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Main characters in the scarlet letter
Character analysis essay on scarlet letter
Character analysis essay on scarlet letter
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Chillingworth's relationship with Dimmesdale can be described as toxic, filled with doubt and ulterior motives. This view is supported even with mere chapter titles: “The Leech” and “The Leech and His Patient”. Chillingworth, suspecting that Dimmesdale is Pearl’s father, suggests living with Dimmesdale under the false pretenses that he is a doctor and he can help cure Dimmesdale’s illness. Chillingworth, the leech, is noticeably an evil character, described as both “Satan himself” by the community (120) and as the “Black Man” by Pearl (126). Chillington plans to get close with Dimmesdale, in hopes of finding out if his suspicions are correct. Once he gains Dimmesdale’s trust, he slowly weakens him and subjects him to physical pain. Doctors
this quote is when Chillingworth pretends to be a doctor so he can talk to Hester. He wants Hester to be dishonest by saying her husband is dead so no one will know him. He does not want anyone to know he is the husband to a sinful woman which is hypocritical because since they are married they should share equal ownership and be there for one another. He also told her he would follow her to England but yet he never did. Deceitfulness is shown in his character making him a bigger hypocrite because it shows he lacks honesty and contradiction of his feelings.
18th century’s perception of the Puritan Society was that Puritans were a zealous community of people that lived with strict moral standards which allowed them to live in perfect harmony. However, the truth is Puritans were overly zealous whose values created paranoia and intolerance for other views. Through the characters Dimmesdale and Chillingworth who are also falsely perceived, Hawthorne suggest they are representative of the dour living of Puritan society that is hidden by the puritan’s tranquil and utopian outlook.
Roger Chillingworth’s main internal conflict was his personal revenge towards Arthur Dimmesdale. Roger is a dynamic character who changes from being a caring and mindful doctor to a dark creature enveloped in retaliation. His character possesses a clear example of the result when a person chooses sin by letting his vengeance get the better of him. For example, Roger constantly asks Hester to tell him who has caused her punishment. As Roger visits Hester at the prison, he is determined to find out who Hester’s lover was, “...few things hidden from the man, who devotes himself earnestly and unreservedly to the solution of mystery” (64).
Reflecting on these events, he turned his back on them when they stood on the scaffolding in the beginning, when he went to give Pearl a kiss on her forehead, and during the middle of the night after Hester and him talked. Unlike Dimmesdale, Chillingworth expresses no remorse whatsoever. Both men are well-educated as pastors and the other as doctors. These men seem to resemble both sides of the human society. The lack of faith is that Dimmesdale is a pastor and therefore must believe that God is in control and that his heavenly riches are better than anything else that can be offered to him.
Chillingworth states, “What should ail me to harm this misbegotten and miserable babe? The medicine is potent for good.” (4:42) Although Hester believes that Chillingworth may be trying to poison Pearl, she allows him to administer the medicine to her. Shortly thereafter, the novel states that “it soon proved its efficacy, and redeemed the leech’s pledge.” (4:42) This is a direct affirmation from the book that Chillingworth was helping Pearl and Hester. His resentment is directed towards Dimmesdale, as he is the one who caused Hester to have an affair. However, even in his insanity, he was still able to help Pearl. This further shows that he has a good character, and that the only thing causing his bad temper is his distress over Hester’s
As a respected physician, Chillingworth was “a man of skill in all Christian modes of physical science, and li... ... middle of paper ... ... powerful grip over him, dies peacefully, and Chillingworth dies soon after. To plot revenge in any situation is harmful. Chillingworth’s plot of revenge brings the downfall of Dimmesdale, as well as his own.
Chillingworth is also a sinner because he pretends to be a physician when he really isn?t and takes that role to torture Reverend Dimmesdale. Chillingworth tortures Dimmesdale slowly by hurting him both physically and mentally. During this time he pretends to take care of him in which he really isn?t. Hawthorne writes, ?Calm, gentle, passionless, as he appeared, there was ? a quiet depth of malice ? but active now, in this unfortunate old man ? imagine a more intimate revenge ? upon an enemy.
