The Severity of Sins in The Scarlet Letter
In his criticism of The Scarlet Letter, Harry Levin discusses the severity of the sins that are committed by Hester Prynne, Reverend Dimmesdale, and Roger Chilingworth. Although all three main characters have sinned in the novel, the ruthlessness of their sins is easily identifiable. Harry Levin takes it upon himself to "rank" the three sinners in The Scarlet Letter based upon their sins, and the circumstances that surround them. The least severe sinner is Hester Prynne, followed by Reverend Dimmesdale, and the most severe sinner in Levin's mind is Roger Chilingworth. For Hester, Levin states that her affair with Dimmesdale is "pardonable" (Levin, 10) because the lull in her relationship with Chilingworth was natural, and there was nothing that she could do about it. Her partner in sin, Reverend Dimmesdale, is stated to be "an unwilling hypocrite, who purges himself by means of open confession." (Levin, 11) He also has seemingly been forced into his role, but
Harry Levin is correct in his criticisms of the sinners in the novel The Scarlet Letter. Hester Prynne is easily the least brutal sinner of all. In the novel, when Hester meets with Chilingworth in the jail, the reader sees that she did not commit her sin without reason. Roger left her in the new world for years, and did not attempt to contact her. Hester figured that he had either died or abandoned her, so she fell into love with the reverend, without any thought as to what would happen if her husband ever came back for her. Chilingworth is obviously the cruelest criminal in The Scarlet Letter. As Reverend Dimmesdale states on page 186, Chilingworth has "violated in cold blood, the sanctity of a human heart." This leaves Dimmesdale in the middle of the three, which is exactly how Levin categorizes him. The Reverend, although just as guilty as Hester, is seen as being more vindictive when in chapter 20, he goes so far as to commit more sins. These, although n
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Approximate Word count = 655
Approximate Pages = 3 (250 words per page double spaced)
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