Summary Of ' Chillingworth 's Evil Nature

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

One of the various ways Chillingworth serves as the devil’s advocate is by being the antithesis of Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale, the palpable Jesus figure of the narrative. Chillingworth keenly sets out to devastate Dimmesdale, as Hawthorne informs us when referring to Chillingworth's unearthing of Dimmesdale's secret, “All that guilty sorrow, hidden from the world, whose great heart would have pitied and forgiven, to be revealed to him, the

In chapter ten, Chillingworth ruthlessly attempts to find the root of the Reverend’s condition. One day while they are conversing, Pearl and her mother pass by, Pearl is placing burrs on the scarlet letter of Hester’s bosom when she spots the minister, “She threw one of the prickly burrs at the Rev. Mr. Dimmesdale. The sensitive clergyman shrank, with nervous dread, from the light missile.” (84). Dimmesdale shies away from the burr as if he was shying away from Pearl. I think Pearl is representation of his guilt towards Hester, whenever he looks at Pearl he sees a reflection of sin that he fears. Later that night Dimmesdale falls asleep, but Chillingworth is still curious about the reverend. He sneaks into his room and takes a look at his chest where he has been clutching his heart.

Out of fear, Dimmesdale shrieks while contemplating the situation he has been placed in. At this point, Dimmesdale’s guilt grows rapidly, taking a toll on his physical health as he suffers from severe health problems. He is described to be looking as if he is slowing wasting away as he grabs his chest as if his heart aches: “He was often observed to put his hand over his heart, with a flush and then a paleness, indicative of pain” (Hawthorne 169). Dimmesdale becomes so upset and depressed, that he beings to whip and starve himself because he feels he deserves to suffer. The book says, “About this period, however, the health of Mr. Dimmesdale has evidently begun to fail… the paleness of the young minister’s cheek was accounted… in order to keep the grossness of this early state from clogging and obscuring his spiritual lamp” (Hawthorne 109). Hester and Pearl walk up to Dimmesdale on the scaffold where Pearl asks him if he will stand with them at noon. Dimmesdale responds saying that he will stand with them on the great judgement day, foreshadowing a significant scene. Holding the sin inside of him, makes him sick, and even with all his pain, there is a value of truth and irony. Dimmesdale is described as if “there came a glare of red light out of his eyes; as if the old man’s soul were on fire, and kept on smoldering duskily

Arthur Dimmesdale, a character of high reputation, overwhelmed by guilt, torn apart by his own wrongdoing, makes his entrance into history as the tragic hero whose life becomes a montage of pain and agony because of his mistakes. The themes leading to Dimmesdale’s becoming a tragic hero are his guilt from his sin, and his reluctance to tarnish his reputation in the town. Guilt plays a huge role in defining Dimmesdale as a tragic hero. Dimmesdale has understood that by not revealing his sin, he has doomed himself. This also connects with the constant struggle with Chillingworth. The mysteries of Dimmesdale’s guilty heart entice Chillingworth to delve into his soul and reveal what has been hidden, causing Dimmesdale great pain and

As stated in the text when Chillingworth's path was set before him, "Yet Mr. Dimmesdale would perhaps have seen this individual's character more perfectly, if a certain morbidness, to which sick hearts are liable, had not rendered him suspicious of all mankind" (Hawthorne 89). Dimmesdale would have been able to see Chillingworth as his enemy if he did not distrust every single person in the town. While Dimmesdale is speaking with Chillingworth, Pearl, the daughter of Hester and Dimmesdale, sees them and says, "Come away, or yonder Black Man will get you! He hath got hold of the minister already" (Hawthorne 92). The minister, Dimmesdale, is under the control of the Black Man, also knowable as Chillingworth by many in the town. In this way, Dimmesdale's sin blinds him to the one who wishes revenge against

The Biggest Villain in the book in my opinion is Chillingworth. Although he is not the original source of evil, he does the most evil. Hester and Dimmesdale are the ones who started all of the trouble but there sin was an act out of passion and love. Chillingworth deliberately makes all of his decisions to harm and torment Dimmsdale. All of his actions are previously plotted and they are not in the moment acts of affections like Hester's sin.

He,(Dimmesdale), is “a rare case…I must search this matter to the bottom” (Hawthorne, 158). When Chillingworth overheard Dimmesdale having a bad dream, he entered his quarters and “laid his hand upon his bosom, and thrust aside the vestment, that, … had always covered it even from the professional eye” (Hawthorne, 159). What Chillingworth saw there, no one knows, but we know that he saw Dimmesdale’s sin on his chest. “… With a wild look of wonder, joy, and horror … (with) the extravagant gestures with which he threw up his arms towards the ceiling, and stamped his foot upon the floor” (Hawthorne, 159). When Chillingworth becomes the Devil, he is doing many strange things. Chillingworth is keeping himself secluded, and is seen lurking around town in a creepy manner. Roger secluded himself from everyday life to keep his plot for revenge focused. His plot is working too, Dimmesdale’s “… soul shivers … at the sight of the man” (Hawthorne, 240). Chillingworth is also spending a great deal of time in the “forest trees … searching for roots and twigs, for his strange medicines” (Hawthorne, 145). The townspeople even see that Roger Chillingworth is pure evil. When the town first meets Chillingworth, they think he is a kind old doctor that would not harm a soul. “ At first, his expression had been meditative, scholar like” (Hawthorne,

Chillingworth made Dimmesdale suffer by exaggerating his illness, and humiliating him with guilt of his sin “a bodily disease which we look upon as whole and entire within itself, may, after all, be but an ailment in the spiritual part”. the fragility and susceptibility of Dimmesdale states clearly his weakness, moreover.

