Question

Did Hester do a bigger injustice by keeping the secret Chillingworth made her promise to keep and not telling Dimmesdale who Chillingworth was (her husband), or would she have been better off not agreeing to keep Chillingworth's secret at the start of the book?

Answer 1

This question is about "The Scarlet Letter".

Answer:

It would have been better if Hester had agreed not to keep the secret from the beginning of the book.

Step-by-step explanation:

Although it is possible to understand the reasons that led Hester to keep this secret, when reading the book we see that this secret puts an extra burden on Hester's shoulders, who are already very overwhelmed, because she is a woman with an illegitimate daughter. in the midst of an extremely patriarchal society.

If Hester had not agreed to keep the secret, perhaps she would have had less of a burden, as he had to go through the consequences of that secret even without revealing it. However, we know that Hester is not a selfish woman and therefore would not reveal the secret if she harmed Dimmesdale.