Post by rebeccaki116 on Dec 8, 2012 17:39:05 GMT -5
"children are not readily won to be familiar with me. They will not climb my knee, nor prattle in my ear, nor answer to my smile; but stand apart, and eye me strangely. Even little babes, when I take them in my arms, weep bitterly" (Miller 203).
I'm a little confused. Before Hester introduces him to Pearl as her father, Dimmesdale confesses to Hester that he believes children don't respond well to him. I'm not really sure why this is so. Going off the Romantic theory that children are pure because they are naive to the wrong in the world, how could they understand something like the dishonesty in Dimmesdale? Is Dimmesdale just being paranoid before he sees his daughter when he says this, or could there be truth to his confession?
I'm a little confused. Before Hester introduces him to Pearl as her father, Dimmesdale confesses to Hester that he believes children don't respond well to him. I'm not really sure why this is so. Going off the Romantic theory that children are pure because they are naive to the wrong in the world, how could they understand something like the dishonesty in Dimmesdale? Is Dimmesdale just being paranoid before he sees his daughter when he says this, or could there be truth to his confession?