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Wednesday, October 24, 2012
Promises, Promises . . .
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Hester made the right choice not telling anyone about Roger being her husband. There was no need to tell people about Roger and doing so would only result in humiliation for her estranged husband. When she broke her promise, she betrayed Roger more then Arthur, but Arthur deserved the truth and he truly did pay for his sin. Hester should be forgiven. She only kept the secret from Arthur because she was trying to protect him. She did what she thought was right.
ReplyDeleteCole Attar
I think that Hester didn’t have much of a choice but to promise Roger. She was locked in jail and if she didn’t accepted the promise Chillingworth would have done machination things to her instead of Arthur. When Hester broke the promise and told Arthur who Chillingworth was I think that she was doing Dimmesdale a favor I don’t believe she was betraying him at all. If she didn’t tell Arthur about Roger then much worse things would have happened for a longer period of time.
ReplyDeleteDaniel McEvoy
Making the promise in the prison was most likely the smartest idea for Hester. Telling the public would just draw even more unwanted attention to her. It wasn't a a beneficial thing to do in the end, but she could not have foreseen it's significance on the day she made the promise. I believe that she betrayed Roger Chillingworth more by breaking the promise, because not telling Dimmesdale wasn't entirely in her control, and there had been no deal (as far as the reader knows) between Arthur Dimmesdale and Hester Prynne about telling Dimmesdale who her husband was, so there was never really a 'promise' to betray between them.
ReplyDelete-Charles Caputo
I think Hester should not have made the promise, but she was doing the best thing in the time. How was Hester supposed to know that Chillingworth was going to do everything he did to Dimmesdale’s soul? She made the best promise she could at the time, and I think everyone in her situation would have made that promise too. But sometimes, when circumstances change, so do promises. I really don’t believe she was betraying Dimmesdale in any way; she never really lied to him. And I guess she did kind of betray Chillingworth, but like I said previously, when everything around you changes you have to change with it, and if it means a promise or two broken, sometimes he have to live with that. I believe she should be forgiven for this reason.
ReplyDeleteJohn Tocco
ReplyDeleteI don't think Hester should have made her promise to Chillingworth, considering that she did eventually end up breaking it. She might have told Dimmesdale earlier if she never did make her promise and both her and Dimmesdale probably wouldn't have suffered for as long as they did. Hester betrayed Dimmesdale when she made her promise, but she betrayed Chillingworth when she broke it. I feel like she betrayed Dimmesdale more, because she actually loved him and she kept the secret of Chillingworth being her husband from him for a very long time. All this time, Dimmesdale suffered greatly and felt nothing but misery.
I think Hester should have never made the promise to Chillingworth in prison. She made a promise to never tell Dimmesdale that Chillingworth was her husband. I think she ended up betraying Dimmesdale more than Chillingworth. Dimmesdale is being tortured and basically killed by Chillingworth because he holds a grudge that Dimmesdale was the one who committed the sin with Hester. I think Hester is innocent and that she didn’t mean for all this to happen like torturing Dimmesdale. Dimmesdale didn’t know anything and why Chillingworth would be so evil to him. Hester should have told Dimmesdale the secret from day one. None of this would have happened if only Hester would have spilled her promise. Hester felt no love for Chillingworth; it wasn’t meant to be. I think Hester should be forgiven because she was trying to keep peace and she didn’t realize that keeping the promise would cause so much harm to both Dimmesdale and Chillingworth.
ReplyDeleteWhen Hester was in the prison, she was under duress; and when she made the promise to Chillingworth it didn’t seem like that big of a deal. He would never tell anyone about her, and she would never tell anyone about him. Big deal. But as time goes on, it becomes a bigger deal. In making her promise in the first place, she betrayed no one but herself, really. But in breaking the promise, she did the right thing. Betraying Chillingworth is not a bad thing at all, for he could betray her in the blink of an eye and not feel bad about it. I think that Dimmesdale was never betrayed, at least not by Hester. This is the woman who stood up on a scaffold, in front of many people, and didn’t betray his name. If anything, Dimmesdale betrays Hester in not forgiving her. Hester never did any wrong, in my eyes; and so everyone should, by all means, forgive her. Puritans are entirely too judgmental.
