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Dimmesdale’s Humble Mortality--Life is hard, but accepting that fact makes it easier. In this twisted story of deception and adultery set in the Puritan era, Hawthorne introduces Dimmesdale as a weak and cowardly man who refuses to take r ....

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... his sin, by envying Hester, for her courage, and he states, "Happy are you Hester, that wear the scarlet letter openly upon your bosom! (188)." Even at the end of the novel, when finally attempting to confess, people are compelled by his final sermon, raving that "never had a man spoken in so wise, so high, and so holy a spirit, as he that spake this day (p.243)." These facts proved that he was a very loved and influential man in the small town. Hawthorne later portrays him as somewhat of a hypocrite. His outward appearance deceives the villagers, appearing to be a completely holy man. However, before the action of the novel begins, he ...