Judgement In The Scarlet Letter

In the first interaction between Chillingworth and Hester, Chillingworth is the doctor for both Hester and Pearl. Hester is dubious of Chillingworth's motives for helping them, and with good reason. Chillingworth declares that he is not aiding her out of the goodness of his heart, but rather to make sure that she lives so that he may broadcast her sins throughout the community. "Live, therefore, and bear about thy doom with thee, in the eyes of men and women, - in the eyes /of him whom thou didst call thy husband, - in the eyes of yonder child! And, that thou/ mayest live, take off this draught!" (67) Chillingworth is very angry at Hester, but not because of love for Hester, but rather because Chillingworth feels emasculated by Hester's transgression. As revenge, Chillingworth wishes to strip her of any honor. The reader at this point feels nothing but anger towards Chillingworth at this point. Chillingworth has badgered Hester incessantly in order to ascertain the father of her bastard child. "Speak out the name! That, and thy repentance, may avail to take the scarlet letter off thy breast." (63) Up until this point the reader thinks that Chillingworth is a self-righteous crusader, but when it is finally revealed that Chillingworth is in fact Hester's husband, some sympathy is

Chillingworth’s desire for revenge for Dimmesdale in The Scarlet Letter greatly conflicts his moral duty as a self-proclaimed physician in Puritan Boston. This revenge began once Chillingworth suspected Dimmesdale of having intimate relations with Hester, although he never confronted him. Dimmesdale’s physical and mental health began to deteriorate once Chillingworth relentlessly tormented him, conveying the significance behind internal guilt and poor external health. It was also quite ironic how Chillingworth was seen as Dimmesdale’s mentor to the public, and although he was a physician whose friend was in failing health, his credibility was never questioned. This revenge was fueled by the betrayal of Hester, who was Chillingworth’s wife before he claimed a new identity and persona. According to Chillingworth, Dimmesdale could never suffer enough for what he’d done unless he’d faced it publicly, but once he did, Chillingworth had nothing to motivate his devious acts. The repugnant acts committed by Chillingworth claiming to be provoking Dimmesdale’s confession are absolutely influential to his failing health and significance in the book, "Better had he died at once! Never

He finds out it was Dimmesdale and then set out to torture him. “[Chillingworth] never set him free again until he has done all it’s bidding. He now dug into the poor clergyman’s heart” (Hawthorne 117). Hester tells Chillingworth to stop, but Chillingworth does not. He wants to get revenge on Dimmesdale. Because of this revenge, he loses Hester forever. Chillingworth tortures him in his own best interest. He is selfish. He wants Hester, even though Hester no longer loves him. Even after he has the chance to learn his lesson, Chillingworth still acts in his own interest. He learns that Dimmesdale and Hester are going to leave on a boat, and he books a ticket on the same boat, causing more problems for Hester and Dimmesdale. Chillingworth wants only what was in his own best interest, not what is better for others.

Reverend Dimmesdale was a renowned, prideful man stricken with sin and extreme guilt.  From the time Hester and Dimmesdale made love, he was grievous of his sin but he also felt a great love towards her.  Dimmesdale's stubborn pride troubled him greatly, and although he tried many times, he could not confess his sin to his religious followers.  Dimmesdale felt guilt so strongly that he scourged himself on his breast and patterned an “A” into his own flesh, yet he could not confess his sin until his grief grew so great it caused him to perish.  Reverend Dimmesdale's sin was greater than Hester's because he let his pride conflict with his repentance, and let his life be ruined by his anguish.

Dimmesdale has yet to reveal the truth, which, so far, has been devouring him,physically and mentally. Since this good reverend is so spiritual, he cannot reveal his truths to the town so simply. He is of the Puritan faith and being a follower of that, the sin of adultery is a very grand sin. The whole town would look down on him as if he were a hypocrite. Which in fact, he is, but his sin of adultery in that town would have been scoffed at just as Hester’s has. The reverend is so well liked by the townsfolk that

Judgment can be the the greatest plague of society. Judgment kripples acceptance, forward growth and blinds entire communities. Though in retrospect plagues are necessary, as is judgment. Without judgment humanity would be blind to people's character exposing them dangerous risks unstable people present. In The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne , Hester dealt with the judgment repercussions of adultery. Her sin caused society's judgment of her to rise and fall, in tandem producing negative and positive effects for Hester. Throughout the novel the Puritan community shifts their views of Hester. In Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter, judgment that plagued Hester as a result of her sin evolved and shifted the communities views of her.

