Dimmesdale's Dilemma in 'The Scarlet Letter': An Analysis of His Torment and Atonement

Opinion:

Dimmesdale's dilemma can be described as overwhelming and torturous, as he struggles with the weight of his hidden sin and the pressure of maintaining his public image as a respected Puritan minister.

Explanation:

Dimmesdale's inner turmoil is evident throughout the novel, as he grapples with the guilt and shame of his adultery with Hester Prynne. He is torn between his desire to confess and his fear of the consequences, both for himself and for Hester and their daughter Pearl. As a result, he becomes increasingly isolated and self-destructive, punishing himself physically and mentally in an attempt to atone for his sin.

Evidence:

'Mr. Dimmesdale was a true priest, a true religionist, with the reverential sentiment largely developed, and an order of mind that impelled itself powerfully along the track of a creed, and wore its passage continually deeper with the lapse of time. In no state of society would he have been what is called a man of liberal views; it would always be essential to his peace to feel the pressure of a faith about him, supporting, while it confined him within its iron framework. Not the less, however, though with a tremulous enjoyment, did he feel the occasional relief of looking at the universe through the medium of another kind of intellect than those with which he habitually held converse. It was as if a window were thrown open, admitting a freer atmosphere into the close and stifled study, where his life was wasting itself away, amid lamp-light or obstructed day-beams, and the musty fragrance, be it sensual or moral, that exhales from books.' (Chapter 11)

'In Mr. Dimmesdale's secret closet, under lock and key, there was a bloody scourge. Oftentimes, this Protestant and Puritan divine had plied it on his own shoulders; laughing bitterly at himself the while, and smiting so much the more pitilessly because of that bitter laugh. It was his custom, too, as it has been that of many other pious Puritans, to fast— not however, like them, in order to purify the body, and render it the fitter medium of celestial illumination— but rigorously, and until his knees trembled beneath him, as an act of penance. He kept vigils, likewise, night after night, sometimes in utter darkness, sometimes with a glimmering lamp, and sometimes, viewing his own face in a looking-glass, by the most powerful light which he could throw upon it. He thus typified the constant introspection wherewith he tortured, but could not purify himself.' (Chapter 10)