All 9 Uses of
remorse
in
The Scarlet Letter
- With these remorseful feelings, he lost no time in making the amplest apologies, and besought his friend still to continue the care which, if not successful in restoring him to health, had, in all probability, been the means of prolonging his feeble existence to that hour.†
p. 127.1remorseful = full of regret for doing something that was wrong
- To make himself the one trusted friend, to whom should be confided all the fear, the remorse, the agony, the ineffectual repentance, the backward rush of sinful thoughts, expelled in vain!†
p. 129.5remorse = deep regret for doing something that was wrong
- The minister well knew—subtle, but remorseful hypocrite that he was!†
p. 133.9 *remorseful = full of regret for doing something that was wrong
- He had been driven hither by the impulse of that Remorse which dogged him everywhere, and whose own sister and closely linked companion was that Cowardice which invariably drew him back, with her tremulous gripe, just when the other impulse had hurried him to the verge of a disclosure.†
p. 137.1remorse = deep regret for doing something that was wrong
- 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. 154.0
- With the superstition common to his brotherhood, he fancied himself given over to a fiend, to be tortured with frightful dreams and desperate thoughts, the sting of remorse and despair of pardon, as a foretaste of what awaits him beyond the grave.†
p. 158.7
- None; unless it avail him somewhat that he was broken down by long and exquisite suffering; that his mind was darkened and confused by the very remorse which harrowed it; that, between fleeing as an avowed criminal, and remaining as a hypocrite, conscience might find it hard to strike the balance; that it was human to avoid the peril of death and infamy, and the inscrutable machinations of an enemy; that, finally, to this poor pilgrim, on his dreary and desert path, faint, sick, miserable, there appeared a glimpse of human affection and sympathy, a new life, and a true one, in exchange for the heavy doom which he was now expiating.†
p. 187.6
- "People of New England!" cried he, with a voice that rose over them, high, solemn, and majestic—yet had always a tremor through it, and sometimes a shriek, struggling up out of a fathomless depth of remorse and woe—"ye, that have loved me!†
p. 237.2
- Others, again and those best able to appreciate the minister's peculiar sensibility, and the wonderful operation of his spirit upon the body—whispered their belief, that the awful symbol was the effect of the ever-active tooth of remorse, gnawing from the inmost heart outwardly, and at last manifesting Heaven's dreadful judgment by the visible presence of the letter.†
p. 240.8
Definition:
a feeling of deep regret for doing something that was wrong
Synonym comparison (if you're into word choice):
Many consider the word remorse stronger than the word regret. Also, it is more personal. One might regret that their team lost the game, but feel remorse that they missed the bus and weren't there to help the team.
Many consider the word remorse stronger than the word regret. Also, it is more personal. One might regret that their team lost the game, but feel remorse that they missed the bus and weren't there to help the team.