Chillingworth As An Antagonist

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

Roger Chillingworth is a vile man who hides his disgrace of having a disloyal wife and finds pleasure in tormenting the poor Arthur Dimmesdale. When he comes to town at the beginning of The Scarlet Letter, Chillingworth makes Hester promise not to tell anyone that he is her real husband.“ ‘Breath not, to any human soul, that thou didst ever call me husband!’…’because I will not encounter the dishonor that besmirches the husband of a faithless woman…’”(Hawthorne 52-53).

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

These two main characters wanted their husband or wife to change for their likings. In The Scarlet Letter, Chillingstworth is Hester Pryns husband. Everyone thinks that Chillingworth is dead because that's what Hester tells them, Chillingsworth comes back to find that his wife if pregnant. He begins to seek out and see who has gotten his wife pregnant out of adultery.

In Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter, the reader is able to observe how one sin devastates three lives. Hester, Dimmesdale, and Chillingworth are all guilty of succumbing to temptation, anger, and desire, causing all to fit the definition of a sinner. Yet, Chillingworth's iniquities raise him up above Hester and Dimmesdale on the level of diabolic acts.

Pearl understands that Chillingworth has hurt people and says “Come away, mother! Come away, or yonder old Black Man will catch you! He hath got hold of the minister already. Come away, mother, or he will catch you!”(Hawthorn 121) Even though Pearl is young she is very observant and analytical. She sees that Chillingworth has affected how Dimmesdale appearance. This thought of Chillingworth being the devil is shared with the town as well. Later on Hester and Chillingworth have a conversation about how Chillingworth knows the true reason behind all of Dimmesdale's guilt. Hester says that Chillingworth has already done enough to the minister. This causes Chillingworth to retaliate by saying that she deserves to wear the scarlet letter. Hester’s impression on Chillingworth is changed from this moment on to hatred. When Hester and Dimmesdale try to leave town, Chillingworth is right behind them ready to join them to continue torturing Dimmesdale. Before they can leave though Dimmesdale confesses his sin and dies. Due to Dimmesdale dieing, Chillingworth now has no reason to live. All of his life had been based around getting revenge on Dimmesdale, that now he is dead he has no reason to live. His purpose in his

Even though the Puritans had their own idea of punishing sins, Hester too, knew that leaving Boston would not erase the sin she’s hold. After deciding to stay in Boston, Hester sews a piece of gold thread around the scarlet letter to show acceptance of her sin instead of cowering in shame as the village thought she would. Because Chillingworth’s revenge is on Dimmsdale, he attempts to get as much information on him as possible which is why in chapter 9, Hawthorne compares Chillingworth to a leech. Eventually, Chillingworth moves in with Dimmsdale as his doctor. This chapter shows just how sin feeds off sin because the two men hold sins, but unlike Hester, they hide it.

            Later on during the story while Hester and Chillingworth are in the woods talking about Dimmesdale, Hester shouts at Chillingworth, "You search his thoughts. You burrow and rankle in his heart! Your clutch is on his life and you cause him to die daily a living death!" (Pg. 156) Hester knows Chillingworth has more evil in his blood than ever before in his life; he feeds off the pain he causes Dimmesdale and enjoys every minute of it. Chillingworth doesn't realize in the slightest how much more evil flows through his veins now, than did before in his life. It

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

Chillingworth when first introduced seemed to be an innocent man as he must have been heart broken hearing from another woman that his wife cheated on him and had a child with another man. Upon hearing this news, he sought out to seek revenge on the Hester’s mister who ran around town right under all the townspeople's noses. Chillingworth’s sin occurs simultaneously during the time which he goes to help Dimmesdale when he first becomes sick and acts like a leech. The townspeople believed he was there to help Dimmesdale when he was actually lying to only try to get his revenge on Dimmesdale, not to save him. With this said, they had the right to doubt his presence but yet could not deny his skill and knowledge about medicine as it gave Dimmesdale more time on Earth.

In The Scarlet Letter, Roger Chillingworth changes from a freelance intellectual to an estranged physician as feelings of revenge control his life. Chillingworth neglected his marriage with Hester and the consequences ended up having an effect on both of their identities. In Chapter 15, Hester states her opinion on Chillingworth: “He betrayed me! He has done me worse wrong than I did him!” (159). In Hester's eyes, Chillingworth's actions changed her perspective on life as he is the sole reason she sinned in the first place. Hester coped with a life change while Chillingworth coped with revenge as a general effect of Chillingworth's neglect. Roger Chillingworth was physically and emotionally consumed by his years long plans for revenge on Reverend Dimmesdale. In Chapter 14, Roger Chillingworth says this of the Reverend to Hester: “Yea...better had he died...to be tortured with frightful dreams...perpetual poison of the direst revenge!” (155). In this quote, we see that Chillingworth's anger has turned his vile actions into words as he discusses the poisoning and brainwashing he forces Dimmesdale to endure on a daily basis. Chillingworth allowed jealousy and guilt control his life until it eventually ended. Chillingworth's’ revenge ended up killing him in the end since his plans worked and Dimmesdale died on the scaffold in which Hester lived out her daily punishments. Roger was ultimately responsible for the destruction of the lives of Hester, Dimmesdale and himself.

When Hester and Dimmesdale meet in the forest, he tells her that he rather have the scarlet letter than to live his life in misery. He understands that his secret and the split identity he creates in front of the public is slowly killing him, making him feel empty and lonely. When Hester reveals her relationship with Chillingworth to Dimmesdale. Not only did they not blame him for his sin, they understood that his sin is much burdensome compared to theirs. Hester and Dimmesdale keep their secrets to protect, but Chillingworth keeps his secret to harm others. Although Dimmesdale understands Chillingworth’s action, he claims that living with him is worse than death. When Hester brought up a plan to leave Boston to lessen their suffering, her

Chillingworth is just like the puritan society, they refuse to give into their emotions, and if one does, it will be considered a sin and they shall be punished. As Hawthorne describes his appearance and we read about his actions, we come to hate Chillingworth more and more, just like Hawthorne

It is understandable that he is upset his wife has had a child with another man while he was away, making it easy to commiserate with him as he expresses how he never felt that he was good enough for Hester and that he should have ¨foreseen all of this.¨ Hester’s sin evidently takes a negative toll on Chillingworth as the reader watches him transform from a loving husband into a vengeful villain. Although the reader’s sympathy toward Chillingworth does not his justify actions later on, he is clearly a victim of Hester and Dimmesdale’s affair, as he is negatively impacted when his wife, who he truly loves, is unfaithful to him and his marriage is

In The Scarlet Letter Roger Chillingworth was Hester Prynne’s husband who had been gone and hadn’t been home for a very long time. During that time, Hester Prynne committed