ReplyDeleteI think that Hester betrayed Dimmesdale more because she knew that Chillingworth was going to hurt him, but she didn’t feel any remorse when she made the promise. I don’t think that Hester should have made the promise to Chillingworth because it only caused all three of them suffering, including Chillingworth in a way, because Hester told him that he wasn’t human anymore, that he was demon-like, which was very true. Even though it does state that she was scared of Chillingworth, she could have at least given Dimmesdale a sign or a warning about Chillingworth. If she would have let him know that Chillingworth is an evil, old man, she ould have saved him from 7 years of torment that Chillingworth caused Dimmesdale, but she still wouldn’t have been able to save him from the pain that he caused himself when he beat himself or when was consuming himself with guilt. I don’t think that Hester should have been forgiven because it was almost as if Hester let 7 years go by and didn’t even think to tell Dimmesdale about the suffering that Chillingworth caused him. She saw how sickly and pallid he had become, but she did nothing until 7 years later when she finally gathered the nerve to confront Chillingworth and request that he leave the minister alone, which he declined, as predicted. ~Emily Meyer
ReplyDeleteIn my opinion, I think Hester betrayed both Chillingworth and Dimmesdale equally. She made a promise to Chillingworth to wait for him. Hester should have really waited for Chillingworth to get back to her. He had no idea what was going to happen when he wasn't with her. She made a promise to be with him right when they got married. She also kept a huge secret from Dimmesdale and made him fall in love with her. He didn’t know she was married. She shouldn’t have been with another guy! She was with Chillingworth! If she didn’t get with Dimmesdale this whole thing wouldn’t have started. She made a huge mistake. Even if it was for a long time she should have waited for Chillingworth. Now he is evil and Dimmesdale is living a terrible life.
ReplyDeleteHester betrayed Dimmesdale truly when she made the promise, as she then subjected him to seven long years of torture. But she betrayed Chillingworth when she made the promise. She could see an anger was brewing inside him, and that it may control him. By accepting the promise she turned him into a scourge, capable of only one emotion, scorn. He was a man who held his age well, but now resides as something of a demon, the full blown idea of what may have been hiding in Pearl. He now lives in a pathetic state, only caring for revenge, and is pathetic wherever he goes. She demolished a once noble man. Dimmesdale will last fine because she is relieving him of the promise, for him there is light at the end of the tunnel, but for Chillingworth, revenge is all he knows, he sees no light and rocks were he will creep into and rock. She should be forgiven by Dimmesdale for he may come out of this yet, but Roger has been put passed the point of forgiveness, he should never forgive her for what she has done.
ReplyDeleteI feel that Hester betrayed Dimmesdale more then Roger because Roger had always been trying to seek revenge on Hester's unknown partner. Roger has been picking away at Dimmesdale making him torture himself for a long 7 years. Hester should have told Dimmesdale who Roger really was, but at the same time he might have deserved it because he didn't come out to the public and say that he was the fellow adulterer.
ReplyDeleteHester didn't betray either of them in my opinion. She had to break her promise because Roger Chillingworth had become a whole different person and he deserved it. I don't think she betrayed Dimmesdale either. She was the one who took the punishment because of what happened, not him. I think that Hester should be forgiven because she's a good person and she never really did anything wrong. She was punished way too harshly for what she did in the first place and shouldn't have had to make that promise.
ReplyDeleteI believe that Hester did make the right choice when accepting Chillingworth's promise to not tell anyone, at the time Hester was already right in the spotlight. What good would it do to add another crazy thing in Hester's crazy life. Also it would not only result in humiliation of Hester but for Chillingworth as well. When she told Dimmesdale who Chillingworth really is I think she made the right choice there too because Dimmesdale was being tortured by Chillingworth and he had no idea why. he needed to know why he was being treated the way he was. I feel neither should be punished because if she did not tell Dimmesdale then he would most likely kill himself in my opinion, she did what was needed to be done and it was the right thing to do.
ReplyDeleteIn my opinion, Hester should not of made that promise to Chillingworth because eventually she would have wanted to tell Dimmesdale and it was his right to know who Hesters husband was. With that said i believe that she betrayed Dimmesdale more because he fathered her child and never knew who Hesters actual husband was, i dont think she betrayed Chillingworth because she never really felt any emotional connection to him and he was away from her for far too long. I do think she should be forgiven because everybody makes mistakes and Hester is no different
ReplyDeleteWhen Hester was in prison and made her promise to Chillingworth, I think that she thought it was the best thing to do, in order to spare Chillingworth's dignity. After sinning against Chillingworth she owed it to him to keep the promise. However, after a couple years Chillingworth is no longer the same. He has grown into an evil fiend, and is keeping his identity a secret for the wrong reasons. It was right for Hester to tell the secret to Dimmesdale, because it is hurting BOTH Dimmesdale and Chillingworth. No one is benefiting from keeping Roger's identity a secret. Hester should be forgiven because Dimmesdale and Chillingworth may now be able to find peace.
