Why, according to Hawthorne, is agreeing to flee with Hester a worse sin than committing adultery with her?

After Hester and Dimmesdale decide to escape together, many questions arise. Do they truly love each other or are they just admitting defeat and succumbing to the society that controls them? When Dimmesdale speaks with Mistress Hibbins, after returning from the forest, he wonders if he himself has not made a deal with her master, the devil. Mistress Hibbins’ statement, “But at midnight, and in the forest, we shall have other talk together!” disturbs the minister and he further doubts their plan of escape. Hester also questions their decision after she sees Dimmesdale being revered on the day of the celebration. She questions if this is in fact the man she knew in the forest. They both have begun to wonder if they have made the right choice or if they are entering into further sin.

In the final chapters of The Scarlet Letter, Hawthorne attests that Dimmesdale is walking the fine line between revelation and destruction. Dimmesdale fights the devilish urges to shout blasphemous statement to the church elders and teaching young Puritan children “wicked words.” He also ignores a young woman who questions him about the church because he worries that he will say something to damage her mind. If he had chosen to speak to the newly converted woman, he could have offered her a more realistic view of human experiences. In choosing no to do so, he has let her fall victim to the system he has accepted as corrupt.

In Dimmesdale’s confession, he acknowledges the fact that by choosing to escape, Hester and himself were “violating the reverence for the other’s soul.” He states that God is merciful and that God alone can pass judgment on the sins he committed. Dimmesdale’s final words provided the Puritan people reason to doubt their religious system and beliefs. He shows that sinfulness should be recognized as an inescapable element of human condition. Through Dimmesdale’s revelation of sin and mercy, Hawthorne shows why agreeing to flee with Hester is a worse sin than committing adultery with her.