Preview of The Use of Mirrors in The Scarlet Letter:

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The Use of Mirrors in The Scarlet Letter

 

"Life is for each man," states Eugene O'Neill, "a solitary cell whose walls are mirrors." In other words, one can fool himself, but a mirror reflects only the truth. In Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter, mirrors are used as a literary device to convey a message. Dimmesdale, Chillingworth, Hester, and Pearl each judge themselves with mirrors.  Through the use of mirrors, The Scarlet Letter provides an insight into the faults, or lack thereof, of the four main characters.

 

Arthur Dimmesdale's mirror acts as a window into his sin-obsessed mind. Dimmesdale practices secret vigils, such as whipping himself in front of a mirror, as an act of penance. After Hester's humiliation on the scaffold, Dimmesdale becomes obsessed with absolving himself of the sin, while not admitting the sin to others. Thus, he begins a cycle of grief and sorrow.  Much to the satisfaction of Roger Chillingworth, Dimmesdale could "torture, but could not purify, himself." To everyone else, from his fellow priests to the church-going cit... [to view the full essay now, purchase below]

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