ReplyDeleteI believe that Hester made the right choice to not tell anyone about Roger being her husband. She would have been criticized even more when everyone knew her true lover. She did it for her own good. I believe she betrayed Dimmesdale more. He has to live in pain and guilt for seven years. If he told anyone he would be put to humiliation just as Hester was and would be stripped of his title. She should be forgiven. It was a desperate mistake. All those secrets and feelings were bottled up inside for seven whole years. Personally, I would have to tell someone. It was the right time for Dimmesdale to know Hester’s relationship to Chillingworth and what he has been trying to do to Dimmesdale. Chillingworth and Dimmesdale can now go on about their daily lives knowing the real story with gratification and peace.
ReplyDeleteI think Hester should have not made the promise to tell Dimmesdale about Roger. In the end she knew Roger wanted revenge on Dimmesdale, so why not tell him and end the suffering for both of them. But on the other hand she was shaken up in jail, so she could of not through and, she might not have thought that Roger would of figured out it was Dimmesdale. So in the end she might of thought it was the right thing not to tell Dimmesdale to protect both Arthur and herself.
ReplyDeleteBack in the beginning of the book Hester made a promise to Chillingworth that she would never tell anyone who he was. 7 years later she breaks the promise and tells Dimmesdale the secret she promised to keep. Hester betrayed Chillingworth by breaking the only promise she made to him and by telling his biggest secret to the main person he was hiding it from. She did not betray Dimmesdale, if anything she did him a favor by telling him who Chillingworth really was and helped him end the torture that Chillingworth was causing. Hester should be forgiven because she really did nothing wrong here. Chillingworth was torturing Dimmesdale so Hester decided to tell him so he could be saved. She wouldn’t have told him anything if she thought it wasn’t a good idea. Even though Hester did break a promise she is still a good person and should not be blamed for what happens after she outs Chillingworth.
ReplyDeleteWay back in the prison, Hester made a god decision promising to not tell anyone that Roger was her husband. Telling the towns people that would only result in humiliation of him and Hester both. When Hester Prynne broke her promise by telling Arthur who Roger Chillingworth truly was, she betrayed Roger more than she did Arthur because she was trying to protect him and it was the right thing to do, while breaking a promise is already betrayal. She never broke a promise to Arthur. She broke a promise to Roger. Also, in the prison when Hester made the promise to Roger, she didn’t really have much of a choice because Roger threatened to cause harm to Dimmesdale. Hester did what she thought was right.
ReplyDeleteI think that Hester betrayed Arthur Dimmesdale, more than Roger Chillingworth. If Hester didn’t keep the secret about her and Chillingworth’s previous marriage, the town would not have let her make up for her sin. Even though Hester and Dimmesdale are connected through their sin, I think Hester was the bigger person for handling her circumstances maturely by caring for Pearl and even helping herself. If Dimmesdale had said he was the father of Pearl from the beginning, he could be better by now, like Hester, but instead he is still torturing himself about something that happened seven years ago. Hester betrayed Dimmesdale by not telling him about her relationship with Chillingworth sooner because now Arthur is stuck living with the person he resents the most.
ReplyDeleteWhen Hester made the promise to Chillingworth to keep his secret I believe that she was doing the right thing. She betrayed her husband, and this tore him apart, so the least that she could do was keep his secret. I do not believe that she betrayed Arthur Dimmesdale in any way because all he was was her fellow sinner, and their actions only caused horrible lives for the both of them. However, when Hester broke her promise with Chillingworth by telling Dimmesdale who he is, I believe that she did the right thing. I think this because, after seven years, Dimmesdale deserved to know that the man that he was living with, and who he thought was his friend, was his worst enemy. Hester did this because she wanted to go live with Dimmesdale and she was tired of all the pain. In my mind, Dimmesdale did the right thing by forgiving Hester because she broke a big promise just to save him, but I believe that Chillingworth should not forgive her because she broke their promise and now his life could be ruined.
