Dimmesdale and Chillingworth

... theme of a war between passion and responsibility throughout The Scarlet Letter. Hester Prynne, Arthur Dimmesdale, and Roger Chillingworth are all each individually caught in a struggle between passion and responsibility. However, it is Roger Chillingworth who best manifests this internal struggle. As a result of Pynne's and Dimmesdale's affair, Chillingworth becomes torn between his responsibilities to them and his selfish desire to seek revenge on them. Chillingworth's desire for revenge consumes his life ... his sin, Pearl was able to live in the light, rather than merely exist in th...

• Word Count: 1082
• Approx Pages: 4
• Has Bibliography

... of his ecstasy, he would have had no need to ask how Satan comports himself when a precious human soul is lost to heaven, and won into his kingdom."" (143). It seems that Chillingworth's ultimate revenge was allowing Dimmesdale to live and go insane. In fact earlier in the story he said, "Neither do thou imagine that I shall contrive aught against his life; nor against ... for his evils as we learn in the conclusion. Nothing was more remarkable than the change, which took place, almost immediately after Mr. Dimmesdale's death, in the appearance and demeanor of the old man known as Roger...

• Word Count: 1529
• Approx Pages: 6
• Grade Level: High School

... in which many secrets are discovered and kept in confidentiality. He uses his new "profession" to become close to Dimmesdale. With Dimmesdale's deteriorating health, Chillingworth eagerly suggests that he live with him. The town and clergy promptly agree because of Dimmesdale's essential and important place in their society. Chillingworth, in a preternatural sense, knows there is a tinge of guilt hidden deep inside of Dimmesdale and he is determined to shine light ... upon it. During Dimmesdale's "treatment," it is hinted that Chillingworth may be on the propinquity ... ...

• Word Count: 529
• Approx Pages: 2
• Grade Level: High School

... proving his guilt. The propinquity of Chillingworth to Dimmesdale creates a symbiotic relationship, eventually concluding in Chillingworth dying soon after the reverend. Eventually, Chillingworth becomes so infatuated with Dimmesdale's suffering that he himself suffers if Dimmesdale shows the slightest signs of improvement. The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne tells the shameful story of Hester Prynne, her affair with the reverend Arthur Dimmesdale, and the obsessive revenge of her husband ... Roger Chillingworth. All three of these main characters suffer guilt, though for three di...

• Word Count: 803
• Approx Pages: 3
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

... sucks the life out of him through dialogue and there is some brief evidence that he may have been poisoning him. He is obsessed with torturing Dimmesdale and that his main goal in life. We see this even more when Dimmesdale is planning to confess on the scaffold and Chillingworth keeps telling him not to. Chillingworth does so because once Dimmesdale confesses, he has no reason so torture ... him anymore. Chillingworth knows what he has become yet he still persists to do evil ... , he does not repent or feel sorry, he jus recognizes the changes in him and blames it on others ... ...

• Word Count: 1619
• Approx Pages: 6
• Grade Level: High School

... some of his inner pain by revealing his secret to the night. It is not until the books conclusion, however, that Dimmesdale finds peace through the full confession of his sins to the crowd. Examining Hester Prynne, Arthur Dimmesdale, and Roger Chillingworth in the context of the scaffold scenes, shows that honesty overcomes deception. The first scaffold scene establishes the root for all ... 's confession is due to his fear of incriminating himself. At the first scaffold scene, Dimmesdale is not yet ready to admit to his role in the adulterous affair. Examining Hester Prynne, Arthur Dimm...

• Word Count: 1627
• Approx Pages: 7
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

... the Unforgiving!" (96). The capitalization of the words "Pitiless" and "Unforgiving" show that Chillingworth is the devil. Symbolically, on another more obvious note, Chillingworth steals one of Dimmesdale's gloves and drops it on the scaffold where sinners are shamed in front of the town. The sexton picks it up after recognizing it as Dimmesdale's and returns it to its owner saying, "Satan dropped it there" ... (108). This is a very obvious pointer to the fact that Chillingworth is the devil. Second, Hawthorne's ... use of imagery in describing Chillingworth points him out as the devi...

• Word Count: 307
• Approx Pages: 1
• Grade Level: High School

... "(175) In the beginning of the book, when Hester and baby Pearl were in jail, Chillingworth produced a very natural medicine to cure them. Chillingworth seemed the all-around-good-guy that everybody wants to befriend. The minister, Dimmesdale, and Chillingworth became friends. However, when news of his true identity and the ministers real self got around to the other, Chillingworth thought "He was his bitterest enemy"(151). After ... the long years searching for Hester's secret lover, Chillingworth's real side began to show. Back in England Chillingworth had "needed to bask himself in th...

• Word Count: 473
• Approx Pages: 2
• Grade Level: High School

... Scarlet Letter, representing Puritan life in Boston of the 1640's, he revolves his story line around three primary characters who deal with publicly confessed sin and concealed sin. These characters consist of the book's protagonist, Hester Prynne; her lover, Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale; and Roger Chillingworth, her long-lost husband. As the novel unfolds, the author reveals to the reader that Roger ... Chillingworth, however, is the worst sinner of the three. First of all, Chillingworth has sinned against the nature, and Hester Prynne more particularly. It is committed the day he marrie...

• Word Count: 775
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: High School