Not only does Dimmesdale confess, but he must do so alone. Sailing to Europe will not bring him beyond the reach of God's knowledge. God sees everything, and Dimmesdale, no matter how hard he has tried, cannot outrun the truth that his conscience and his mind believe. The relationship to God that he has been preaching about cannot be based on a lie. He gives up everything: his child, his love, his life, and his honor. In fact, Hawthorne ironically compares him to an angel who had "shaken his bright wings over the people" and "shed down a shower of golden truths upon them." This final irony between his public and private lives is revealed when he confesses his sin on the scaffold to all of the people who think of him as a saint. Hawthorne brings all the principal characters together at a third scaffold scene in this chapter, which begins with the triumph of Dimmesdale's sermon and ends with his death.ĭimmesdale's sermon is a personal triumph. His dying words are "Praised be his name! His will be done! Farewell!" The minister leaves the matter to God, whose mercy he has seen in the afflictions leading to his public confession. In answer, he recalls their sin and says he fears that eternal happiness is not a state for which they can hope. She asks whether they will spend eternity together. Pearl kisses him and weeps.ĭimmesdale, obviously dying now, tells Hester farewell. Chillingworth, meanwhile, kneels down and, in a tone of defeat, repeats, over and over, "Thou hast escaped me!" The minister asks God's forgiveness for Chillingworth's sin then he turns to Pearl and asks for a kiss. Hester lifts Dimmesdale's head and cradles it against her bosom. He tears the ministerial band from his breast and, for a moment, stands flushed with triumph before the horrified crowd. He steps in front of Hester and Pearl and declares that on his breast he bears the sign of his sin. Then he turns to the crowd and cries out his guilt. The minister tells Hester that he is dying and must acknowledge his shame. ![]() Chillingworth's face darkens as he realizes that nowhere else but on the scaffold can Dimmesdale escape him. ![]() The crowd watches in astonishment as the minister, leaning on Hester and holding Pearl's hand, ascends the scaffold steps. Suddenly, Chillingworth appears and attempts to stop Dimmesdale, but the minister scorns the old physician and cries out to Hester to help him get up to the scaffold. There Dimmesdale pauses.Īs the minister turns to the scaffold, he calls Hester and Pearl to his side. ![]() Several people attempt to help him, but the minister repels them until he comes to the scaffold where Hester stands holding Pearl by the hand. His face has taken on a deathly pallor, and he can scarcely walk. "Never, on New England soil, has stood the man so honored by his mortal brethren, as the preacher!" But the shout dies to a murmur as the people see Dimmesdale totter feebly and nervously in the procession. As the procession of dignitaries marches to a banquet at the town hall, the feelings of the crowd are expressed in a spontaneous shout of tribute to Dimmesdale. This moment is the most brilliant and triumphant in Dimmesdale's public life. At the end of Dimmesdale's Election Day sermon, the crowd emerges from the church, inspired by powerful words they have just heard from a man whom they feel is soon to die.
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