In Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter, Hester has reciprocal action with both Arthur Dimmesdale and Roger Chillingworth. Their sins and the two men’s physical deterioration are the differences between these men and the similarity between the two is they both have a complicated history with Hester, and thus, causing their differences.
Chillingworth has sinned and it affected his characterization and interaction with other characters. In the quote “Calm, gentle, passionless, as he appeared, there was yet, we fear, a quiet depth of malice, hitherto latent, but active now, in this unfortunate old man, which led him to imagine a more intimate revenge than any mortal had ever wreaked upon an enemy. To make himself the one trusted friend, …show more content…
All that dark treasure to be lavished on the very man, to whom nothing else could so adequately pay the debt of vengeance!” (Hawthorne 127), the narrator explains how Chillingworth transforms from what the town saw as a good man to an evil one due to his sin of revenge. Hawthorne moves his diction from using words like gentle and passionless to very jagged words like “malice” and “wreaked upon an enemy”. Over a course of three chapters, Chillingworth’s appearance drastically changes as we move through his physical appearance. In the following quotes “He was small in stature, with a furrowed visage, which, as yet, could hardly be termed as age. There was a remarkable intelligence in his features...at the first instant of perceiving that thin visage, and the slight deformity of the figure, she pressed her infant to he bosom with so compulsive force that the poor babe uttered another cry of pain (Hawthorne 56-57). “...Roger Chillingworth -- the man of skill, the kind and friendly physician…” (Hawthorne 113). “In a word, old Roger Chillingworth was a striking evidence of man’s faculty of transforming himself into the …show more content…
Because Hester was married to Chillingworth, He greatly wanted to know who Hester was intimate with and had great plans for revenge. Chillingworth is talking to Hester when he says “‘It may be’ he replied, ‘because I will not encounter the dishonor that besmirches the husband of a faithless woman. It may for other reasons. Enough, it is my purpose to live and die unknown. Let, therefore, thy husband be to the world as already dead, and of whom no tidings shall ever come. Recognize me not, by word, by sign, by look! Breathe not the secret, above all, to the man thou wottest of. Shouldst thou fail me in this, beware! His Fame, his position, his life, will be in my hands. Beware!’” (Hawthorne 71). Chillingworth’s plan for revenge was his ultimate downfall because his sin of revenge took over every aspect of Chillingworth and turned him evil. In this scene of the story, Hester and Dimmesdale are having a very intimate and passionate moment in the forest. “‘Thou shalt forgive me! cried Hester, flinging herself onto the fallen leaves beside him. ‘Let God punish! Thou shalt forgive!’... "I do forgive you, Hester," replied the minister, at length, with a deep utterance out of an abyss of sadness, but no anger. "I freely forgive you now. May God forgive us both!" (Hawthorne 175-176). Hester is asking for Dimmesdale’s forgiveness because she hid Chillingworth’s true identity from him. Dimmesdale finding this out
Chillingworth has sinned and it affected his characterization and interaction with other characters. In the quote “Calm, gentle, passionless, as he appeared, there was yet, we fear, a quiet depth of malice, hitherto latent, but active now, in this unfortunate old man, which led him to imagine a more intimate revenge than any mortal had ever wreaked upon an enemy. To make himself the one trusted friend, …show more content…
All that dark treasure to be lavished on the very man, to whom nothing else could so adequately pay the debt of vengeance!” (Hawthorne 127), the narrator explains how Chillingworth transforms from what the town saw as a good man to an evil one due to his sin of revenge. Hawthorne moves his diction from using words like gentle and passionless to very jagged words like “malice” and “wreaked upon an enemy”. Over a course of three chapters, Chillingworth’s appearance drastically changes as we move through his physical appearance. In the following quotes “He was small in stature, with a furrowed visage, which, as yet, could hardly be termed as age. There was a remarkable intelligence in his features...at the first instant of perceiving that thin visage, and the slight deformity of the figure, she pressed her infant to he bosom with so compulsive force that the poor babe uttered another cry of pain (Hawthorne 56-57). “...Roger Chillingworth -- the man of skill, the kind and friendly physician…” (Hawthorne 113). “In a word, old Roger Chillingworth was a striking evidence of man’s faculty of transforming himself into the …show more content…
Because Hester was married to Chillingworth, He greatly wanted to know who Hester was intimate with and had great plans for revenge. Chillingworth is talking to Hester when he says “‘It may be’ he replied, ‘because I will not encounter the dishonor that besmirches the husband of a faithless woman. It may for other reasons. Enough, it is my purpose to live and die unknown. Let, therefore, thy husband be to the world as already dead, and of whom no tidings shall ever come. Recognize me not, by word, by sign, by look! Breathe not the secret, above all, to the man thou wottest of. Shouldst thou fail me in this, beware! His Fame, his position, his life, will be in my hands. Beware!’” (Hawthorne 71). Chillingworth’s plan for revenge was his ultimate downfall because his sin of revenge took over every aspect of Chillingworth and turned him evil. In this scene of the story, Hester and Dimmesdale are having a very intimate and passionate moment in the forest. “‘Thou shalt forgive me! cried Hester, flinging herself onto the fallen leaves beside him. ‘Let God punish! Thou shalt forgive!’... "I do forgive you, Hester," replied the minister, at length, with a deep utterance out of an abyss of sadness, but no anger. "I freely forgive you now. May God forgive us both!" (Hawthorne 175-176). Hester is asking for Dimmesdale’s forgiveness because she hid Chillingworth’s true identity from him. Dimmesdale finding this out