Scarlet Letter Guilt Quotes

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

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.

Roger Chillingworth is the symbol for evil in this novel with a personal agenda in place of a moral code making him the perfect example of how duplicity is never beneficial. Hawthorne conveys Chillingworth’s deception in the quote, “It seemed to be his wish and purpose to mask this expression with a smile.” Time and again Chillingworth hid his true identity by presenting himself as a gentle friend and preforming good deeds. For example, he insisted on the priest minimizing his workload in order to prevent an early death. Nevertheless, when Roger made the decision to seek revenge on his wife’s lover, Arthur Dimmesdale, he descended into a deep evil derangement becoming somewhat of a heartbroken devil. Consequently, this sealed his own tragic fate. "In a word, old Roger Chillingworth was a striking evidence of man's faculty of transforming himself into a devil, if he will only, for a reasonable space of time, undertake a devil's office." Chillingworth was an extremely learned scholar void of compassion who in the end, was the cause of his own demise. Roger Chillingworth was another character used by Hawthorne to show that deceit and dishonesty can do no good in the long

Chillingworth will not bear the shame in regards to his unfaithful wife, nor be burdened with supporting and providing for her. He is truly a cruel and twisted man. This unfaithfulness to his wife is not his only shame; he also is responsible for the daily, mental torture of Rev. Arthur Dimmesdale. “She doubted not, that the continual presence of Roger Chillingworth, –the secret poison of his malignity, infecting all the air about him, –and his authorized interference, as a physician, with the minister’s physical and spiritual infirmities, –that these bad opportunities had been turned into a cruel purpose” (Hawthorne132).

authors use the concept of guilt to imply the idea that guilt has the capabilities to

Most of the people in the story that reside in Salem, Massachusetts during the seventeenth-century were Puritans. Puritans are saintly and it is rare when they commit any bad deeds. Chillingsworth, a Puritan himself, isn’t supposed to sin, but with his bad actions achieving vengeance from Dimmesdale, he ends up committing a bad sin. For example, "[…] That old man's

Chillingworth mainly sinned out of revenge. He was angry about what Hester had done and wanted to get back at her and the other man. At the end of the book, Dimmesdale ends up dying, all because of what Chillingworth did. “‘Thou hast escaped me!’ Chillingworth repeated more than once.

Chillingworth admits that he is wrong about marrying Hester so why should he feel the need to vengeance? This says a lot about Chllingworth's character. He is definitely a man full of revenge. I could care less really about getting revenge on a person because karma will takes it's place. I think Chillingworth loves Hester so much that he can't hurt her or pearl. He obviously turns his anger on Dimmesdale instead. I think while Chillingworth is tormenting Dimmesdale he is going to put his life in danger. If I were Chillingworth i would have left the situation alone because it is already as bad as it seems. I wouldn't be getting anything out of it because God doesn't like ugly and selfish ways. I think Chillingworth is the type person who

Last, but not least Chillingworth was also regarded as a sinner, perhaps the greatest of the three by Hawthorne. Like Dimmesdale, I found him to be a very tragic character twisted by unfortunate circumstances. Although Hawthorne has readers easily sympathize with Hester, Chillingworth is all gray. Moral wise, we can’t blame Chillingworth for his initial shock at seeing his wife Hester impregnated and publicly punished and his refusal to bear harsh grudges and acceptance of both their actions leading to their mistakes is admirable. However, his resentment and anger towards Hester’s “partner” to escape punishment is a fault Chillingworth is unable to forgive, and in doing stages his fall through his lust for revenge.

It is even now at my lips.” However, Chillingworth replies with “Even if I imagine a scheme of vengeance, what could I do better for my object than to let thee live,—than to give thee medicines against all harm and peril of life,—so

This was a customary punishment for committing adultery if you were married in those days. Hester and the baby are back in prison but the turmoil of the day has them feeling distraught; the jailer can not get them to calm down. Chillingworth, who also was staying in the prison because he had nowhere else to stay, asks the jailer if he can give them some medicine he made saying that it will make them more “ amenable to just authority” (Hawthorne 80). At first Hester is afraid to take the medicine thinking Chillingworth is going to poison her for revenge. He tells her “ Even if I imagine a scheme of vengeance, what could I do better for my object than to let you live with the shame of the crime you committed” (Hawthorne 82). They continue to talk together and Chillingworth asks her not to reveal his true identity, because it is humiliating to be the husband of a cheater. He talks about how he is disgusted with himself for thinking that Hester could ever have loved him. He goes on to say that their two wrongs make them even, but he wants to know who the father of the baby is so he can seek his revenge. Hester does not tell him who the man is, but Chillingworth says that he will find out who he is and retaliate against him.

Next, the interaction between Chillingworth and Hester further proves Hester’s strength. Chillingworth orders Hester to tell him the name of Pearl’s father. Hester refuses, “Ask me not! That thou shalt never know!” (Chapter 4). This is surprising now because during the puritan times, husbands had control over their spouses. Women were seen as disobedient if they didn’t follow their husband’s orders. The setting and Hester’s replies to Chilling worth shows Hester’s obvious strength and her

The three main characters in the novel are Hester Prynne, Roger Chillingworth, and Dimmesdale. Hester is an adulteress and has a baby named pearl and she is convicted and her punishment is to wear a scarlet letter “a” upon her chest and to wear it until her death where it will be marked upon her grave as well. Her husband who she cheated on was Roger Chillingworth, which was his alias in the new world. He discovers Hester’s ignominy and is set on finding her partner in the “crime” they committed against him. Dimmesdale is the man who Hester had an affair, although he is the minister and that is a huge scandal for the preacher who speaks against infidelity. Hawthorne makes the relationship acceptable by showing that Hester and Dimmesdale actually love each other opposed to Chillingworth and Hester’s fake love.Chillingworth convinced Hester into marrying him which she never wanted to do in the first place, he only wished to own someone not love them. Chillingworth can be associated to evil because of his wish for revenge and torture to Dimmesdale which are considered the worst kind of sins. Chillingworth is also referred to as a leech which is what

Chillingworth seeks revenge in the novel by making his wife, Hester, keep the secret of his true identity. He has been gone from his Puritan society for a long time and does not want people to recognize him. “Recognize me not, by word, by sign, but look! Breathe not a secret, above all, to the man thou wottest of. Shouldn't thou fail me recognize me not, by word, by sign, but look! Breathe not the secret, above all,

Hawthorne had introduced Chillingworth as the victim, not the villain. After all, Hester and Dimmesdale both violated him by engaging in the act of adultery. This causes many readers to sympathize for Chillingworth until he plainly confesses that it was originally himself that sinned: "Mine was the first wrong, when I betrayed thy budding youth into a false and unnatural relation with my decay."(66) Chillingworth knew that Hester didn't love him before they were married, but he was looking for what he