Roger Chillingworth is a victim. Nathaniel Hawthorne’s novel, The Scarlet Letter, takes place during the late 1600’s in a New England Puritan settlement. In a puritan society, sin is considered vile and among the worst things a person can do. In the fiction, the protagonist, Hester Prynne, commits adultery, a repulsive sin in the puritan society. The question is, what effect did Hester’s sin have on the husband of Roger Chillingworth? Taking into consideration that Chillingworth had to suffer consequences of an action that was not committed by himself, as well Hester’s betrayal of their marriage, Chillingworth is a victim. In the beginning of the novel, Hester is described to be in the process of receiving the punishment for the sin committed: …show more content…
The man pesters Hester throughout the tale, expresses hate, a need to punish the other man who had laid with Hester, all the while the reason why there were such passionate emotions was not Chillingworth’s fault. As stated in the novel: Chillingworth: And what am I now? I have already told you what I am—a friend! Who made me so happy? Hester: (passionately) It was me! I, more than he, is. (Hawthorne 139) Clearly, it is stated that Hester is at fault and that the sinner takes direct responsibility for the current events at hand. As a whole, Chillingworth’s behavior is justified. Chillingworth’s wife, Hester, committed adultery, so the man’s behavior shifted, and only Hester can be blamed because Chillingworth fell victim to the woman. In any situation, no matter who is involved or the scenario of what happens, this fact does not change. In this specific case, Chillingworth just so happens to change for the worse which can be seen as justification to identify the man as a villain, but in this specific case it is why there were changes that prohibited the classification as a villain. So, what makes someone a victim is their suffering due to someone else’s
Scarlet Letter. Roger Chillingworth, from The Scarlet Letter, is a character that is justifiable viewed as immoral or just down right evil, but the events in which he has endured may lead the audience to sympathise with him and make him less of a villain in the novel than the author intended him to.
The Character of Chillingworth in The Scarlet Letter Old Mr. Prynne began his new life in the town of Boston as the Physician Roger Chillingworth. The moment he arrived, the town deemed him intelligent and mild mannered; he always seemed pleasant although a little odd. Throughout the seven years he remained in Boston, his character changed so dramatically from admirable to evil that even those who did not know him personally seemed to notice an evil nature deep within his soul trying to break
society as the Puritans. A story Hester Prynne and her terrible sin. Nathaniel Hawthorne cryptically portrays Roger Chillingworth as a good man, but gradually unravels the dark truth displaying the aberration of the Puritan society In The Scarlet Letter, Nathaniel Hawthorne’s dark and ominous tone provokes readers to view both the positive and negative characteristics of Roger Chillingworth through Hester’s scandal through the use of graceful imagery yet shameful symbolism. Hawthorne’s articulate imagery
years, Roger Chillingworth changes from a calm, scholarly, and kind person to an evil, corrupt, and satanic being. Roger Chillingworth's life in England with Hester was happy. He studied alchemy, and was scholarly and well learned. Although Hester and Chillingworth did not share love, they were happy together. "…he used to emerge at eventide from the seclusion of his study and sit down in the firelight of their home, and in the light of her nuptial smile." (N. Hawthorne 172) Chillingworth needed Hester's
personal survival, is a dangerous state of being and a gateway for evil actions. However, most victims of fixation are not inherently wicked and often, the addiction develops from pure and sincere intentions. Nonetheless, concupiscence’s deep roots within the hearts of man can corrupt the best of intentions, as seen in Nathaniel Hawthorne’s novel The Scarlet Letter. Portrayed through the character Roger Chillingworth, obsession’s importance in the novel develops from the scene in which he first appears:
character Roger Chillingworth meets the criteria of a vampiric figure, based on Thomas Foster 's ideas of vampirism, found in his book How to Read Literature Like a Professor. By marrying Hester Prynne, Roger Chillingworth has a negative impact on her life. Therefore, Thomas Foster’s idea that a vampire “...violates young women, leaves his mark on them, steals their innocence—and...usefulness...if you think ‘marriageability’...” (Foster 16), applies specifically to Roger Chillingworth, due to the matrimonial
