The Scarlet Letter: The Confession

     Dimmesdale's confession is a dramatic one: it's as if after all this time, bringing his sin to light is such a feat that he can no longer live.  Even though it's a classic tragic romance scene, it still hurts my heart a little to read.  At last, the family is brought together and sin has been addressed, but it still doesn't turn out for the best.  This is what Hester and Pearl have wanted, for their family to be together, but they never get to enjoy it--still they suffer.  When Hester asks Dimmesdale if they will spend the afterlife together, it's so romantically tragic, because we know that she still cares for him and wants a chance at reconciliation.  The scene where Hester is buried next to Dimmesdale but still far enough apart because "the dust of the two sleepers had no right to mingle, even in death" suggests the tragedy that the two lovers are still kept apart to suffer the consequences of their sin.  What a sad, tragic ending--a close second to Romeo and Juliet.