. After his relationship with Hester and got her pregnant, he realizes that he had done something really evil and knew he will face a grim punishment that would leave a black mark on his reputation. His sensitivity is overbearing for him and wanting to be more revealing, but he is so afraid of the consequences, he instead chose to confess of it in secret and to himself, since he refuses to share it to anyone; not even to Chillingworth. His intense fear, anxiety and stress takes a toll of his fragile health and the more he is secretive and worried, the more his health damages until he is on the verge of death. He is also afraid of Chillingworth's ruthless cruelty, and he finds himself turning insane and torturing himself while being tormented mentally by the physician, as well as being anxious of the physician exposing his secrets. These punishments include hurting himself such as whipping himself and even having an "A" symbol carved onto his flesh, as a symbol of his adultery guilt like how Hester wore the scarlet letter on her chest like him. He also has visions of Hester and Pearl, which leaves him more tormented and guilty. His tortured life makes him miserable and is too weak, both physically and emotionally, to do anything to stop it and constantly blames his own frustration for his sin. He grows more sickly possibly from his own stress that results in him developing a fatal heart condition that could be caused from his "A" scar.

While he is supportive and sympathetic to Hester by defending her from having Pearl being removed from her care, he barely interacts with her during the first few years after their daughter and doesn't even bother to offer her more help as she struggles being an outsider. He even sees his over as sinful and child as a symbol of sin and immorality, and they have been indirectly responsible for his demented misery and is unable to clean up his act from bearing an illegitimate child. He is often a bit shy whenever he is around Hester and Pearl, and can be too afraid to speak up to them. Such as when his voice breaks when he gives a sermon to Hester and when he turns down Pearl into wanting to join each other as a family. But as Hester is willing to save him escape from Chillingworth's cruelty, he temporarily brightens and recovers on the idea of him restarting his new life and for once be a more devoted partner and parent. He is also more kind and compassionate to Hester's situation and towards Pearl, and whenever he is with them, he feels more warm and safe. But the severe pain he caused on himself continued to have his health fail rapidly until he is at death's door when he mounts the scaffold and shows off his "A" scar to the public.

Dimmesdale is described as having fair, pale skin with brown eyes, and generally becomes more frail as the novel progresses. He also wears Puritan minister clothing to symbolize his position as a clergyman.

## Relationships

Hester Prynne- Dimmesdale's lover. His relationship with her resulted in the birth of their child, and finds himself racked with guilt and shame of his adultery and indirectly allowing them to suffer from their sin. Despite being disregardful of her originally, such as asking her to reveal her lover's name at her public shaming, he really does care of her such as when he defended her from the governor wanting to take Pearl away by speaking out about the girl's importance to her mother. He looked up to her for help and agreed on the idea of wanting to restart his life with her. Before he died in her arms, he hopes they will be together again in the afterlife.

Pearl- Dimmesdale's daughter. Conceived from his affair with Hester, Dimmesdale at first saw her as a "demon-child" but knew that she is essential to Hester as her faithful companion to prevent her from sinning again. He tries to show his love to her, such as holding her hand and kissing her like a father, and as he lays dying in Hester's arms, he has Pearl kiss him as a sign she loves him as well.

Roger Chillingworth- The physician Dimmesdale lived with and looked after while he was sickly. He may had thought he could help him feel better, but ends up being manipulated and tortured by him for revenge. His time with Chillingworth eventually causes his health to decline more and even starts to loathe and fear the deformed man. He is even more nervous of him wanting to reveal his secret and would always chose to keep it to himself from Chillingworth, possibly for his own safety.

John Wilson- Dimmesdale's mentor, who is also a clergyman. He often sees the older man as a father-figure to him and would often be moved by Dimmesdale's eloquent speeches and sermons.