Dimmesdale has a largely different approach to dealing with his sin. Arthur Dimmesdale handles his terrible guilt by concealing it to himself. To overcome it he would whip himself, and take long walks into the forest. Dimmesdale’s act of concealing his guilt shows that he is not brave enough to tell all and there for he must live fearfully and cowardly. This guilt he has chose to endure is much worse than any shame he would have felt had he just confessed his sin of adultery with Hester. Since he was a moral leader in his town he felt an obligation to keep it a secret but like in many cases where guilt is concealed, the sinner eventually reasons enough to confess. Dimmesdale does the same and confesses his sin to the townspeople. “He longed to speak out from his own pulpit, at the full height of his voice, and tell his people who he was.”

From the very beginning of the novel, it can be learned that Chillingworth seeks reveng we on whoever committed adultery with his wife. Hawthorne proves this when Chillingworth says, "It irks me nevertheless, that the partner of her inequity should not, at least, stand on the scaffold by her side. But he will be known!-he will be known!-he will be known!" (43). Van Kirk realizes that when Chillingworth arrives in the colony and learns of Hester's situation, he leaves her alone nearly seven years as he singlemindedly pursues Dimmsdale. She also notices that once Chillingworth decides to pursue Hester's lover and enact revenge, he pusues this pupose with the techniques and motives of a scientist. Moving in with Dimmsdale he pokes and prods. She puts things in a different perspective when she says, "As a scientific investigator, he cold-heartedly and intellectually pursues his lab specimen.

Members of the town praise the reverend, thinking highly of him and never assuming that he was involved with Hester. While Dimmesdale commits the same sin of adultery as Hester, it is contrastly displayed through his internal guilt and conflict. As Hester serves her punishment publicly, Dimmesdale remains anonymous as the father of Pearl, which creates suffering in itself. He even tells Hester to remain fortunate that her secret known, and that his own scarlet letter “burns in secret” (Hawthorne 147). Even though Reverend Dimmesdale has a better reputation than Hester, his ultimate resulting fate ends up to be worse.

That union resulted in the birth of his daughter, Pearl, but he refused to admit that he was the father choosing instead to keep this information a secret from the town. However, not confessing his guilt was spiritually eating him alive. Dimmesdale should have confessed that Pearl was his illegitimate daughter for three reasons. By acknowledging his sin he should be completely absolved of the guilt of adultery, could be openly involved in Hester and Pearl’s life and would be significantly healthier in body, mind and soul.

Judgment is in our bones. Naturally, our predispositions mold our minds to the point of hypersensitivity, in which we label, disparage, and scorn others, often based on outward appearances or past actions. Through The Scarlet Letter, Nathaniel Hawthorne fashions the character Hester Prynne, whom Puritan society subjects to wearing a symbol of her adulterous act, the scarlet letter. Despite being set in the seventeenth century, many today still face comparable discrimination, not resulting just from adultery, but from a variety of transgressions. Facing profound animosity, former convicts model the scarlet letter in today’s society.

-he whom they call Roger Chillingworth! -he was my husband!¨(Hawthorne, 202). This scene is crucial because Hester confesses to Dimmesdale the real purpose of Chillingworth developing an intimate relationship with the ill reverend Dimmesdale. The situation can be considered to be ironic because Chillingworth as Dimmesdale´s doctor is purposely inflicting harm in order to torture Dimmesdale, but a doctor´s purpose is to heal the weak rather than abuse. Also, the physician is gathering evidences that incriminates Dimmesdale and links him to Hester and little Pearl.

Similar to real people, characters are multifaceted and well-developed characters cannot be characterized as purely “good” or “bad”. Nathaniel Hawthorne, the expert with character complexity and author of The Scarlet Letter, adeptly creates several characters that are morally ambiguous. The best model of moral ambiguity from The Scarlet Letter, is Hester Prynne.

Nathaniel Hawthorne was a man who was both plagued and absorbed by the legacy of the Puritans in New England. He was related to John Hathorne, a Puritan judge during the infamous Salem Witch trials of 1692. In The Scarlet Letter, his fictional account of mid-17th century Boston presents an opportunity to examine different themes commonly associated with Puritans. Particularly the nature of sin, personal identity and the repression of natural urges are themes that appear repeatedly through the novel. While his account of this time period may not be completely historically accurate, it is indicative of the persistent thematic influence of Puritan culture on American and New England society.

The Scarlett Letter is an 1850 work of fiction written by Nathaniel Hawthorne. The story is set up in the 17th century in Puritan Boston Massachusets and it mainly focuses on the life of a woman, Hester Prynne and how she struggles to gain respect from the community after having committed adultery. Throughout the book, themes such as sin, isolation, and judgment are explored. Hawthorne uses the theme of judgment to convey ideas about the strictness of the puritan society. This theme is explored from the beginning of the book up until the end. Hawthorne uses characters such as Dimmesdale, Pearl, and Hester to show this theme and the ways in which it impacts their lives. The theme of Judgment is evident in the first chapter when Hester was standing on the scaffold