Has anyone ever read the scarlet letter ?

Question

if so then answer me this if you will. What's with rev. dimmesdale is he crazy or just guilt-ridden ? b/c of the things that was happening

Answer 1

Yeah, I thought the Scarlet Letter was excellent.
Dimmesdale was guilt-ridden enough to make him sick and crazy. These people lived under an extremely repressive religion, perhaps the most repressive religion ever, and they took their fire and brimstone seriously. Rev Dimmesdale had committed a sin which was almost guaranteed to earn him eternity in hell. As the anguish and guilt made him weak and sick the congregation misinterpreted this as a sign of his holiness. The sicker Dimmesdale became the more the congregation venerated him and the more they venerated him the more guilty and sick Dimmesdale became.

Answer 2

I don't really remeber it that well, but let me try...
He was crazy with guilt, it sort of sent him over the edge. Also, did we ever find out if the things weren't happening? In fiction (happens a lot in Shakespeare, I know he didn't write the Scarlet Letter, Nathanial Hawthorne did) nature reflects what is happening in the story. If something unnatural and bad is going on it is refleced in weather, animal behavior, etc. Maybe other people didn't pick up on it becouse it wasn't directed at them. The Rev's biggest sin/unnatural behavior was not fessing up to doing the nasty with Hester so he could stand by her through all those long years of suffering at the hands of the townsfolk. This unnatural behavior brought the rath of nature down on him.

But keep in mind it's been 10 years since I read this book.

Answer 3

I've read it and taught it. He's guilt-ridden, but I have to admit that I've always had a hard time sympathizing with him. I never admired the character. To me, he always seemed a coward. Even in the end, he took a cowardly way out by dying when he would have had to conveniently become a father figure to Pearl.

Answer 4

i'm with Nam. :) i have study the e book, and it is an enticing e book. I also don't like the way the persons dealt with her like an outcast because she dedicated adultery with a preacher (which i realized on the top of the e book). and that i also discovered out in the e book that her husband grow to be the devil! Yikes!

Answer 5

Yes I read it - but so very long ago that I really remember nothing - only the letter A on the girl's forehead. Sorry.