ipl-logo

Chillingworth And Dimmesdale In Nathaniel Hawthorne's 'The Scarlet Letter'

539 Words3 Pages

Luke Chilton Mrs. Hogg AP English 3 January 2017 Module Eight Lesson Three Mastery Assignment: The Scarlet Letter Chapter 9-12 In the novel, Mr. Chillingworth suggests that it would be a good idea for Chillingworth and Dimmesdale to lodge in the same house. When the Reverend Dimmesdale tells his congregation the he is the worst of all sinners, the congregation becomes fussy and very upset over the fact that he has been a liar and a hypocrite. In penance for his sins, Dimmesdale begins to torture himself by whipping himself, he also begins to fast and stay awake all night, in efforts to hold vigils and meditate. Before arriving at the scaffold, Hester and Pearl had previously been at Winthrop's deathbed. What does the minister reply when Pearl asks him if he will stand on the scaffold with …show more content…

The townspeople who see the red A in the sky interpret it as a sign of respect for Governor Winthrop. They believe that since he passed that night, they believe the A stood for the word Angel. At this point, I believe that Arthur Dimmesdale is a good man, who has done no wrong. He asked for forgiveness, showing that he is truly sorry, and not a bad person. Using the word leech in the titles of Chapters 9 and 10, is ironic because Chillingworth, the physician, uses leeches for bloodletting. He is also using Dimmesdale to find out information. He is “sucking” information out of Dimmesdale like a leech sucks out blood. After the discovery Chillingworth comes about at the end of Chapter 10, his relationship with the minister changes. Chillingworth seeks revenge but doesn't quite know how to go about it. The minister feels something negative is coming his way, but does not suspect it to come from a trusted colleague. One gesture that I believe foreshadows the presence of something beneath Dimmesdale’s vestment is when he would often grab his chest in stressful experiences would arise. One example from the text

Show More
Related

  • How Old Is Dimmesdale In Scarlet Letter

    573 Words  | 3 Pages

    And the shame!—the indelicacy!—the horrible ugliness of this exposure of a sick and guilty heart to the very eye that would gloat over it!” , thus presenting verbal abuse. He then guilts her into apologizing for not revealing that Chillingworth was her husband until then, by saying, “Woman, woman, thou art accountable for this!—I cannot forgive thee!”. Dimmesdale went further in putting down the images of others by immediately adding how awful he viewed Chillingworth, saying that he “has violated, in cold blood, the sanctity of a human heart” and implying that Chillingworth was “the worst sinner in the

    Read More

  • Rhetorical Devices Used In The Scarlet Letter By Nathaniel Hawthorne

    1091 Words  | 5 Pages

    Chillingworth is described as having been “calm in temperament, kindly... a pure and upright man” (88), throughout his life. However, while living in the Puritan town, he allows his quest for vengeance to consume him, and “he now [digs] into the poor clergyman’s heart, like a miner searching for gold; or rather, like a sexton [gravedigger] delving into a grave, possibly in quest of a jewel that had been buried on the dead man’s bosom” (88). Chillingworth is determined in his search for retribution, so much in fact

    Read More

  • Dimmesdale In The Scarlet Letter

    1227 Words  | 5 Pages

    Hester and Dimmesdale have both committed adultery, but Hester accepts and embraces what has happened. Alternatively, for Dimmesdale, enduring seven long years of guilt and sin are required to get him to finally reveal the truth. Taking so many years to do so shows how

    Read More

  • Character Foils In Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter

    612 Words  | 3 Pages

    The reader is especially made aware of Dimmesdale's mental state in the eleventh chapter, “His inward trouble drove him to practices more in accordance with the old, corrupted faith of Rome, than with the better light of the church in which he had been born and bred” [150]. This suggests that he is racked with immense guilt and shame at the falsehood he is living and suggests that he is physically abusing himself as a result of this guilt. This directly contradicts Chillingworth's mental state of fury and vengeance that he falls deeper into as the story progresses. These two characters also hold striking incongruities as to what drives them onward as the account

    Read More

  • Death Of Dimmesdale In Nathaniel Hawthorne's 'The Scarlet Letter'

    447 Words  | 2 Pages

    Using a rhetorical question Dimmesdale asked “may God forgive thee” knowing what he did was wrong, taking full responsibility for what he did hoping that god would forgive him. Knowing one day he would because “God is merciful”. In this simple sentence Dimmesdale said a lot. Not only praying for his own forgiveness but for Chillingworth’s also. Praying that “thanks be to him who halted me hither” using this motif to constantly show that Dimmesdale was not mad at Chillingworth but thankful to him for forcing him into telling the truth and setting himself free.

