Friday, October 30, 2009

Essay

I've been intrigued by the notions of hypocrisy and shame. How do the two ideas connect? Does hypocrisy lead to shame, does shame lead to hypocrisy? Is there even a connection to explore? I want to focus on Arthur Dimmesdale, on the hypocrisy of preaching against sin, but committing the darkest of sins himself, and how he feels such an intense level of shame at what he did that it leaves a mark on his chest, similar to Hester's scarlet "A." I can take my own experience to round the essay out a bit. Mine would be more like saying one thing and holding the opposite view, as opposed to Dimmesdale's, where he has to act and talk a certain way in the view of others, but acts a different way, at least once, when the public eye isn't on him. Any suggestions are welcome and appreciated.
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1 comment:

  1. David LavenderNovember 1, 2009 at 4:40 PM

    Emily,

    This is too brief for me to get a real sense of where you're going, so I'm not sure these comments will be very useful. I can certainly see how the FEAR of shame leads to hypocrisy, and I think it might be worth considering the differences between PUBLIC shame and PRIVATE shame (which is more injurious, which is more productive, etc.). But I'm not sure I see a comparative link between these two concepts--which seem to have a causal relationship (one leads to the other?) rather than any sort of equivalency. Hmmm...

    I guess I'll just have to wait for your first draft.

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