Self-Sacrifice In The Scarlet Letter, By Nathaniel Hawthorne

David Stafford asserts, “Whenever you feel compelled to put others first at the expense of yourself, you are denying your own reality, your own identity.” By sacrificing one’s self for others, Stafford implies that there would be a negative change in one’s physicality, mentality, or even both. This negative change could come in many different forms, but ultimately is a constraint, preventing one from reaching one’s maximum potential. Nathaniel Hawthorne expresses this theme of self-sacrifice in his novel, The Scarlet Letter, by using countless examples of characterization. He paints two living embodiments of Stafford’s quote: Hester Prynne and Arthur Dimmesdale. These two characters stand as the physical representation of Hawthorne’s defense …show more content…
Hester Prynne is first introduced to the reader as the bearer of the scarlet letter, a woman ridiculed to shame and humiliation over a sin she committed. Hawthorne characterizes her by describing her physical looks: “The young woman was tall, with a figure of perfect elegance on a large scale. She had dark and abundant hair, so glossy that it threw off the sunshine with a gleam” (51). Hester is portrayed through her beauty as very feminine and essentially has the complete opposite of the expected qualities that Puritans have: warm, bright, and pleasant opposed to dark, dreary, and gloomy. Additionally, Hawthorne informs the reader of her actions through the conversations of the town members and emphasizes her silence on the identity of her lover through her repeated use of the phrase: “I will not speak” (66). Through these details, the reader gets a sense of Hester’s femininity and her personality: a beautiful but stubborn woman who sacrifices her reputation and her dignity for the sake of both her child and her unknown lover. As a result, she is …show more content…
Bound by his position as a minister, he refuses to step on the scaffold. “At the head of the social system, as the clergymen of that day stood, he was only the more trammelled by its regulations, its principles, and even its prejudices. As a priest, the framework of his order inevitably hemmed him in” (196). Dimmesdale is characterized through Hawthorne’s narration: he informs the reader of Dimmesdale’s position in Puritan society and provides a justification for his behavior. Thus, Dimmesdale holds the secret close to his heart for his faith and his faithful followers. He leaves them living in their delusions in order to maintain the integrity of his religion. However, he is weighed down by the hypocrisy of his actions against his sermons and consequently starts deteriorating. “With every successive Sabbath, his cheek was paler and thinner, and his voice more tremulous than before-when it had now become a constant habit, rather than a casual gesture, to press his hand over his heart?” (118). Hawthorne characterizes Dimmesdale through commentary on his physical appearance and his actions. He adds more characterization of the minister by including Hester’s descriptions of Dimmesdale’s mental dilapidation: his regression back to a childlike nervousness. Dimmesdale puts the town members first at the expense of his physical and mental health, denying himself of his exuberance so they could