ReplyDeleteI think that Hester made the right choice by making the promise in the beginning. Having people know that her husband was alive would only have made her sin, in their eyes, worse. I do not think that she betrayed Dimmesdale in making the promise, because how could she have know that Roger would become almost satanic and eat away at him? You could argue that she betrayed Chillingworth in breaking the promise, but a this point I think it was in everyone’s best interest. Hester needed to break the promise to save Dimmesdale from Chillingworth, and maybe even Chillingworth from himself. I absolutely think that she should be forgiven. If she had kept her promise, Chillingworth would have kept eating away at Dimmesdale, until there was nothing left to eat away at. She may have also done Chillingworth a service, because with no dark purpose left to pursue, the devil inside of him just might wash away.
ReplyDeleteIn my opinion Hester betrayed Dimmesdale and Chillingworth. Hester decided to lead on Dimmesdale while she was married to Chillingworth only because she didn't want to wait for him. She chose to be unfaithful and its not like Dimmesdale knew she was married. She was wrong by keeping a huge secret from him. If she waited for Chillingworth none of this nonsense would have went on and she could have easily avoided all the problems that she has now caused for herself. Chillingworth should have been able to trust her but she proved him wrong.
ReplyDeleteWhen Hester was in prison, she had no choice whether or not to promise Chillingworth to keep his identity a secret. It was the only way to appease him. If she didn’t promise, he would’ve put her through what he put Dimmesdale through. However, making the promise did subject Dimmesdale to all those years of torture, but at the time it was a way to repay Chillingworth after cheating on him. After years of Dimmesdale being tortured and privately paying for his sin, Hester did the right thing by revealing the true identity of Chillingworth. She needed to tell Dimmesdale because Chillingworth was torturing him for too long, and it was literally killing him. Dimmesdale has truly payed for his sin and deserved to know so he could feel relief. Hester deserved to be forgiven because she has payed for her sin and is kind, generous, and beneficial towards her community.
ReplyDeleteI don't believe that Hester should have made the promise to Chillingworth at all because keeping his identity a secret benefitted her in absolutely no way and may have even been detrimental to her or Dimmesdale. In making the promise she actually betrayed Dimmesdale because with Chillingworth's true identity being a secret, he was free to assimilate into the town and unknowingly torture Dimmesdale. When Hester broke her promise many years later, I don't think she betrayed Chillingworth because she just had to do what she knew was right and that was to free Dimmesdale from Chillingworth's mental grasp. Although what she did certainly hurt DImmesdale a lot, I think that he should forgive her because she was the only one who could save him from Chillingworth and she finally did it.
ReplyDeleteWhen Hester was in prison, I don’t think that Hester should have made a promise to Chillingworth that she couldn’t keep. At the time she probably thought it was the right thing to do, in order to pardon Chillingworth’s nobility. Hester didn’t know that Chillingworth was going to do all the horrible things to Dimmesdale’s soul and torture him like he did. I feel like when situations change so does a persons point of view. I don’t believe that Hester betrayed Dimmesdale because she never lied to him. Chillingworth was the one betrayed but the situation changed and so did Hester’s point of view.
ReplyDeleteHester should not have made that promise to Chillingworth way back when when she was in prison. Making that promise made is so that Arthur Dimmesdale was put in danger. Since the town did not know Chillingworth's identity of being Hester's husband, no one would ever suspect that he was trying to torture Dimmesdale, not even Dimmesdale himself. If Hester had told the town that Chillingworth was her husband, the situation would be different entirely. In breaking her promise, Hester betrayed Dimmesdale much more than she did Chillingworth. Telling the townspeople about Chillingworth being her husband, would still not reveal the identity of Pearl's father, so there would still be no suspect ion of Chillingworth trying to harm Dimmesdale in any way. However, now that one promise has been broke, another one will soon be broken. Since Hester betrayed Chillingworth and told his secret, Chillingworth will now reveal the identity of Pearl's father and Dimmesdale and Hester may not be able to go and live the life they had planned during their meeting in the woods. Terrible things would now happen to Dimmesdale, and he would be lucky if he even stayed alive. Hester most definitely should have been forgiven for her sin. Everyone makes mistakes. Her mistake did not harm anyone else. She took very good care of Pearl and gave her a good life. After Hester committed adultery, she became a good person. She did not cause any more trouble; therefore, I think she has every right to be forgiven and go on and live her life, without the "A" upon her chest, just as she had planned to in the first place.
