It is often hard not to root for the villain in a story. There is something fascinating about villains. Villains are often easily likeable because of their intelligence, wittiness, and clever way of earning the trust of others before unveiling their true intentions. Three characters in literature that are intriguing for their charm, their manipulative ways, and their relentless thirst for revenge are Roger Chillingworth from The Scarlet Letter, Iago from Othello, and Tom Buchanan from The Great Gatsby. In Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter, Roger Chillingworth, Hester Prynne’s husband, returns to Boston to find that his wife, who he hasn’t seen in seven years, has borne a child and wears a scarlet letter upon her chest. Being the bright-minded man that he is, Chillingworth makes the correct assumption that Reverend Dimmesdale is the man responsible for the child. From this point on, Roger Chillingworth dedicates his life to enacting revenge on Dimmesdale. There is a noticeable contrast from beginning to end. As the story progresses, the reader realizes that Chillingworth, although easy to feel bad for, is not the victimized character that he is made out to be, but rather an evil, ill-willed, and cruel man. In chapter nine, Hawthorne explores …show more content…
Scott Fitzgerald is full of complex characters. One in particular, Tom Buchanan, is perhaps the epitome of an apathetic, vile, and evil villain. Despite his numerous character flaws, there is a certain charm to Tom. He is classy, rich, handsome, and easy to sympathize with, considering that his wife is slowly being stripped from his hands by Gatsby in front of his own eyes. However, like Chillingworth and Iago, this motivates him to seek revenge on Gatsby. He not only frames Gatsby in chapter nine, and causes his death, but he continues to live his life afterwards as if nothing ever happened. Tom is easy to sympathize with until his true colors are shown and the reader sees what an evil man he