Hawthorne gave the name Dimmesdale to the town’s reverend because of how he would change throughout the story. Dimmesdale’s personality would fade the longer the story went on. Dimmesdale's personality faded due to him feeling guilty of his sins and Roger Chillingworth taking the life right out of him. Dimmesdale felt guilty for the multiple sins he committed throughout the novel. At the beginning, Dimmesdale felt guilty that he had committed adultery. Dimmesdale decided he was not going to confess his sin even though he knew it was the right thing to do. Instead of taking on his troubles, he bottled them up inside of him, making him feel even more guilty than he already did. Dimmesdale could never really rid himself of this guilt because he did not confess his wrongdoing. To make matters worse, Roger Chillingworth was assigned to be the physician of this sick man. Chillingworth tortured Dimmesdale and only made the man's condition worsen. Towards the end, Dimmesdale feared he had signed his name in the the devils black book. This was the final straw for Dimmesdale. It was not until the final scene where Dimmesdale had died that he finally felt at peace with his life.

Another effect on Dimmesdale, seen as his guilt slowly wears him down, is how he compares his actions to those of Roger Chillingworth. This is clearly seen when Dimmesdale claims to Hester, "We are not, Hester, the worst sinners in the world. There is one worse than even the polluted priest! That old man 's revenge has been blacker than my sin. He has violated, in cold blood, the sanctity of a human heart. Thou and I, Hester, never did so!” (Hawthorne 185). Even in the privacy of the forest, he did not want to accept the full reality of his actions. This is a step forward for him, however, because he chooses to actually say aloud that what he did was wrong, just not as wrong as Chillingworth’s terrorizing of him. Eventually, Dimmesdale is able to confess to the public his sin, and this is due to his longing to escape the torture Chillingworth has been putting him through. Dimmesdale is no longer affected by the guilt that his actions brought about, so Chillingworth has no reason to aggravate him anymore. Sadly for the reverend, the shame

This is the beginning of Chillingworth’s obsession with finding out the “truth”. Later on in the novel, Dimmesdale is getting sick and the town advises him to move in with Chillingworth,

Dimmesdale whips himself to punish himself for his sins, and as his sin grew inside of him and festered there, he became very ill, he started getting very sick, holding his heart even more than usual. Chillingworth one night after Dimmesdale had fallen asleep, sneaks into Dimmesdale’s room, rips open his shirt, and right over his heart, is the Black Man’s mark, the scarlet letter ‘A’. Dimmesdale becomes even more sick as time goes on, Hester and Dimmesdale plan to leave to go to England, but before that happens, Dimmesdale gives his final sermon, which was phenomenal, and as they are leaving the church, Dimmesdale gets onto the scaffold, asks Hester and Pearl to join him “He turned towards the scaffold, and stretched forth his arms. ‘Hester,’ said he, ‘come hither! Come, my little Pearl!’” (Hawthorne 376), as he declares that he is the father and that he loves them. Pearl grants him the kiss he has been wanting/needing from her, and right after, Dimmesdale collapses on the scaffold and dies. Dimmesdale is buried in a tomb and when Hester dies, she is then placed basically beside him, sharing a headstone to mark their love.

When Chillingworth enters town, Dimmesdale’s reputation begins to change because the people believe that Dimmesdale is associating with the ‘black man’- Chillingworth. The community has seen that Dimmesdale’s association with Chillingworth has had a negative impact, and that causes his reputation to suffer. From the point in time when Chillingworth entered the town, the people have seen Dimmesdale become thinner and more nervous and darkness consume Chillingworth, leading to this change in reputation. Dimmesdale has also started holding his hand over his heart frequently, leading to the communal belief that the A was having more of an effect, especially through its effect on Chillingworth and Dimmesdale: “To sum up the matter, it grew to be a widely diffused opinion, that the Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale, like many other personages of especial sanctity, in all ages of the Christian world, was haunted either by Satan himself, or Satan’s emissary, in the guide of old Roger Chillingworth” (112). By the end of the novel, Dimmesdale’s reputation was at it’s lowest point due to the revelation that he was Hester’s co-adulterer. The people were shocked when this was revealed, as “the multitude, silent till then, broke out in a strange, deep voice of awe and wonder, which could not as yet find utterance, save in this murmur that rolled so heavily after the departed spirit” (222). The conclusion to the novel discussed the repercussions of Dimmesdale’s

Dimmesdale finally realizes that he has to change, but the sin had already done its damage. Referring to the dead man and the weeds on his grave, Chillingworth says, "They grew out of his heart, and typify, it may be, some hideous secret that was buried with him, and which he had done better to confess during his lifetime." (pg. 120). He is