“ In our nature, however, there is a provision, alike marvellous and merciful, that the sufferer should never know the intensity of what he endures by its present torture, but chiefly by the pang that rankles after it. ”
Nathaniel Hawthorne, The Scarlet Letter (1850). copy citation
| Author | Nathaniel Hawthorne |
|---|---|
| Source | The Scarlet Letter |
| Topic | time pain present torture |
| Date | 1850 |
| Language | English |
| Reference | |
| Note | |
| Weblink | http://www.gutenberg.org/files/25344/25344-h/25344-h.htm |
Context
“Measured by the prisoner's experience, however, it might be reckoned a journey of some length; for, haughty as her demeanor was, she perchance underwent an agony from every footstep of those that thronged to see her, as if her heart had been flung into the street for them all to spurn and trample upon. In our nature, however, there is a provision, alike marvellous and merciful, that the sufferer should never know the intensity of what he endures by its present torture, but chiefly by the pang that rankles after it. With almost a serene deportment, therefore, Hester Prynne passed through this portion of her ordeal, and came to a sort of scaffold, at the western extremity of the market-place. It stood nearly beneath the eaves of Boston's earliest church, and appeared to be a fixture there.”
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Meaning and analysis