    Read More

  • Chillingworth's Guilt Quotes

    1003 Words  | 5 Pages

    At first Chillingworth is portrayed through the introduction as a civil man, almost feel sorry for him for the fact that his wife cheated on him, and that she is now imprisoned, Hester even calls him, “the Black Man that haunts the forest round about [the town],”(Hawthorne 94), however, these words foreshadow the dive to insanity Chillingworth later takes after he sets his sights on revenge. Although Chillingworth’s arrival to Massachusetts is not a happy one, the reader can’t feel bad for Chillingworth because during his conversation with Hester, Chillingworth didn’t approach Hester with the intent on being a good husband, but rather as a physician. The lack of love Chillingworth displays to Hester, sheds light onto the how riddled with guilt Chillingworth really is, the mere opposition to comfort her, provides Chillingworth’s first step towards his mental downfall. Some people may argue that Chillingworth never saw a downfall into his own mental state, and that he was passing the punishment that Dimmesdale had deserved. However, the punishments that Dimmesdale was receiving was more torture than anything else, which exemplifies the civility he has lost.

    Read More

  • The Scarlet Letter Penance Vs. Penitence

    604 Words  | 3 Pages

    Penance vs. Penitence In the novel, The Scarlet Letter, Nathaniel Hawthorne writes of the hypocrisy of the Puritans in the 1600’s. He expresses the hardships of Hester Prynne and her adulterous lover, Authur Dimmesdale, who is also the town’s preacher. Because Reverend Dimmesdale is a very noble preacher, he has to persist with the guilt of his sin and continue to preach how one should live a holy and pure lifestyle.

    Read More

  • The Scarlet Letter Chillingworth Is The Greatest Sinner

    392 Words  | 2 Pages

    and 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

    Read More

  • The Leech Quotes

    465 Words  | 2 Pages

    The way Chillingworth “scrutinized his patient carefully, both as he saw him in his ordinary life….. and as he appeared when thrown amidst other moral scenery...might call out something new to the surface of his character. While “it was a physician that he presented himself, and such was cordially received”, many people still have their doubts about him. Since Chillingworth is curious about Dimmesdale’s problems, he made “an arrangement by which the two were lodged in the same house; so that every eeb and flow of the minister’s life-tide might pass under the eye of his anxious and attached physician.” He wants so deeply to know what Dimmesdale is hiding, that he convinces Dimmesdale’s friends to let them live together, even though Dimmesdale is not truly sick; maybe sick of himself, but

    Read More

  • The Scarlet Letter Dimmesdale's Transformation

    523 Words  | 3 Pages

    Dimmesdale starts living with Chillingworth so the doctor can keep the feeble minister ‘healthy’; the doctor, reversely, tries to make Dimmesdale feel conflicted about his morals which leads to Dimmesdale obsessively whipping himself “...on his own shoulders” and“... fast[ing]...in order to purify [his] body… rigorously...until his knees trembled beneath him[self]...” (132). He is enveloped in his sin, and cannot escape it unless he tells the truth. In fact, Dimmesdale could not stop thinking about his sin which “...continued to give Mr. Dimmesdale a real existence [which] was the anguish in his inmost soul” (133).

    Read More

  • Dimmesdale And Chillingworth's Secrets In Scarlet Letter

    361 Words  | 2 Pages

    Dimmesdale 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.

    Read More

  • Arthur Dimmesdale's Marking Quotes

    561 Words  | 3 Pages

    It is revealed that there is something on Dimmesdale’s chest after the physician, Roger Chillingworth, moves aside Dimmesdale’s shirt revealing his chest; (Hawthorne 78) the reader is then led to believe that there is something important about this interaction. The mark, again, is not directly stated so the reader does not know what the mark is. The mark is finally beginning to show itself, so the guilt is starting to work its way outward. At this point there is no way that Dimmesdale will be able to hide his shame forever. Over time the guilt will continue to build up and eventually will consume

    Read More

  • Arthur Dimmesdale's Moral Development In Scarlet Letter

    978 Words  | 4 Pages

    While both Chillingworth and Dimmesdale were living together so Chillingworth can conduct laboratorial exams, the narrator makes

    Read More

  • Compare And Contrast Dimmesdale And Chillingworth A Sinner

    480 Words  | 2 Pages

    The 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”).

    Read More

  • The Hidden Sin In The Scarlet Letter

    686 Words  | 3 Pages

    The Hidden Sin and The Revealed Sin As humans, we live in the that are brimming with sins and evil desire. As the creator of all the creatures, God, sent his only son to save the people from the control of devil. The only thing we have to do is to acknowledge our mistake. Bible teach us that we should tell the truth to God and your neighbors, and God will forgive you. But people are worse, they not only hide the sin and their evil behaviors but also try to deny it.

    Read More

More about Chillingworth And Dimmesdale In Nathaniel Hawthorne's 'The Scarlet Letter'

Open Document