ipl-logo

Bloodthirsty Revenge In Nathaniel Hawthorne's 'The Scarlet Letter'

885 Words4 Pages

Inhyeok (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. Furthermore, allegory strongly reveals the defect of the Puritan society and imperfection of all human beings by exposing abysmal agonies of each allegorical character coming from their intrinsic limits. Roger Chillingworth, the husband of Hester Prynne, is a good example of an allegorical character that shows the corruption …show more content…

Hester bitterly announces hatred toward her once-beloved man, Roger Chillingworth, as she says, “Yes! I hate him! ... He betrayed me! He has done me worse wrong than I did him!” (154). Roger Chillingworth, in effort to dismantle Dimmesdale’s life, has continuously lost social wealth for the seven revengeful years. Most importantly, he put incredible concentration on revenge that he even lost his once-beloved wife. In fact, Chillingworth not only lost the love of Hester, but also gained hatred from Hester. In the end, Roger Chillingworth is worth nothing more than a social outcast who lost true and peaceful relationships with people, and even obtained hatred from his own wife. Through this allegory, Hawthorne teaches his readers that revengeful purpose in life can drive oneself out of the healthy social life. Nathaniel Hawthorne, through the allegory of Chillingworth’s life in Scarlet Letter, rendered the conception that vindictive life can be a melancholy. Compulsion with revenge only led Chillingworth to emotional corruption, hauled away various elements of life, raised anger, and drove him away from relationships with people. After all, would it be a wise determination to live with, or even possess, a spiteful mind preoccupied with revenge? The immediate answer has to be,

Show More
Related

Roger Chillingworth's Cheating Quotes

155 Words | 1 Pages

Roger 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,

Read More

How Does Chillingworth's Character Change Throughout The Scarlet Letter

558 Words | 3 Pages

Hester wants to reveal the secret, but Chillingworth wants to keep it concealed in order to torture Dimmesdale even more (Hawthorne, 1994, pp. 118-119). This shows the devious aspect of his character. The association between Chillingworth and Hester transitions from a professional to personal relationship as the truth of Chillingworth’s real intentions comes to the

Read More

Character Foils In Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter

612 Words | 3 Pages

Character 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”.

Read More

How Does Chillingworth Commit The Greatest Sin

396 Words | 2 Pages

In the novel The Scarlet Letter sinning is greater or equal to any crime today. In the small Puritan town many people sin, but Roger Chillingworth commits the greatest sin. He is the husband of Hester Prynne and a physician in Boston, Massachusetts. He is a man who is not only lost to the devil but a fraud. He puts his good skill to bad deeds.

Read More

How Does Chillingworth Use Revenge In The Scarlet Letter

270 Words | 2 Pages

Everyone, at some point in his or her life, has wanted to take revenge on someone. However, revenge is an obsessive, overwhelming response that is ultimately dissatisfying. In the Scarlet Letter, Chillingworth became completely preoccupied with taking revenge on Dimmesdale because he fathered a child with his wife, and through imagery, the gradual change from unpleasant physician to vengeful husband is shown. People say, “revenge is a dish best served cold.”

Read More

Happiness Examples In Scarlet Letter

1836 Words | 8 Pages

For as long as humans have existed, they have had struggles with happiness. The Scarlet Letter outlines one common human struggle with happiness. This passage from the Scarlet Letter takes place in the forest after Hester has gone to tell Dimmesdale, her former lover, about Chillingworth, her ex-husband.

Read More

Roger Chillingworth Character Analysis Essay

436 Words | 2 Pages

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).

Read More

Compare And Contrast Dimmesdale And Chillingworth

1021 Words | 5 Pages

For example, both Chillingworth and Dimmesdale’s actions are full of hypocrisies. Boston respects Dimmesdale for his moral integrity, yet he and Hester’s sin cause all the events of the novel. Chillingworth also demands that Hester to hide his true identity because Chillingworth “will not encounter the dishonor that besmirches the husband of a faithless woman,” (Hawthorne 57; ch.4). However, Chillingworth believes there is no dishonor in secretly torturing Dimmesdale. Both also believe that they are not at fault for their own mistakes.

Read More

How Does Chillingworth Find The Truth In The Scarlet Letter

506 Words | 3 Pages

The Puritan definition of truth was the word of God or every verse contained in the scripture, and the truth is believed to be “the self-expression of God”. Puritans took the word of God very serious and depended on it for their life lessons. In The Scarlet Letter Roger Chillingworth identifies Mr. Dimmesdale’s faults and want to uncover the secret that’s destroying him inside. Chillingworth makes it his purpose to find the truth. Chillingworth has an opportunity to do so while Dimmesdale is asleep from the drugs that Chillingworth gave him.

Read More

How Did Chillingworth's Character Change Throughout The Scarlet Letter

502 Words | 3 Pages

Regardless, Roger Chillingworth was mostly filled with evilness desiring to have revenge on his wife’s lover. Being the evil character in this book, Roger Chillingworth’s plan to revenge had negative impact

Read More

Symbolism Of The Forest In The Scarlet Letter

580 Words | 3 Pages

Throughout the history of literature, forests or woods were used to symbolise a lost in morals or spirituality. The devil or The Black man was used to symbolise corruption or evil. Nathaniel Hawthorne uses forests and The Black Man to embody the spiritual and moral struggles of Hester Prynne, Arthur Dimmesdale, and Roger Chillingworth in his novel The Scarlet Letter. The first time Roger Chillingworth appears to the readers, is during the first scaffold scene. He was deformed and hunchbacked.

Read More

Arthur Dimmesdale's Moral Development In Scarlet Letter

978 Words | 4 Pages

“(Hawthorne 109). His moral stage continues to be at stage 1 “Obedience and Punishment Orientation” because his selfishness still makes an overall reflection on his personality. He is more concerned about his own feelings than everyone around him opposed to his morality at the beginning of the novel. He expresses signs of jealousy because Pearl called out for him. Next, at the beginning of Chapter 18 after Hester has declared to Dimmesdale that Chillingworth is her real husband and he becomes upset, eventually he forgives her and sees Chillingworth as the real sinner.

Read More

Redemption In Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter

1035 Words | 5 Pages

What is redemption? Redemption is the act of being saved or freed from sin. This is an important part of Nathaniel Hawthorne’s “The Scarlet Letter.” Redemption was what the characters in the book were seeking, and was the reason for many of their actions. Because of the time period and the fact the people were Puritans, sins were not tolerated nor common, so when they happened they were a huge deal.

Read More

Essay On Evil In The Scarlet Letter

719 Words | 3 Pages

His novel The Scarlet Letter expresses this very idea by exposing the follies of mankind and the potentially detrimental effects of sin through Hester Prynne, Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale, and Roger Chillingworth

Read More

Essay On Chillingworth's Revenge

550 Words | 3 Pages

Chillingworth shows no restraint in persecuting Dimmesdale to achieve his ends. When he arrives in the town he finds that a man has committed adultery with his wife, which “[leads] him to imagine a more intimate revenge than any mortal had ever wreaked upon an enemy.” From that moment, Chillingworth swears to exact his retribution. He forms a plan which will only satisfy his selfish desire to destroy the man that wronged him.

Read More

More about Bloodthirsty Revenge In Nathaniel Hawthorne's 'The Scarlet Letter'

Open Document