All 4 Uses of
efficacy
in
The Scarlet Letter
- It soon proved its efficacy, and redeemed the leech's pledge.
p. 51.5efficacy = effectiveness
- Man had marked this woman's sin by a scarlet letter, which had such potent and disastrous efficacy that no human sympathy could reach her, save it were sinful like herself.
p. 62.3 *
- Souls, it is said, more souls than one, were brought to the truth by the efficacy of that sermon, and vowed within themselves to cherish a holy gratitude towards Mr. Dimmesdale throughout the long hereafter.
p. 105.9
- It was impossible to doubt that, whatever painful efficacy there might be in the secret sting of remorse, a deadlier venom had been infused into it by the hand that proffered relief.
p. 111.8
Definition:
effectiveness (the ability to produce a desired result)