Conflicts

Conflict in literature refers to the different drives of the

characters or forces involved. Conflict may be

internal or external—that is, it may occur within a character's mind or between a character

and exterior forces.(wiki)

Total Conflicts

•Thematic conflict

•Puritan conflict

•Character’s conflictsa) Hester Prynne’s

conflict

b) Arthur Dimmesdale’s conflict

c) Roger Chillingworth’s Conflict

• End’s Conflicts•

Somehow it’s theme is related to a puritan

poem Paradise lost by John Milton.A tale of Rise of evil and fall of

Humankind from Heaven

Two major characters of Paradise Lost were Adam & Satan

Adamic character Satanic character

Hester Prynne a. Committed sin but

confessed it.

b. Got punished like Adam, exiled from society, the way Adam Got exiled from Eden

Arthur Dimmesdale

a. Committed sin but didn’t confess it.

b. Burnt internally in guilt, the way Satan in hell.

Puritan considered themselves “purest beings”, they consider them nearest to God but at the same time, they were sinful & hypocrite too.

• Dimmesdale was a puritan and a priest but a sinner and hypocrite as well. He committed a sin along with Hester but left her alone to face it’s consequences.

• Society exiled Hester and her innocent daughter but for help, they look for her too.

Hester Prynne• The major conflict in the Hester’s character

contains three of these elements.

i. EMOTIONAL

ii. MORAL

iii. PHYSICAL

Hester’s conflicts

Emotionally, Hester emigrated to a new country and was abandoned by her husband before

she left the ship.She was for all

intents (get rid of the license) a single

woman.

Morally, she errs by having an affair with Dimmesdale, thus committing

adultery and giving birth to a child not

her husbands

Physically, she forced to wear a sign of shame,

ostracized from the community, and

she tirelessly works to help the needy.

Dimmesdale

• Puritan but Satanic

• Hester’s lover but coward,

• Priest but sinner,

• Preacher but hypocrite

Chillingworth• represents true evil

• interested in revenge, not justice,

• Disguised himself as physician but a murderer,

• His cold efficiency and sceptical mind are in opposition to the conventionalized puritan religious morality.

When Chillingworth dies and leaves all his money to Pearl, mom and daughter can finally escape the judgeyways of the Massachusetts Bay colonists. In fact, they've been able to put an entire ocean between themselves and those stern Puritans. They live lavishly in England.

Years later, Hester Prynne actually goes back to the community that's shunned her for so long. She goes back to her little cottage on the outskirts of town. She goes back to wearing her scarlet letter. Her adultery has become so much a part of her that she can't actually feel free unless she's doing penance by wearing that A.

The novel leaves us with a final picture of Hester and Dimmesdale's gravestone. They have been buried near one another (but not directly next to each other). A motto carved on the headstone they share ensures that their punishment follows them even into death: "on a field, sable, the letter A, gules." This motto is a verbal representation of the scarlet letter ("sable" means black and "gules" means reddish).

This persistent A can be interpreted as a tragic final image. However, the fact that Hester and Dimmesdale can be buried near each other suggests that the community has, in many ways, forgiven them for their adultery. Even after death, the legend of their love continues.

Presented by