The Character of Chillingworth in The Scarlet Letter Essay

The character of Roger Chillingworth in Nathaniel Hawthorne's Scarlet Letter is one of many different faces. Hawthorne changes the character of Chillingworth during different periods of the novel. As Chillingworth's actions and his motives change, so in turn does the reader's opinion of him, which ranges from compassion to antipathy. Hawthorne keeps the character of Chillingworth an enigma, and Hawthorne uses his narrative to shed light on the true feelings of Chillingworth, as well through the good doctor's interaction with other characters, especially Hester, Pearl, and Dimmesdale. As we watch the plot evolve, and the reader observes Chillingworth's actions,

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,

He admits to his schemes and gave a reasonable explanation of why he’s doing it. Chillingworth is still bummed out about Hester’s new lover, and it reminds him of how lonely he is. The quote shows that not only Chillingworth is isolated by society, but also from Hester.

Even tho his actions are quite subtle, they make a big impact in the story. The first big action he makes is when he starts hanging around Dimmesdale. Hawthorne states that, “After a time, at a hint from Roger Chillingworth, the friends of Mr. Dimmesdale effected an arrangement by which the two were lodged in the same house; so that every ebb and flow of the minister’s life-tide might pass under the eye of this anxious and attached physician” (Hawthorne 70). In this quote the reader learns that Chillingworth found a way to get closer to Dimmesdale. Through this action Chillingworth is capable of destroying Dimmesdale's soul. All of the evil actions Chillingworth commits make his appearance

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.

Physically deformed and mysterious, Roger Chillingworth finally met his wife after being separated from her for almost two years.  He showed no great anger towards her and took upon himself some of the accountability saying it was “...my folly and thy weakness,” (Hawthorne 52) which was the cause of Hester's sin.  Chillingworth's only feeling was one of revenge towards the man who had been Hester's lover.  Chillingworth was obsessed by hate and revenge so much that when Dimmesdale died “... the life seemed to have departed...” (Hawthorne 72) from him and he died within a year of Dimmesdale's death.  Chillingworth never felt guilt or attempted repentance because he “... violated, in cold blood, the sanctity of a human heart.” (Hawthorne 133).  He sought to destroy Dimmesdale's

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

Throughout the story Roger Chillingworth slowly transforms and is comparable to the devil. There are phases to this transformation. The fact we learn Chillingworth trapped Hester in a marriage that she did not want be in shows that his evil transformation starts when we are first introduced to him. Later in this next phase, he uses his hatred and devotion to bring pain on Dimmesdale for seven years. Over the seven years, Chillingworth devotes his time to torment Dimmesdale with no remorse or compassion. While Dimmesdale and Hester had committed a high sin in Puritan life, Chillingworth’s conduct proves to be the greater evil. Hester and the “A” transition in the opposite direction. She was branded a

Due to the fact that Hester had an affair with , Roger is determined to figure out who her accomice was and to wreak havoc on his life. Roger knows that his wife cheated on him, yet he has little to no anger towards her, and despite her reasoning to let it go, Chillingworth is tenacious. Just as Iago had a mask on around Othello, Chillingworth was deceptive towards Dimmesdale. Chillingworth was there for Dimmesdale to accompany him and assist him with him mental health, however Chillingworth does the exact opposite. For example during chapter 10, Chillingworth interrogates Dimmesdale and delicately diggs at what Dimmesdale thinks about Hester publically wearing her sin. This makes Dimmesdale uncomfortable however it was a legitimate question to ask because the two of them had become so close, because of the proximity of their relationship Chillingworth had the

Roger Chillingworth’s soul is immediately taken captive by revenge as soon as he finds out about Hester’s infedelity (I would go w infidelity). He is transformed into a devilish figure overcome by a passion to torture Hester’s partner in crime, Arthur Dimmesdale. Hawthorne shows Chillingworth’s evil intentions, “The intellect of Roger Chillingworth had now a sufficiently plain path before it…which led him to imagine a more intimate revenge than any mortal had ever wreaked upon an enemy” (Hawthorne 127). In The Scarlet Letter,

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

Chillingworth also changes as a character. In the beginning, before he finds out about Hester’s sin, he is a peaceful and quiet physician. As time goes on, and he knows about Hester’s sin, he kindles a new fire for revenge. He carries a new dark energy that isn’t there before. As years go on, people even think him to be the devil himself. He transforms into something evil that

Hawthorne uses dark supernatural elements to characterize Roger Chillingworth. Hester’s affair makes Chillingworth an envious and vengeful man, and his need for revenge turns him into a fiend. Chillingworth’s physical appearance changes for the worst in the course of seven years, “old Roger Chillingworth was a striking evidence of man’s faculty of transforming himself into a devil” (Hawthorne 156). Chillingworth’s appearance changes from a studious and scholarly man to a stooped and deformed creature with red glowing eyes. Pearl observes Chillingworth’s hideous and terrifying features and suspects that he is the Black Man. Not only is Chillingworth’s appearance effected by the supernatural elements of the devil, his demonic character is exposed when he leeches onto Dimmesdale. Chillingworth seems to embrace his demonic identity when Hester condemns him for torturing Dimmesdale and making his life hell. Chillingworth admits to doing so, but refuses to stop because Dimmesdale deserves it. Hawthorne uses the evil supernatural elements of the devil to make Roger Chillingworth a symbol of the Black Man. His reason for doing so provides grave conflict in the lives of Hester, Pearl, and especially Dimmesdale. The comparison of Chillingworth to the devil

Roger Chillingworth presents a fierce will focused on finding the man who participated in an unlawful relationship with his wife. Under the guise of a physician he learns of his wife’s guilt and immediately promises to “...seek this man, as [he has] sought the truth” (Hawthorne 81). This attitude begins as soon as he first finds out about the situation, and only grows stronger through time, until he has completely “devoted himself” to his task of gaining revenge

Chillingworth plots vengeance during all of his waking hours. His evilness and corrupt behavior are illustrated in the joy that he finds when his suspicions are confirmed. This happens when he discovers the carved letter A on Dimmesdale's chest one evening while Dimmesdale was resting. “Had a man seen old Roger Chillingworth, at that moment of ecstasy, he would have had no need to ask how Satan comports himself when a precarious human soul is lost to heaven,and won, into his kingdom. But what distinguished the physician’s ecstasy from Satan’s was the trait of wonder in it.” (95). Chillingworth is evil and he embodies the characteristics of the Devil. Even Pearl refers to him as the “black man.”