Chillingworth’s Malevolence

The Recognition

Roger Chillingworth is the fiercely intelligent scholar who arrives at the Puritan settlement after two years of captivity to discover his wife standing on the “pedestal of shame” in the marketplace because of her illicit affair.

When he recognises Hester, Hawthorne describes how a “writhing horror twisted itself across his features”. He is so appalled by the sight of his wife’s ignominious punishment that the anguish contorts his face which “darkened with some powerful emotion”. The reader is left to guess which emotions.

Roger Chillingworth

Hester had “embodied the warmth and cheerfulness of home” so her infidelity and “ignominious exposure” makes him feel incredibly aggrieved.

He also wants to avoid the “contagion of her dishonour” and warns Hester that he “will not encounter the dishonour that besmirches the husband of a faithless woman”. Notice the use of “dishonour” and the metaphor comparing it to a disease. Chillingworth is more concerned about his integrity and worth in the settlement rather than any feelings of despondency or rejection.

Therefore, he “chose to withdraw his name from the roll of mankind” and decided to go “under the appellation of Roger Chillingworth”.

Hester Prynne

Hester is suspicious of her husband’s intentions when he wants to administer a draught to Pearl, asking if he would “avenge thyself on the innocent babe”. He calls her a “foolish woman”. When he “presented the cup to Hester”, she was “full of doubt”. He assures her that his “purposes” are not so “shallow”.

Chillingworth believes the best “scheme of vengeance” is to protect Hester from “all harm and peril of life” so that the “burning shame” of the scarlet letter will continue to “blaze” and he will be able to watch her “doom”.

This vengeance will be her physiological torture.

Arthur Dimmesdale

At the end of a conversation with a townsman in the third chapter, Chillingworth is angry that the identity of the father “remaineth a riddle” and resolves to discover the truth.

He warns Hester in the prison that he “shall seek this man” and he “shall see him tremble”. The quick repetition of modal verb “shall” emphasises his uncompromising determination to give Hester a “partner on thy pedestal”.

However, he does not want to “interfere with Heaven’s own method of retribution”. In other words, he will not attempt to seek his own divine punishment. Chillingworth will also not “betray him to the gripe of human law”. The use of word “gripe” personifies the courts firmly grabbing criminals and dragging them to justice. Since the word also connotes a whining complaint, Chillingworth is deflating the importance of earthly law.

The antagonist declares “he will be mine”. He is searching for a more malevolent vengeance.

The Intimate Revenge

Chillingworth began his “investigation” with the “severe and equal integrity of a judge”, comparing it to a neutral inquiry without any emotional prejudice. It is simply a curious and intellectual “geometrical problem” that needs to be solved.

He tells Hester that he has “sought truth in books” with the same scientific rigor as he has “sought gold in alchemy”. Chillingworth intends to approach the “riddle” logically with research and experiments.

However, his search for the truth became a “terrible fascination”.

Hawthorne compares the antagonist’s actions to a “miner searching for gold” in the tenth chapter. This simile suggests his desire for impartial justice is now a greedy thrill. He unearths “many precious materials” in his “long search into the minister’s dim interior”.

The writer offers another simile, comparing Chillingworth to an unscrupulous “sexton delving into a grave” searching for a “jewel”. His selfish motivation is now darker and more sinister.

A third simile compares him to a “thief entering a chamber” wanting to “steal… treasure”. He is no longer an agent of justice, but a stealthy and self-indulgent criminal who is only interested in his own terrible gain.

Chillingworth’s actions are described as his “intimate revenge”. This could refer to his psychological torture of Dimmesdale while pretending to be his companion. However, it could also describe the wild excitement he feels in his malicious “quest” for the truth.