Roger Chillingworth Character Analysis Essay
Although in NH’s gothic novel, The Scarlet Letter, Roger Chillingworth presents as a well-respected physician. As the story progresses, Hawthorne’s wicked imagery and evil symbolism reveal his true nature to illustrate him as a dark and sinister figure obsessed by revenge. In the first appearance of Roger Chillingworth at the Scaffold scene, he comes across as being likable and calm, yet he is seen as hideous but intelligent with wrinkled features. “...stood a white man, clad in a strange disarray of civilized and savage costume” (58). His “civilized and savage costume” shows how strange he looks from the beginning. He “could hardly be termed aged” (58), though he looks old. Chillingworth’s change starts to get revealed as he spends his time probing Dimmesdale to find his secret and make him confess. Chillingworth's friendliness starts to wear off as he converts his life to revolve around making Dimmesdale's life miserable. Hawthorne’s immoral imagery depicts Chillingworth as untrustworthy. Later on, symbolism associates Chillingworth as a vicious person that seeks information for his own well-being. “In a word, old Roger Chillingworth was a striking evidence of man’s faculty of transforming himself into a devil, if he will only, for a …show more content…
Eventually, he comes aware of what he has done and leaves his property to Pearl and Hester. “Nothing was more remarkable than the change which took place, almost immediately after Mr. Dimmesdale’s death, in the appearance and demeanour of the old man known as Roger Chillingworth” (253). It is obvious that Chillingworth develops an understanding of his sins after Dimmesdale’s death which made Chillingworth’s life without a purpose. To conclude, revenge and sin are one of the most disturbing crimes a man can commit; therefore, symbolism, figurative language, and imagery were used to verify the awful character of
Blindness In The Scarlet Letter
1270 Words | 6 PagesHe moves in with Dimmesdale, and claims he will care for him, but the public cannot see that his intention is to torture Dimmesdale. Hawthorne explains, “The intellect of Roger Chillingworth had now a sufficiently plain path before it. It was not, indeed, precisely that which he had laid out for himself to tread. 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” (126). He deliberately chooses to drive Chillingworth into insanity.
Roger Chillingworth's Cheating Quotes
155 Words | 1 PagesRoger Chillingworth is speaking to Hester in this quote about how much her cheating affected him. Since the author did not give very much information about Roger before he returned to Boston, it was difficult to measure exactly how he had changed since learning of the scarlet letter. Through his previous words and actions regarding Hester and especially Reverend Dimmesdale, Roger depicts himself as a man filled with hatred and focussed on revenge. Before mentioning his old self, Roger Chillingworth told Hester about Reverend Dimmesdale’s suffering since he had become somewhat of his personal physician. Roger says that the reverend sensed “an eye was looking curiously into him,” which, undoubtedly, represents the presence of Roger Chillingworth,
Rhetorical Devices Used In The Scarlet Letter By Nathaniel Hawthorne
1091 Words | 5 PagesWhen Chillingworth visits Hester in prison, he claims that “his [the adulterer] fame, his position, his life, will be in my hands” (53). Chillingworth makes a vow to Hester that he will find the man who enticed her and will destroy the individual’s life and soul. As the novel progresses, Chillingworth establishes himself as the town doctor and Dimmesdale develops a mysterious illness that perplexes and worries the townspeople. His illnesses leads to Roger Chillingworth becoming his medical advisor, “as not only the disease interested the physician, but he was strongly moved to look into the character and qualities of the patient, these two men...came gradually to spend much time together” (84). Chillingworth takes advantage of the fact that Dimmesdale needs medical attention and establishes himself as a friend, with the intention of finding out personal information about Dimmesdale.
Chillingworth Scaffold Quotes
910 Words | 4 Pages(125). Chillingworth was not always a bad man, as he says. Hester’s scandal and betrayal hurt Chillingworth deeply, to the point where he became evil and sought revenge. Chillingworth was humiliated, and Dimmesdale and Hester were the two people that had made him that way, which is why he sought
Diction And Mass Imagery In Roger Chillingworth By Nathaniel Hawthorne
84 Words | 1 PagesRoger Chillingworth first appeared “drooping down, as it were, out of the sky, or starting from the nether earth…” associated with deformity and mystery. Nathaniel Hawthorne uses diction and mass imagery to portray Chillingworth as a symbol for evil and a devilish figure. Chillingworth lived with Native Americans, from them he gained the knowledge of “miraculous cures”. These "miraculous cures" Hawthorne describes them as witchcraft, advancing the evil characteristic of Chillingworth.
The Devil And Tom Walker, The Man In The Black Suit,
833 Words | 4 PagesChillingsworth works day in and day out making Dimmesdale sick with work that people will find out what he had done. It's so bad that Dimmesdale starts to do self harm. Chillingworth even goes about so that hester knows what she had done was wrong too and he makes her life like she is walking on
Character Foils In Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter
612 Words | 3 PagesCharacter Foils In The Scarlet Letter Those who contrast each other make for engrossing storytelling. Nathaniel Hawthorne demonstrates this truth often in his romantic narrative, “The Scarlet Letter”.
