finds it
difficult to discharge his duties as a minister because he is almost constantly wracked by
guilt. He is supposed to be a man of God yet he engaged in an adulterous liaison with a married
woman. Not only that, but when 's adultery was publicly exposed, he stayed silent, unable to
step forward and confess his sins. This lack of courage has merely added to the deep emotional
and spiritual torment that is gradually eating away at Dimmesdale's troubled soul.
Dimmesdale tries to make partial amends by protesting his sinfulness from the pulpit.
But his Puritan congregation don't take the hint; they believe that everyone is mired deep in
sin anyway, so they believe that Dimmesdale is speaking in general terms of humankind's inherent
wickedness. So Dimmesdale carries on as before, tormented by guilt and self-loathing, feelings
which are exacerbated by the wicked actions of .
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