Roger Chillingworth is the major blockade inhibiting Hester Prynne from discovering contentment in her life. Initially, it is effortless to sympathize with the old man, seeing as the first thing he witnesses when he arrives in Boston is his duplicitous wife on the scaffold. He is first described as scholarly, yet deformed, “There was a remarkable intelligence in his features…a seemingly careless arrangement of his heterogeneous garb, he had endeavored to conceal or abate the peculiarity…one of this man’s shoulders rose higher than the other.” (Page 67). Originally, Chillingworth is not seeking vengeance on Hester, in fact, he blames both himself and Hester for Hester’s infidelity. “’We have wronged each other…Mine was the first wrong, when I betrayed thy budding youth into a false and unnatural relation with my decay…’” (Page 79). He believes that because he forced Hester into marriage, adultery was bound to happen in the end.
After Hester refuses to reveal the identity of Pearl’s father, Chillingworth’s antagonistic characteristics are revealed when he begins his quest to find the other adulterer. When Hester asks about his devilish expression upon his face, “’Why dost thou smile so at me?’ inquired Hester, troubled at the expression of his eyes. ‘… Hast thou enticed me into a bond that will prove the ruin of …show more content…
“The unfortunate physician, while uttering these words, lifted his hands with a look of horror, as if he had beheld some frightful shape, which he could not recognize, usurping the place of his own image in a glass. It was one of those moments…when a man’s moral aspect is faithfully revealed to his mind’s eye.” (Page 165,166). For the first time since he’s arrived, he views himself for who he truly is- someone who has lost his soul to the devil. Though he shudders at this, he is incapable of turning it all around and beginning
After Hester refuses to reveal the identity of Pearl’s father, Chillingworth’s antagonistic characteristics are revealed when he begins his quest to find the other adulterer. When Hester asks about his devilish expression upon his face, “’Why dost thou smile so at me?’ inquired Hester, troubled at the expression of his eyes. ‘… Hast thou enticed me into a bond that will prove the ruin of …show more content…
“The unfortunate physician, while uttering these words, lifted his hands with a look of horror, as if he had beheld some frightful shape, which he could not recognize, usurping the place of his own image in a glass. It was one of those moments…when a man’s moral aspect is faithfully revealed to his mind’s eye.” (Page 165,166). For the first time since he’s arrived, he views himself for who he truly is- someone who has lost his soul to the devil. Though he shudders at this, he is incapable of turning it all around and beginning