How Does Chillingworth's Change In The Scarlet Letter

In the novel The Scarlet Letter, by Nathaniel Hawthorne, Chillingworth is depicted as an angry and vengeful character who feels obligated to ruin Dimmesdale's life, but ends up ruining his own life in the process. After learning of the affair Dimmesdale and Hester had committed, Chillingworth lets his pain and anger become a lust for revenge, which takes control of Chillingworth's nature. As the novel progresses Chillingworth realizes what he has become, but also establishes that its too late to change, his revenge has consumed him.By the end of the novel Chillingworth has become so reliant on his revenge, that it is what keeps him alive. Hawthorne portrays him as miserable and unsatisfied to fortify the idea that revenge is a destructive force, that weakens and …show more content…
To elaborate on Chillingworth's vengeance, the moment that sparked his revenge must first be discussed. After seeing Hester on the scaffold with a baby, Chillingworth decides at that exact moment, that revenge is the path he will take. Hawthorne describes Chillingworth's change in nature, it is stated “A writhing horror twisted itself across his features, like a snake gliding swiftly over them… his face darkened with some powerful emotion...finally subsided into the depths of his nature”(Hawthorne, 56). In this Chillingworth is described as, in a way, being possessed by evil. Chillingworth is horrified at first, his wife has obviously had an affair with someone else. He is so overcome with the emotion of revenge that the devil, or the “snake” is seen on his face. Revenge “subsided into the depths of his