ReplyDelete
ReplyDeleteI think Hester should haven’t made the promise to Chillingworth because actions have consequences. Hester is betraying Dimmesdale because he is being tortured and killed by Chillingworth. Chillingworth wants revenge on Dimmesdale because he committed adultery with Hester. I think Hester should have been forgiven because she didn’t realize that all this would happen all because of one promise she made. Chillingworth should never be forgiven. He is evil and doing way worse of a crime then Hester or Dimmesdale had done. Chillingworth is torturing Dimmesdale, in which Dimmesdale doesn’t even know who he is or what connection he is to Hester. I think Chillingworth is to blame.
When Hester was in prison, I believe that she should not have made her promise to Chillingworth to keep their marriage secret. Living in a community together, it would be almost impossible to hide that Hester and Chillingworth had a connection to each other. Sooner or later, somebody would find out about the marriage or someone would be told. Also, keeping this secret was harmful to Dimmesdale. This secret allowed Chillingworth to go on with his plan to torture Dimmesdale. I think that Hester betrayed Dimmesdale the most. First, Hester lied to Dimmesdale and also, she caused him to suffer. This one secret caused Dimmesdale to go through a living death every single day.
ReplyDeleteI think that Chillingworth's request to keep the promise was only to protect her because if people knew she had a husband, she could have possibly have been killed for her crime. I think that it was wrong of Hester to promise Chillingworth she would keep it a secret and I think she did the right thing of telling Dimmesdale that Chillingworth is really her husband. I think it was right of Hester because Chillingworth was really letting Dimmesdale feel his guilt about the situation. He was so sick and couldn’t function normally and Hester did have a responsibility to him because he was Pearl’s father. He was the only one that knew the most about her, and Hester keeping it a secret from Dimmesdale, well Chillingworth could have killed him. Hester definitely betrayed them both, but I think she betrayed Chillingworth more just because she had already promised him she wouldn’t tell him. When Hester and Dimmesdale created Pearl, Dimmesdale didn’t know Hester was married and so was betrayed, but less so then Chillingworth.
ReplyDeleteHester should not have promised to keep her marriage with Chillingworth a secret at the prison. She must have figured the truth would come out eventually with their lives constantly crossing paths. And because Hester made this promise, she severely betrayed Dimesdale when he found out the truth. Hester knew the true identity of the man claiming to heal Dimesdale. She let her ex-husband go on and torture Dimesdale knowing that it was indirectly killing him and did nothing to stop it. Hester never even revealed that she knew who Chillingworth was to Dimesdale who blatantly asked her. Hester betrayed Dimesdale’s and it is up to him if in time he could ever forgive her.
ReplyDeleteI think that Hester made the right choice in not telling anyone about Roger being her husband. Even though this showed Roger being a coward Hester is doing a great favor for him. But I do think that Roger should be more thankful fro what she is doing. But she also made the right choice in breaking the promise becaue it helped out Roger because then he really paid for his sins.
ReplyDeleteHester shouldn’t have made the promise to Chillingworth, but she didn’t really have much of a choice at the time. She probably knew if she revealed Chillingworth to be her husband, her punishment would be even worse. Also, she was a little scared of what the man could do to her because she wronged him. When Hester decided to make the promise to Chillingworth in prison, she was betraying Arthur Dimmesdale more than Chillingworth. Chillingworth hinted he would be after her lover to seek revenge on him, and Hester didn’t do anything about that. She was merely confused by his words and probably a little fearful of what Chillingworth was capable of. Dimmesdale should have definitely forgiven her, as he did, for keeping the promise to Chillingworth. Although he may have thought Hester did him wrong, he should have taken into consideration that under her circumstances 7 years ago in the prison – she really had no other choice but to agree with Chillingworth’s demands.
ReplyDeleteArianna Riemma
When Hester was in prison and made the promise to Chillingworth, she was betraying Dimmesdale. I think she shouldn’t have promised to keep her marriage a secret. Hester should’ve figured that people would find out the truth anyways. Like people always say there’s three sides to a story, side one, side two, and the truth. There lives are always crossing and they are always seeing each other, no matter how hard they try to avoid each other. She let Chillingworth basically kill Dimmesdale. Hester was also wrong because she should’ve realized a little earlier than seven years that Dimmesdale was getting tortured by Chillingworth. Someone would’ve found out and that story would’ve spread like a wildfire. The secret caused Dimmesdale to die a little bit everyday.
