Essay on Scarlet Letter Study Guide

The Puritans despised Hester and her symbol for her sin, and shunned her for many years even after her prison sentence. Hester could have just lived a depressed, lonely life in seclusion with her daughter Pearl, but she decided to accept her sin and wrong doing to become a mentally stronger woman. During the many years of Hester being in prison and being rejected when she was released, she practiced needlework to provide food for her and her daughter. As the people in Salem recognized her talent of her embroidery and garments, they began respecting her talent, and so the scarlet “A” that stood for “adulterer” slowly began to stand for “able.” Hester started to supply apparel for babies, ceremonies, inaugurations, and funerals. Furthermore, the Scarlet letter has another symbolic meaning. When Pearl went to the seashore, she made a green letter “A” out of seaweed – nature’s color. This was symbolic for Pearl’s sinless life so far because she hasn’t truly been introduced to sin; she still is “green” and “pure”. As for Hester, her scarlet “A” is symbolic of her many sins, for no one can avoid sin as they grow older.

Roger Chillingworth arrives in Salem just in time to see Hester Prynne, his wife, with a baby on the town scaffold. He is, at first, a victim of adultery, but puts himself unnecessarily in the situation of being the villain of the story. The first time we see Chillingworth he is described as having “a remarkable intelligence in his features(56)” but “slightly deformed, with the left shoulder a trifle higher than the right(55)”. As the need for revenge takes over Chillingworth we see a transformation in his demeanor, by the end of

Hester “felt herself no longer so inadequate to cope with Roger Chillingworth as on that night, abased by sin, and half maddened by the ignominy that was still new, when they had talked together in the prison-chamber. She had climbed her way, since then, to a higher point” (138). At the beginning of Chapter 2, Hester first sees Roger Chillingworth in the audience as she is standing on the scaffold. There, he took “possession of her thoughts” (52), filling her with such fear that she pressed her child close to her bosom with a “convulsive force” (52). Later on, Roger Chillingworth visits Hester in her prison cell, and is revealed to be her husband, someone who has been missing for the past two years. Throughout Chapters

6. The paragraph beginning "Never, sayest thou?" if read well, can reveal exactly what kind of person Chillingworth is. Read it with a touch of villainy in thy voice and thou must needs quake with fearfulness at the plan this mis-shapen scholar. (Do you see how easy it is to get carried away?)

I find the use of the authors language creepy due to the fact that the author mentioned that he appeared “Calm, gentle, passionless,…”. If the same situated happened to me I would be the exact opposite, I would want be angry, rough, and passionate on finding the person that laid hands on my wife. Just the mere fact that he is the opposite and calm, scares me. The response from this passage definelty triggered a feeling of horror, presenting itself as meaningful towards chillingworths portrayal knowing his past

Context- in this excerpt from the chapter 10 Chillingworth has decided to help Dimmesdale with his “illness” which is supposedly being caused because Dimmesdale wont tell the public that he was the adulter in the case of Hester. This stress is overrunning him and making him weak. So he needed a doctor to make him better but they are no official doctors in the town since it is a new town in the new world. The closest thing to a doctor is Chillingworth, Chillingworth agree to help and the two move into together. Chillingworth Slowly finds out the the thing that is really make Dimmesdale sick is his guilt and he speculates that it has something to do with Hester. I believe that he comes to this conclusion based on his infatuation with the missing

Knowing Roger Chillingworth's background, his role in the book as a symbol, and his obsession of torturing

“ Yonder woman, sir you must know, was the wife of a certain learned English man”. Chillingworth remains unforgiven because he knew sending Hester alone and not coming right after her was wrong. Chillingworth knew that the people would also blame him for what happened between Hester and Dimmesdale so he made his fake identity, Roger Chillingworth,

            Chillingworth stood with Hester Prynne within the confines of the prison, talking with her about how he would go about finding her lover. He says to her,

Chillingworth is very anxious to get vengeance on Arthur, and the following quote displays this: “At his arrival in the marketplace,...very soon, however, his look became keen and penetrative.” (Hawthorne 8) This quote diagrams the mood of Chillingworth immediately. He already began to look at people with a look of keen and penetration. In chapter three, Chillingworth speaks to Dimmesdale non-venerably. “Must it be thou; or I, that shall deal with this poor sinner’s soul.” (Hawthorne 11) When Chillingworth says he’s going to deal with his soul, Chillingworth suggests that he’s going to seek his revenge upon him. Later in the chapter, we see Chillingworth get even more vengeful. “Live, therefore, and bear about thy doom with thee, in the eyes of men and women-in the eyes of him whom than didst call thy husband.” (Hawthorne 16) Again, we see Chillingworth’s desire to seek his revenge upon Dimmesdale. Chillingworth is a man of great vengeance, and this is clearly noted in the Scarlet

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 passage is found on the second page of Chapter 11 titled “The Interior of the Heart.” After Chillingworth has delved into the soul of Dimmesdale, he finds something that isn’t conveyed to the reader, creating a sense of mystery which is carried over into chapter 11. Chillingworth became a “chief actor, in the poor minister’s interior world.” This shows the total power and control held by Chillingworth over Dimmesdale. The idea of Dimmesdale as an actor demonstrates Chillingworth knowledge of Dimmesdale at such a profound level that he recognizes his greatest fears and weakness. He knows it is not death that Dimmesdale fears, but instead, staying alive through the pain and mockery of anyone finding out his secret. This total control is

In chapter fourteen, Chillingworth’s urge for revenge has completely transformed his image of an innocent man to evil. Both Hester and Chillingworth has noticed this as Chillingworth is described as, “an intellectual and studious man, calm and quiet, which was what she best remembered in

Chillingworth’s deep love for his wife, Hester, combined with her rejection proves Hawthorne's idea that obsession turns Chillingworth into a dark mysterious man. Hawthorne’s idea of Chillingworth being a dark and mysterious man as a result of his obsession over Hester is portrayed through his external traits and was described as “a deformed old figure with a face that haunted men’s memories.” The characterization shows that the obsession took an effect on Chillingworth physically turning him into a deformed old man that scared old men. Hawthorne also describes Chillingworth with “a writhing horror twisting itself across his features” as if there was a snake slithering over him. The comparison of Chillingworth to a snake shows that his facial

Old Mr. Prynne began his new life in Boston as the Physician Roger Chillingworth. The moment he arrived, the town elected him him intelligent and also mannered; he always seemed pleasant although a lot strange. Through these seven years he remained in Massachusetts. His character changed so drastically from pleasant to evil that even those who did not know him personally seemed to notice the devilishness nature deep within chillingworth's soul soul trying to break free.