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Scarlet Letter Hester's Devotion The Romantic movement in American literature greatly expanded the love story genre. In Hawthorne's novel The Scarlet Letter he writes of adultery in a Puritan village. The story deals with the relationship between Hester Prynne, a young bride awaiting her husband, and Arthur Dimmsdale, an inspired Puritan minister who is beloved by the populace. Do Hester and Dimmsdale truly love each other? Hester does indeed love Dimmsdale, but the love is …

…years concerned about his well-being. He feels that his self-inflicted physical pain is enough to deliver him from the guilt of their shared sin. She is willing to be punished in this life and in the hereafter for him, and really acknowledges no sin. Maybe the fact that Hester feels his pain so deeply, while he denies the existence of her pain, and concentrates solely on himself, proves that her love for him is unrequited.