ReplyDeleteWhen Hester was in prison she made the right choice in making that promise to Chillingworth. When she promised him that she wouldn’t say who he was, she guaranteed the safety of her life as well as Pearl’s because her life was only spared because she was a supposed widow. If the magistrates knew that she still has a living husband, Hester would probably be put to death and who knows what would have been done with the baby that came from sin. But, when Hester made this promise I think she betrayed Dimmesdale more so than Chillingworth. Since the entire town thinks that Hester is a widow they are not focused on how the current husband feels, like they would if she had a living husband. Instead, they all talk about who the father of the baby could possibly be and they are constantly trying to pick up the clues and figure it out. Because of this, Dimmesdale’s guilt is destroying him because he is too weak to confess to his sins and the people of the town look up to him. If Hester had said that she had a husband Dimmesdale and Hester would probably have been put to death and neither of them would have to suffer, more so Dimmesdale. I still think it was right of Dimmesdale to forgive Hester because if people knew that he had fathered the baby he would probably have been put to death or Hester would have been killed and he would have no one to talk to about the sin and the guilt would kill him much faster. Dimmesdale should also take into consideration that she didn’t have much of a choice as to if she wanted to keep the promise or not to Chillingworth. She was pretty much forced to.
ReplyDeleteWay back when, when Hester was in prison she made a promise to Chillingworth that she wouldn’t reveal his true identity. I do think Hester should have made that promise to Chillingworth because she owes him that much. When he was with the Indians, his own wife went behind his back and had a baby with someone who wasn’t her husband. So if that is what he would like from her, I think she should hold to it. I think that Hester is playing both sides of the fence and portrayed both Chillingworth and Dimmesdale. She betrayed Chillingworth by breaking the promise and telling Dimmesdale whom Chillingworth really is, and she betrayed Dimmesdale by knowing who Chillingworth is the whole time and knowing what he is doing to Dimmesdale. I do think Hester should be forgiven because she isn’t trying to do any harm to anyone. She really was stuck in a tough situation and didn’t know what to do so she picked both sides.
ReplyDeleteIn the beginning of the book, Hester made a promise to Chillingworth while in jail. She promised to keep his identify a secret. I think that when she made this promise she had good intentions and did not realize that in keeping this promise,there would be consequences. Throughout the book Chillingworth becomes an evil man Dimesdale is being hurt by this promise. To protect Dimesdale from pain and suffering, she tells him who Chillingworth is. I think that Hester did not intensionally make a promise she couldn’t keep, so therefore I do not think that betraying her promise was that terrible. I think that in breaking the promise she betrayed Chillingworth more than she betrayed Dimesdale by making the promise. I believe this because breaking a promise is not a loyal thing to do and it is hurtful, but I do not believe that she meant harm towards Dimesdale.
ReplyDeleteYes, at the time I believe it was the right thing for Hester to make that promise to Chillingworth. If she didn’t make the promise, Chillingworth could have decided Hester’s fate and have had her punished more or even have her killed. However, I do think that Dimmesdale deserved to know, she owed that much to him after all the suffering his been going through from their mistake. I also think betraying her promise to Chilliingworth was okay at that point because he had machinations to destroy Dimmesdale. That is why it was so easy for Dimmesdale to forgive Hester, because Chillingworth was worse of a sinner than the both of them.
ReplyDeleteWhen Hester Prynne was in prison, her ex-husband, Roger Chillingworth, confronted her. While they were talking Roger made Hester promise that she would not reveal whom Roger actually is. Hester agreed to keep this secret. At the time she made the promise it was the right thing to do, because she was afraid of Roger at the time. Later when Hester did reveal Roger’s true identity to Arthur Dimmesdale, she betrayed Roger more than she betrayed Dimmesdale. This is because she gave her word to Roger, while she made no promise to Dimmesdale. But, Hester did the right thing by breaking the promise, as it was with good intentions. And because of this Hester deserves to be forgiven. In both situations, she did what she thought was best for everyone involved, which is all anyone can ask her to do.
