Dimmesdale as Tragic Hero
One may ask how The Scarlet Letter would fit the structure of a classical tragedy. The answer to this question is quite simple if you know how to identify a tragedy. A tragedy is a story that depicts serious incidents in which protagonists undergo a change from happiness to suffering, and often involves the death of others as well as the main characters. In The Scarlet Letter, Dimmesdale follows this structure perfectly. He is happy in the beginning, and then declines into suffering and finally, death. Many people believe that despite his less than noble actions, Dimmesdale can be considered the tragic hero. In order for us to give him that identity, we must investigate how Dimmesdale fits the characteristics of a tragic hero. In my opinion, if Dimmesdale is the hero, he must be in a high social state, have a tragic flaw, and fall to his ultimate fate. Being the minister of the town qualifies Dimmesdale as a person of high social status. He is loved by many people for giving his intelligent and persuasive sermons. Almost every hero that has ever existed had this quality of high social status. If you look back into time, Beowulf, Superman, King Arthur: these heroes were all looked up to by many. In ord
If he would have confessed in the very beginning, he could have avoided this. er for heroes to earn their names, they must have people that believe in them. Dimmesdale had preached so strongly about sinning that his own followers could not forgive him, and they placed a scarlet letter on his grave. Even when Beowulf died, he kept his honor and respect from the people after his death. Soon enough, his emotions are what led to his tragic downfall. From committing the sin in the first place, Dimmesdale consequently became a more emotional and powerful minister, and his congregation had no idea that it was because of his shame. He could have told the people and accepted what he did. Dimmesdale eventually dies from his flaw. But then, if he had told the people and all they did was give him more shame and guilt, he might still have tortured himself. Another thing that many heroes have is some tragic fate. Even heroes have to have some kind of flaw. From all the other heroes I have studied, he is the only one that loses his status at some point. Dimmesdale can speak for everyone else out there that cannot accept themselves for he they are and not care what other people think.
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