Arthur Dimmesdale

E68904

Arthur Dimmesdale is the tormented young Puritan minister in Nathaniel Hawthorne’s *The Scarlet Letter*, whose hidden guilt over an adulterous affair drives much of the novel’s psychological and moral drama.

Aliases (1)

Statements (48)
Predicate Object
instanceOf Puritan minister
fictional character
literary character
antagonisticRelationshipWith Roger Chillingworth
appearsIn The Scarlet Letter
associatedWithTheme psychological realism
causeOfDeath physical and psychological strain
centralTheme guilt
hypocrisy
public vs private identity
redemption
sin
createdBy Nathaniel Hawthorne
diesIn The Scarlet Letter
firstAppearance The Scarlet Letter (1850)
gender male
genre American Romanticism
hasAffairWith Hester Prynne
isFatherOf Pearl
literaryFunction critique of religious legalism
embodiment of hidden sin
mannerOfDeath collapse after public confession
moralArc from concealment to confession
moralConflict duty vs passion
public reputation vs private truth
nationality English
notableScene Election Day sermon
final scaffold confession
midnight scaffold vigil
occupation minister
psychologicalState anxious
guilt-ridden
self-loathing
relationshipTo Hester Prynne
Pearl
religiousAffiliation Puritanism
residence Boston
roleInWork protagonist
tragic hero
secret adultery with Hester Prynne
paternity of Pearl
setting Massachusetts Bay Colony
symbolAssociatedWith the forest
the scaffold
the scarlet letter A
timePeriod 17th century
Puritan New England
tormentedBy Roger Chillingworth


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