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Post by natuppe35 on Nov 28, 2011 16:51:05 GMT -5
Throughout the Scarlet Letter, the physical appearances of all major characters have been thoroughly described and show the impact of the sin on different characters. In chapter 13, the appearance of Hester is noted in great detail because "some attribute had departed from her, the permanence of which had been essential to keep her a woman"as she began to dress in all gray and even her hair had lost its luster (160).
How do the appearances of other characters change in the novel and what does this expose about the influence of Hester's sin on their emotional and metal wellness?
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Post by dagalla35 on Dec 12, 2011 12:29:56 GMT -5
We also see a change in Dimmesdale that is directly connected to Hester's sin. Just as Hester loses her beauty in her attempts to knuckle under Puritan society and conform to their ways by refusing to defend her act of adultery, which, as we know by now, she does not believe is her sin, Dimmesdale withers away as his fear gets the best of him and he decides to preserve his place in Puritan society by refusing to confess his adultery. He is constantly torn between confessing and possibly dooming the Puritan religion and his own standing in Puritan society or not confessing and allowing the guilt to continue to destroy him. As he chooses not to confess, the change not only manifests itself in appearance, but in his actual health, where until he breaks free from his role in the Puritan society and confesses, he can never be free from the disease of his guilt. Even though in the end, it is too late and he dies, he is still, in a sense, set free, as he finally feels the relief of the exit of his guilt.
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Post by adlupic35 on Dec 12, 2011 23:39:43 GMT -5
Roger Chillingworth grows uglier and more devilish throughout the novel. From the beginning of the novel, Hawthorne's opposition to those who oppose nature, and more specifically Hester's adultery, is evident. He ties ugliness with the opposition of nature as established by when he describes the babbling women in the marketplace in chapter 2 as uglier and uglier in accordance to the severity to their punishments created. As such, Chillingworth first appears with a slight deformity in his stature, showing a slight opposition to nature and Hester's adultery. As the novel progresses, Chillingworth grows more and more obsessed with wreaking revenge on Hester's co-adulterer and in turn he grows more and more deformed and uglier.
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