Cited: Hawthorne, Nathaniel. The Scarlet Letter. New York: Barnes & Noble Classics, 2003.
Cited: Hawthorne, Nathaniel. The Scarlet Letter. New York: Barnes & Noble Classics, 2003.
Sometimes, Dimmesdale seems like a coward. However, all he is trying to do is be an admirable pastor to his people, yet Dimmesdale has his unconfessed sins still burdening him. The reader can understand Dimmesdale’s desolation when Dimmesdale found out who Roger Chillingworth really was. As Hawthorne says in The Scarlet Letter, “ The minister looked at her for an instant, with all that violence of passion, which - intermixed in more shapes than one his higher, purer, softer qualities - was, in fact, the portion of him which the devil claimed, and through which he sought to win the rest.” (Hawthorne 214). In that excerpt of the book, the reader can grasp Dimmesdale’s rage. He feels betrayed by Hester because she did not tell him who Roger Chillingworth really was. Dimmesdale is also very upset that even with all of the torture he has put himself through, that he still does not regret his sin. Hawthorne also adds ,” Of penance, I have had enough! Of penitence, there has been none!” (Hawthorne 212) He feels that he has tortured himself enough, but he feels no guilt for his sins. Even though Dimmesdale knows that telling the people his thoughts are erroneous, he still wants everyone to know. In fact, he feels guilty for not saying anything and letting Hester take the fall for the punishment. Hawthorne includes, “ Else, I should long ago have thrown off these garments of mock holiness, and have…
After learning her earlier punishments carried upon the prison she was held in, our attention focuses on what the society has to say about it. At the market-place there is several Puritan women waiting in the crowd for Hester’s appearance. Their reactions to Hester’s punishments were something along the lines of: harsher judgments, a hot branding iron on her forehead, pity, and death. “Ah, but,’ interposed, more softly, a young wife, holding a child by the hand, ‘let her cover the mark as she will, the pang of it will be always in her heart. “What do we talk of marks and brands, whether on the bodice of her gown or the flesh of her forehead?’ cried another female, the ugliest as well as the most pitiless of these self-constituted judges. ‘This woman has brought shame upon us all, and ought to die; Is there not law for it? (Hawthorne 36). As women in the crowd were saying such things, Hester is walking into the sunshine after her three month imprisonment. She’s carrying her child and wearing a scarlet letter “A” attached to her bodice with gold embroidery. Her initial reaction was to run and hide; but she walked with grace and beauty to the scaffold and began her three hours of public humiliation. As Hester is standing there soaking in all that she can, she notices someone at the end of the crowd. Her husband, who was held hostage by the Indians. He recognizes his wife after a while but says…
Generally throughout society people are condemned, punished, and judged for their individual choices and flaws. This can depict the concept of alienation and the way it affects the relationship between an individual and their society. In Nathaniel Hawthorne's, The Scarlet Letter, sin and guilt play a huge role in the Puritan society. The author uses Hester to show that people who make mistakes will often face consequences that isolate them from their society. Throughout the Scarlet Letter, Hester experiences the effects of isolation and the outcome of sin due to the corrupt rules and strict moral values in the society.…
Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter is set in a gloomy, distressed, religious atmosphere in Boston, Massachusetts with multiple main characters known for the sins they have done. One of those being a man named Arthur Dimmesdale, who is known for being a sinful and hypocritical individual. He is part of the Puritan community who are very judgmental people, which sets up the perfect situation for confrontations. Nathaniel Hawthorne illustrates his theme that secrets that are hidden will have its consequences. Dimmesdale is very conflicted with himself and also with the community; he struggles with doing the what is right.…
In the book the “Scarlet Letter” by Nathaniel Hawthorne the character Chillingworth changes multiple times in the story, unfortunately he keeps getting worse and worse. Chillingworth turns from the knowable scholar, to a symbol of evil, to the point where he is even portrayed as the devil.…
He left behind his entire identity after he found out that his wife committed adultery. He severed all ties with his past life and created a new identity as the town physician.…
Roger Chillingworth comes to Boston two years after sending his wife, Hester. When he gets in the town, there is a gathering at the scaffold. Upon the scaffold he sees Hester holding a baby, whom she calls Pearl, in her arms. Hester recognizes him in the crowd, yet he motions to her to not say anything. He first deceives the colony with his untrue identity Chapter 3 when he turns to a townsman and says, “I pray you, good Sir, who is this woman?--and wherefore is she here set up to public shame?” By Chillingworth asking who Hester was, he has not revealed that he does indeed know her; and knows her to be his wife. Another time that he admits he has not been true about his identity is when he converses with Hester in the forest. In Chapter 14, he says to her, “I have already told thee what I am! A fiend!” When he says this, he admits that his whole demeanor has changed throughout his…
