Guilty and Ashamed

This week in class, we briefly talked about the difference between guilt and shame. Guilt is a feeling of responsibility or remorse for some offense,crime, wrong, etc., whether real or imagined. Shame is the painful feeling arising from the consciousness of something dishonorable, improper, ridiculous, etc., done by oneself or another. Guilt includes being aware of doing something wrong. Our guilt originates from our actions, much like Reverend Dimmesdale in The Scarlet Letter feels guilty for his sinful relationship with Hester. His guilt begins to eat away at him, breaking him down physically, as well as, emotionally.  Shame, on the other hand, is the agonizing feeling one gets from experiencing guilt. Dimmesdale experiences this too. His constant pain in his heart, his own scarlet letter, is killing him. He knows he did something wrong, therefore he feels guilty. From this guilt, he feels ashamed. It pains him to be hiding this secret away from society. His shame, in the end, is what ultimately kills him. The pain he experiences from his guilt(his shame) eats away at his sanity until it eventually kills him. Towards the end of his life, his shame had taken control of his life. He inflicted torture upon himself (the A "scratched"on to his chest). Finally, during his sermon, after keeping his relationship with Hester a secret for so long, his shame had gotten the best of him and had killed him. The guilt we experience after shameful actions is not what hurts us, it is the shame we feel that eats  away at us.