Compare And Contrast Chillingworth And Ahab

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Recommended: American gothic analysis

In the American gothic novel The Scarlet Letter, by Nathaniel Hawthorne, the villain of the story, Roger Chillingworth, aches for revenge against the man who committed adultery with his wife, the main character, Hester Prynne. Similarly, in the novel Moby Dick by Herman Melville, the villain Captain Ahab seeks vengeance, but against a whale, and not a man. Both Chillingworth and Ahab are considered wicked, evil characters, but each man differs in the manner of which he commits his evil act. The scenarios that motivate Chillingworth and Ahab affect the characters in different ways. Chillingworth’s hatred spawns from the emotional pain he suffers at the news of his wife’s unfaithfulness to him. Although he does not love Hester as he

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  • Hester Prynne in Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter

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    Even though many saw the difference in Hester there was still Chillingworth who still wanted his revenge. He becomes obsessed with the punishment of the "A" and does a devilish dance when he realizes the powerful effect it has had on Dimmesdale. (Blake, "Hester's Bewitched Triangle: Within the Spell of the "A") Chillingworth pretends to be a friend to Dimmesdale and becomes his physician. Dimmesdale becomes miserable because he hidden his true identity. Hester, hast thou found peace? Whatever of good capacity there originally was in me, all of God's gifts that were the choicest have become the ministers of spiritual torment. Hester, I am most miserable! ( Hawthorne 208–209) Dimmesdale begins to torment himself with all of his thoughts and tells Hester he wants to be apart of the family they’ve made together.

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    Villains come in all forms of malevolence throughout all types of literature. They help to drive the plot of the story and influence the themes and purposes as desired by the author. In The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne, the character assigned the appellation of Roger Chillingworth is the main antagonist. He is first seen attending the public humiliation of Hester Prynne, who is the protagonist of the book. Chillingworth is established as a physician whom Hester had previously cheated on. Throughout the novel, Chillingworth is seen as being controlling over Arthur Dimmesdale, who testifies to one of the book’s main themes of guilt. Nathaniel Hawthorne’s historical drama The Scarlet Letter renders Roger Chillingworth as the villain who

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    Also Chillingworth tries very hard to find out who her secret lover is and even tries asking Hester. “‘ Thou wilt not reveal his name? Not the less he is mine,’ resumed he , with a look of confidence , as if destiny were at one with him” ( Hawthorne 70). This quote says that Chillingworth tries to ask Hester who her secret lover is and even though she refuses to answer him, he feels confident that he will find out. This means that Chillingworth is going to harm her secret lover after he finds him. Therefore he will do whatever he can to torture him and get his

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  • What Is The Juxtaposition In The Scarlet Letter Chapter 14

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    Chapter 15- After Chillingworth left the meeting with Hester, Hester for the first time realized that she hated him. This change occurred very rapidly as she went from pity to hatred after realizing all the pain that he has caused not only her but everyone that he has been in contact with. We also get another example of a juxtaposition that Hawthorne has created between the relationship Hester has with Chillingworth and Dimmesdale respectively. Hester’s relationship with Chillingworth is a hate filled one with no love, while her relationship with Dimmesdale is a forbidden one that is filled with love. Hawthorne has an obvious motive in writing this chapter, and that is to demonstrate to reader the effects of being consumed into something. Chillingworth

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  • How Did Chillingworth's Change In Chapter 14

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    ‘But let it pass! It is of yonder miserable man that I would speak’” (164). This statement shows how while Hester can cry for Chillingworth because of how much she pities him, but this eventually changes, where after their conversation, Hester grows this sudden hatred toward Chillingworth, when Hester literally states, “‘Be it sin or no’ said Hester Prynne, bitterly, as she still gazed after him, ‘I hate the man!’... ’Yes, I hate him!’

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  • The Worst Sinner in The Scarlet Letter

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    The Scarlet Letter illustrates that the illumination of self-deception gapes open after one like the very jaws of hell. This is apparent through all the main characters of the novel. Although Hawthorne's work has several imperfect people as the main characters, including Hester Prynne, Arthur Dimmesdale, and Roger Chillingworth, the worst sinner is Roger Chillingworth. Chillingworth commits the greater sin because of his failure to forgive; he has an insatiable appetite for revenge; he receives extreme pleasure in torturing Dimmesdale. Hester Prynne, however, has committed sins of almost the same magnitude.

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  • Chillingworth is the Greatest Sinner in Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter

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    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.

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  • Captain Ahab

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    Captain Ahab sights Moby Dick from afar and continues his hot pursuit on the White Whale. For three days, a relentless chase occurs because of Ahab’s desire for revenge. The indomitable whale continually destroys boat after boat. During the latter days of the struggle, the whale finally attacks the Pequod, plunging the ship to the bottom pits of the ocean. Determined to reach his final goal, the captain makes a last ditch effort and launches his harpoon towards Moby Dick. Ironically, Ahab’s harpoon catches around his neck and strangles him to death. Obviously determined to avenge his leg, the Captain causes his own downfall through his own desire for retribution. In The Tragedy of Hamlet Prince of Denmark, Shakespeare creates two characters, Hamlet and Laertes, who endure a series of events and unveil Shakespeare’s similar belief that revenge causes one to act blindly in anger. Through Shakespeare’s distinct language and diction, the characters’ motivational factors and personality traits, the write conveys his strong belief regarding the desire for vengeance.

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  • Revenge in Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter

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    As the novel progressed, Chillingworth fits the profile of ‘vengeance destroys the avenger’. When Roger Chillingworth is first introduced to the reader, we see a kind old man, who just has planted the seeds for revenge. Although he did speak of getting his revenge, when Hester first met her husband in her jail cell, she did not see any evil in him. Because Hester would not tell him who she had slept with, Chillingworth vowed that he would spend the rest of his life having his revenge and that he would eventually suck the soul out of the man, whom she had the affair with. “There is a sympathy that will make me conscious of him. I shall see him tremble. I shall feel myself shudder, suddenly and unawares” (Hawthorne, 101) As the novel develops, Roger Chillingworth has centered himself on Arthur Dimmesdale, but he cannot prove that he is the “one.” Chillingworth has become friends with Dimmesdale, because he has a “strange disease,” that needed to be cured; Chillingworth suspects something and begins to drill Dimmesdale. “… The disorder is a strange one…hath all the operation of this disorder been fairly laid open to me and recounted to me” (Hawthorne, 156).

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