A shocking story about a young women committing adultery in a such strict community. This event occurred in the seventeenth-century Boston.The young women who committed the sin is Hester Prynne. Hester Prynne had committed this sin with a Puritan minister named Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale. Hester’s real husband in disguise is Roger Chillingworth. Roger Chillingworth had sent Hester to America while he stayed behind in Europe but was supposed to follow Hester. The result of Chillingworth not following Hester was a baby girl named Pearl.…
Roger Chillingworth is Hester’s long-lost husband. He went out to sea and never returned so Hester had her mind set that he was dead. One day while she was on the scaffold he appeared in the town and saw her being humiliated. He later got to speak to her because he is a great physician. He knew Dimmesdale was the father, and he wanted revenge upon him. Hester also suggested Dimmesdale to leave the colony in order to protect him. Hester truly remained in Boston to protect Dimmesdale from Chillingsworth threat of revenge.…
“Thou hast escaped me!”-Chillingworth says. Throughout the course of the Scarlet Letter many of the characters suffer personal struggle and make choices that affect the lives of others. All characters experience this but one such character is Roger Chillingworth or Mr. Prynne, as he is also known. The choices and character changes of Roger Chillingworth will be explained throughout this essay.…
Summary: Roger Chillingworth and Reverend Dimmesdale look out onto the graveyard, and talk about the way guilt can manifest itself in ugly physical ways if a person does not confess their guilt. The men see Pearl and Hester in the graveyard, and Pearl places burrs on her mother’s scarlet ‘A’. Chillingworth suggests that Dimmesdale has a spiritual ailment that has been manifesting itself on Dimmesdale’s physical body. Dimmesdale becomes increasingly angry and defensive, and says that in that case, it’s only a matter between him and God. Later, after the two men make up, Chillingworth takes off Dimmesdale’s vestment (a clerical robe) while he’s asleep, and sees something that makes his face break out into a satanic yet wondrous expression.…
"What evil have I done the man?" asked Roger Chillingworth again.”(Hawthorne, 141) Chillingworth has an urge to ruin Hester if it’s the last thing he does. "Hadst thou sought the whole earth over," said he, looking darkly at the clergyman, "there was no one place so secret, —no high place nor lowly place, where thou couldst have escaped me,--save on this very scaffold!"(Hawthorne, 175) Chillingworth does not show the appearance that he is there to take revenge on Hester.…
In Nathaniel Hawthorne's, The Scarlet Letter, he describes the story as a "tale of human frailty and sorrow. This is most likely due to the fact that all the main characters go through some sort of sorrow and hardship throughout the novel. Each is unique in it's own way and has a different effect on the character. Furthermore, each character has his/her own major flaw or sin. Roger Chillingworth, for example, had the flaw of seeking revenge. This completely consumed his life, and as you will soon see, he was unable to live without it. As his name suggests he is devoid of human sentiment. He is referred to as a leech because he feeds on the lives of others in order to accomplish his goals. Ultimately Roger Chillingworth comes to represent true evil. Roger Chillingworth's outlook throughout the story and his actions were very dependant upon his need for revenge. His vow to seek revenge had a negative affect on his life and the lives of others around him. Lastly, his fatal flaw led him to suffer dire consequences at the end of the novel.…
Have you ever hated someone? Do you wish something terrible would happen to that person? That is exactly the feeling you have when reading the Scarlet Letter. Roger Chillingworth is Hester Prynne's husband. He is a physician, but he is not your ordinary friendly doctor. Chillingworth works for "the Black Man" and tortures what we learn later to be Hester's "baby daddy", who is also a minister for the local church, Reverend Dimmesdale. Your hatred doesn't develop after reading the first chapter. Your opinion is formed steadily, and your anger grows more intensely. Chillingworth is the most hated character in the Scarlet Letter because he's blind, has control issues, and is revengeful.…
Furthermore, while being held captive inside the prison Hester’s husband visits her and tells her things such as “how could I delude myself with the idea that intellectual gifts might veil physical deformity in a young girl’s fantasy”. Meaning that he knew a beautiful girl like Hester would cheat on him and be miserable. As she defends herself by saying “you knew I didn’t love you and I will not give up my secret lover”. Roger Chillingworth dedicates himself to finding out who the guy who wronged them both.…