All 4 Uses of
ecstasy
in
The Scarlet Letter
- Had a man seen old Roger Chillingworth, at that moment of his ecstasy, he would have had no need to ask how Satan comports himself when a precious human soul is lost to heaven, and won into his kingdom.†
p. 93.8
- But what distinguished the physician's ecstasy from Satan's was the trait of wonder in it!†
p. 93.9 *
- Assuredly, as the minister looked back, he beheld an expression of divine gratitude and ecstasy that seemed like the shine of the celestial city on her face, so wrinkled and ashy pale.†
p. 147.3
- However, leaving that mystery to solve itself, or go unsolved for ever, he drove his task onward with earnest haste and ecstasy.†
p. 151.5
Definitions:
-
(1)
(ecstasy as in: ecstasy of love) a state of intense happiness
-
(2)
(meaning too rare to warrant focus) More rarely, ecstasy is used as the street name of an illegal drug known to produce feelings of euphoria, but associated with damage of the central nervous system.
Still more rarely, ecstasy can reference a trance, frenzy, or altered state of consciousness marked by overwhelming emotion -- especially joy from a religious experience.