ReplyDeleteI feel that Hester should not have made the promise to Chillingworth that she would not reveal his identity as her husband to the public of Boston. However, it is safe to say that Hester did not know what Chillingworth was planning against Dimmesdale. In breaking the promise Hester made to Chillingworth, I feel that she betrayed Chillingworth more than she betrayed Dimmesdale because Hester made a promise and gave her word to Chillingworth to not reveal his secret, and she promised nothing to Dimmesdale. Even though Hester told Dimmesdale who Chillingworth was all for good purpose, she still broke her promise and did not stick to her word. I believe that Hester should be forgiven; because she was just doing what she thought was best for both Dimmesdale and Chillingworth. People break a promise every now and then and you can’t change what happened in the past, so it is just better to forgive and forget.
ReplyDeleteIt is very hard to say whether or not Hester should have made the promise to Chillingworth in the prison. How was she to know that Chillingworth was going to torture Dimmesdale soul as badly as he did? I think that she did make the best choice at the time because who knows what Chillingworth would have done to her is she didn’t. By Hester breaking her promise to Chillingworth, I think she is betraying Chillingworth much more than Dimmesdale. In addition, Dimmesdale somewhat deserves what he is getting because he let Hester be punished alone when he played a huge part in her sin. By her telling Dimmesdale the truth about Chillingworth she is ruining his machinations to torture Dimmesdale’s soul in revenge for his sin. I think that Chillingworth should forgive Hester for telling Dimmesdale the truth because Dimmesdale does have a right to know. ~Cristina Monaco
ReplyDeleteWhen Hester was in prison and got a visit from Chillingworth she made a promise to him that she would never tell anyone that he was her husband. I think that making this promise was good but was also bad. It helped Hester because no one found out about her secret with Dimmesdale. She was able to move along in her life and try to fit in and be a normal person. If people would have known about her and Dimmesdale I think things would have been different and she would have been mistreated still at this point in the book. I also think that it was bad that she made a promise to Chillingworth. I think this because she has to watch Dimmesdale suffer everyday. By breaking her promise I think that Hester betrays Dimmesdale more. I think this because Chillingworth didn’t really care and she has been lying to Dimmesdale this whole time. I think that she should have been forgiven but not as quickly as Dimmesdale did forgive her.
ReplyDeleteIn my personal opinion, I think Hester betrayed both Chillingworth and Dimmsdale but Dimmsdale suffered for it the most. She was not aware of it at the time but Roger wanted her fellow partner to pay for what he did. For the next seven years, Chillingworth picked away at Dimmsdale, causing him to torture himself and having his mental stability wither away. However, this can somewhat be beneficial to both causes. Hester needed to save Dimmsdale from Chillingworth and possibly save Chillingworth from himself.
ReplyDeleteI believe that when hester was in prison and when she promised chillingworth that she would keep his identity a secret was the wrong decision. When Hester revealed rogers identity she had had betrayed chillingworth more than she had with dimmsdale which had made no promises to but with such a small community somebody would eventually find out. Again roger and hester were married and hester had betrayed chillingworth when she committed adulerty. Yet chillingworth had caused much torture to dimmsdale and he was hurting him very much, but hester made the right decision breaking the promise possibly saving dimmsdale and she did it with good intentions. If she would have kept the promise, dimmsdales living torture may have continued at here expense.
ReplyDeleteWhen Hester was in prison, I don’t think that Hester should have made a promise to Chillingworth that she couldn’t keep. At the time she probably thought it was the right thing to do, in order to pardon Chillingworth’s nobility. Hester didn’t know that Chillingworth was going to do all the horrible things to Dimmesdale’s soul and torture him like he did. I feel like when situations change so does a persons point of view. I don’t believe that Hester betrayed Dimmesdale because she never lied to him. Chillingworth was the one betrayed but the situation changed and so did Hester’s point of view.
ReplyDeleteElla Collins
I think that Hester made the right choice by making the promise in the beginning. If she had told the town’s people that her husband was Chillingworth then their hatred for her sin would have been greater. I do not think that she betrayed Dimmesdale in making the promise, because she had no clue that Chillingworth would have destroyed Dimmesdale little by little. I believe that Hester didn’t have the right to break her promise but at this point it wouldn’t have really mattered in the end, and it was probably in her best interests. Hester needed to break the promise to save Dimmesdale from Chillingworth, and maybe even Chillingworth from himself. I absolutely think that she should be forgiven. If she had kept her promise, Chillingworth would have kept killing Dimmesdale ever so slowly, until there was nothing left to kill. She may have also done Chillingworth a service, because with no dark purpose left to pursue, the devil inside of him just go away.
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