greater power which is responsible for the creation of life. The characters Arthur Dimmesdale and Roger Chillingworth in Nathaniel Hawthorne 's novel, The Scarlet Letter, represent religion and science, respectively, compared to the real world debate between science and religion. Roger Chillingworth is a physician who is associated with science. (ch. 9; page 107) "...made [Roger Chillingworth] extensively acquainted with the medical science of the day... Skillful men, of the medical and chirurgical
Scarlet Letter, by Nathaniel Hawthorne, there are three scenes that take place on the scaffold. In each scaffold scene the reader learns the four main characters are at each scaffold scene. The four main characters are Hester, Pearl, Dimmesdale, and Chillingworth. Throughout all the scaffold scenes, Nathaniel Hawthorne shows how each character is impacted. The beginning of the novel jumps right into the first scaffold scene. At this scene the reader sees Hester holding baby Pearl. Hester is beautiful,
lift her to a position of respect in the community. Although Hawthorne does not condone Hester's sin, he takes pains to show that her sin is minimal in comparison to those of her weak lover, Arthur Dimmesdale, and of her vengeful husband, Roger Chillingworth. Hester finds solace in the moral teachings of her religion and in acts of repentance, which help her deal with the struggles resulting from her sin. Although she no longer practices her faith openly after her public disgrace, she still
some sins were purposefully hidden. In Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter, Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale becomes a victim to his own concealed sin. Dimmesdale is a partner in adultery with Hester Prynne, the wearer of the scarlet letter. He is living a lie, and it is tearing his guilty soul apart. Another character with secrets and sins of his own is Roger Chillingworth. Chillingworth’s hidden sin is revenge, and it captures his whole purpose in life. It is obvious that both of these men
but also on one’s psychological state. The Scarlet Letter A, which Hester Prynne wears on her chest as punishment for adultery, causes her anguish through ignominy but allows her to improve over time through the public nature of her disgrace. Chillingworth, the leech, punishes Reverend Dimmesdale for his concealed sin, and yet at the same time wastes away due to his own sin of sucking the life out of Dimmesdale. Pearl, the illegitimate child of Hester and Dimmesdale, embodies both the open and the
Ironically, her husband, Chillingworth, who initially appears to be an intelligent and honorable man, is created to symbolize a daemonic evil. He is symbolic of the hidden sin and immorality that exists within the Puritan society. As an honorable and intelligent man who fatuously enslaved himself to the Devil’s work, Roger Chillingworth revolves his life from kindness and intellect into endless obsession of revenge, eventually leading him to self-destruction. Roger Chillingworth, originally named Roger
in the eyes of the Puritan community, are the beautiful Hester Prynne, the esteemed Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale, and the cold-hearted doctor, Roger Chillingworth. Like Hawthorne, I believe that evil is the nature of man but that there are different magnitudes of evil; some choose to fight it, like Hester, and some choose to give in, like Chillingworth. Hester Prynne, a strong willed and brave woman, in respect to the two additional people, has committed the least amount of sin in the novel. In the
consequence than the victim. People often try to obtain revenge upon others for the wrong reasons due to fact that they believe the actions or sins of another person have affected the victim in a negative way. The Scarlet Letter, written by Nathaniel Hawthorne, uses the relentless character, Mr. Roger Chillingworth, to describe the result of being resentful and unforgiving to his wifes secret lover, Reverend Dimmesdale. The Scarlet Letter also vividly describes how Chillingworth became self absorbed
Something regarded as being shameful, deplorable, or utterly wrong. These who definitions cleary represent the sin in Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter, through the characters Hester Prynne, her daughter Pearl, Dimmesdale the father, and Chillingworth, Hester's husband. Hester Prynne, the wearer of the famous scarlet letter that gave the novel it's name, is the story's source of the unforgivable sin that tears through the community of Boston in the 1600's. Hester's future and reputation in