How Does Chillingworth Commit The Greatest Sin
396 Words | 2 PagesChillingworth does not know until one night he spots something that looks as if it was a scarlet letter branded on Dimmesdale’s chest. As he sees this Chillingworth completely changes, “At first, his expression had been calm, meditative, scholar-like. Now there was something ugly and evil in his face.” Chillingworth has now turned into Reverend Dimmesdale’s own personal hell, “...haunted either by Satan himself, or Satan’s emissary, in the guise of old Roger Chillingworth.” Chillingworth has now sold his soul to the devil for revenge on
How Does Chillingworth Find The Truth In The Scarlet Letter
506 Words | 3 PagesHawthorne immediately corrects himself, and says that Chillingworth is more like “a sexton delving into a grave, possibly in quest of a jewel that had been buried on the dead man’s bosom” (125). These comparisons of Chillingworth to a miner and a sexton, and the truth to gold and a jewel emphasizes this obsession that Chillingworth must finding the truth. Chillingworth is “the leech” and he 's by Dimmesdale’s side making him sick. The longer Chillingworth stays with Dimmesdale, the worse Dimmesdale’s condition gets. This is his newfound passion and his persistence won’t allow him to end this hunt for the truth.
Chillingworth's Identity Quotes
505 Words | 3 PagesThroughout the book Chillingworth reminds Hester of her wrong doing an example of this is when the novel states, “As he spoke, he laid his long forefinger on the scarlet letter, which forthwith seemed to scorch into Hester’s breast, as if it had been red-hot. ”(Hawthorne 64) Chillingworth's efforts to please himself by making Hester feel guilty for her actions during his absence sways the way many things happen in the book, like at the end when he decides to join the voyage that Dimmesdale and Hester planned to escape
Chillingworth's Guilt Quotes
1003 Words | 5 PagesChillingworth’s guilt results in the degradation of his physical and mental demeanor, which ultimately turns him into a figure of evil. Chillingworth faces a multitude of problems, but the concealed guilt transforms his body and changes his physiognomy for the worse. Originally, Chillingworth is portrayed as an innocent man with great knowledge, but after some time the studious nature that offered Hester a reason to accept his proposal changed, for the, “former aspect of an intellectual and studious man... had altogether [vanish],”(Hawthorne 145), which portrays the first inclination into the physical deformities of Roger Chillingworth after torturing Dimmesdale. What was once an innocent man free of guilt, is now a demonic person with the intent of revenge.
Bloodthirsty Revenge In Nathaniel Hawthorne's 'The Scarlet Letter'
885 Words | 4 PagesInhyeok (Daniel) Lee Mr. Soldi CP English III October 17, 2014 Bloodthirsty Revenge portrayed through Roger Chillingworth In his novel Scarlet Letter, Nathaniel Hawthorne utilizes several allegories throughout the story. Allegory is a literary technique that Hawthorne uses to connect the characters with symbolic presences. It gradually builds up the tension between characters, and also arouses curiosity of readers.
The Scarlet Letter Chillingworth Is The Greatest Sinner
392 Words | 2 Pagesand yet he ambitiously seeks further torture. As his antipathy amplified, Chillingworth perpetually imbued Dimmesdale with a fiery warmth of regret for the scandalous iniquity he had wrongfully commit; Yet, Chillingworth’s “righteous” acts are not righteous at all, in fact he commits sin tenfold that of Dimmesdale just through these acts. Chillingworth poses himself as a kind man attempting to heal the Reverend, but this is a lie, a lie directly to the face of God. Chillingworth does not care for the health of the Reverend, his true underlying intentions are to seek information from
Dimmesdale And Chillingworth's Secrets In Scarlet Letter
361 Words | 2 PagesDimmesdale and Chillingworth both have secrets that make them look and act differently, their secrets affect their character and how they do their job. Dimmesdale is the father of Pearl but he doesn 't want to face the same humiliation as Hester did for his sins. Because of his secret he self punishes and fasts, he also preaches better than he did before although his health is failing. Chillingworth’s secret is that he was the husband of Hester while he was away, before she cheated on him. Chillingworth gets uglier and uglier driven by the need to get revenge on Pearl’s father.
Compare And Contrast Dimmesdale And Chillingworth A Sinner
480 Words | 2 PagesThe Scarlet Letter Essay Roger Chillingworth and Arthur Dimmesdale were two of the main sinners in The Scarlet Letter. Both characters kept their sins secrete throughout the story. These sins included adultery, revenge, and even murder. Out of the two sinners, Chillingworth was the worst, because he never felt guilt for the terrible things he was doing. Dimmesdale spent his entire life in guilt and remorse for the sins he had committed (“Who”).
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