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 Pitiless, to him, the Unforgiving!” The capitalization of the words "Pitiless" and "Unforgiving" confirm that Chillingworth is Satan in human form. Symbolically, on an additional, more perceptible note, Chillingworth steals one of Dimmesdale's gloves and drops it on the scaffold in the middle of the town. The sexton returns it to Dimmesdale saying, "Satan...
Chillingworth continually lies and portrays himself as a doctor, when, in fact, he is just the opposite. Chillingworth comes to the town as a doctor and infiltrates Dimmesdale’s life through his sly use of lies and deceit. He is the spotlight of hypocrisy in this novel due to his direct use of his fake role as a healer to harm Dimmesdale. At one point Chillingworth realizes how evil he has become and “lift[s] his hands with a look of horror” (Hawthorne 155), but continues jis torture of Dimmesdale anyways. Chillingworth finally sees the atrocity in his actions, but ignores his own conscious and continues his evil-doings. He is a hypocrite to himself in that hr vhooses to be something he isn’t or shouldn’t be. This choice consumes him; this being a point the book is trying to make. When Dimmesdale reveals his secret, Chillingworth yells “there was no place… - Where thou couldst escaped me, -save on this very scaffold!” (Hawthorne 226). Chillingworth shows his hypocrisy again through his berating Dimmesdale for keeping his secret with Hester when he has his own dark secret that he wouldn’t dare tell. He wants Dimmesdale to have told him his secret, but he has absolutely no intention of revealing his
In the literary classic, The Scarlet Letter, readers follow the story of a Puritan New England colony and the characteristics of that time period. Readers begin to grasp concepts such as repentance and dealing with sin through Nathaniel Hawthorne’s indirect descriptions of these detailed and complex characters by their actions and reactions. The character Roger Chillingworth symbolizes sin itself and deals with internal conflict throughout the course of the story. The narrator describes Chillingworth in a critical attitude to reveal to the reader the significance of repentance and revenge by the use of many literary techniques such as
Yet the character Dimmesdale, the co-adulterer, was said to be liken with "unutterable torment." Hawthorne was showing that Dimmesdale's silence about the truth and his love was worse than any judgment that would have been bestowed on him by his community or maker. Later Prynee offers to save Dimmesdale from his jail (guilt) and jailer (Chillingworth, the devil-like character). He refuses and eventually dies of shame and guilt at the end of this romantic tale of the love between two people.
No matter what Dimmesdale does, or where he goes, he cannot escape the chilling presence of the two. Chillingworth is there to find the truth and he wants to find the man who had an affair with his wife. Suspecting Dimmesdale, Chillingworth strives to be with him at all times. Because Chillingworth is a doctor, and Dimmesdale is obviously sick, it is encouraged that Chillingworth stays with Dimmesdale for health reasons. The idea is turned into reality and Chillingworth moves in with Dimmesdale, never leaving his side. Wanting to escape reality, Hester and Dimmesdale make plans to run away. They would do so by getting on a ship that was set to sail east to England. Considering the idea that one cannot run from there guilt, it is obvious Dimmesdale could not escape his most hindering inner thoughts. Just like Dimmesdale’s guilt would stick with him through his travels, so would Chillingworth. Knowing of their plans, Chillingworth arranges a way to join Dimmesdale and Hester on their escape journey to England. Chillingworth is a clear representative for Dimmesdale's undeniable
Dimmesdale. At first his expression had been calm, meditative, and scholar-like. "Now, there was something ugly and evil in his face, which they [people of the town] had not previously noticed, and which grew still the more obvious to sight the oftener they looked upon him.'; (Chpt. 9, p. 155) While pretending to be Dimmesdale's trusted confidant and physician, Chillingworth is actually slaying him by means of medicine and mental torture.
(FS) Pearl is getting revenge on Dimmesdale for not owning up to his wrong activities. Despite the fact that he was enduring within, it appears that Pearl truly needed him to come out with the truth as her mother had to on a daily basis. She declines to tell Dimmesdale who Chillingworth truly is on account of she realizes that it will torment him much more. This method for torment may make
[INTRO] Chillingworth is the worst sinner because he committed blasphemy against the Holy Spirit, an unforgivable sin.