Dimmesdale is the town's minister and a talented orator. He is considered a powerful figure in his community and, as such, he represents the very essence of the patriarchal society of this period. His character's downfall comes when he succumbs to the guilt of having been adulterous with Hester Prynne. This is illustrated by his devalued physical health, which is a representation of his poor spiritual and mental well-being. He states in the story: "He looked haggard and weak, and betrayed a nerveless despondency in his air...Here he was terribly visible, in this intense isolation of the forest, which in itself would have been a heavy ordeal for spirits” (Hawthorne, 129). Hawthorne portrays Hester as the individual who finally freed Dimmesdale from guilt by confessing in order to demonstrate the need for feminist qualities in a patriarchal society (Thomson, 2011). He says: “Finally… I find myself in the place where, seven years ago, I should have been; here, with this woman, whose arm, more than the little strength with which I slipped here, supports me, in this terrible moment, from crawling on my face! (Hawthorne 174). Hawthorne demonstrates with the novel's climax the importance of feminism not only for the empowerment of the individual but also as a force for changing the norms of our society (Hester Prynne: Sinner,