...What happens when passion is conflicted with responsibility? In Nathaniel Hawthorne’s, The Scarlet Letter, the antagonist is faced with an obstacle between revenge for the protagonist and his duties for the town, as a doctor. Hawthorne uses Roger Chillingworth’s deceptive relationships to illustrate how sin conquers and corrupts an individual. In addition Chillingworth’s vengeful passion overcomes his responsibilities for Hester Prynne and Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale throughout the novel. When Roger Chillingworth comes to Puritan Boston, he discovers his wife on an ignominious scaffold for the punishment for her sin, adultery. Although they recognize each other they do not disclose each other's identities. Instead of an intense, passionate marriage, Hester Prynne, and Chillingworth have a weak love that is easily broken by the sin of Hester and Dimmesdale. Chillingworth lacks...
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...English II Assigned Essay When Opposing Passions Merge In Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter, dualities vie for the soul of an emerging American generation. The novel proves that opposing passions, such as love and hate, paradoxically coexist in the human spirit, and they dictate the actions of Hawthorne’s multifaceted characters. Although such emotions may be similar, one transcends the other. Hawthorne’s novel, on the surface, often teems with hatred; but love is at the root, both driving and transforming destructive social interactions. Hatred is a superficial passion that develops in the character’s souls, emanating from—often perverse, confused, and hidden—love. In the novel, Roger Chillingworth’s life and spirit are dominated by his fierce desire to destroy the man who had an illicit affair with his wife. Chillingworth “digs into the poor clergyman’s heart, like a miner searching for gold” (113), scouring Dimmesdale’s psyche for hints of dishonesty. He becomes obsessed with his secret plot for revenge, and before long, his malicious intentions distort his physical appearance. The physician transforms into a walking emblem of hatred. The town realizes: “Now, there was something ugly and evil in his face, which they had not previously noticed” (112). Behind Chillingworth’s gloomy countenance, however, lies a motivation deeper than his desire for revenge: his enduring love for Hester. As he says to Hester while visiting her in prison, “I drew thee into my heart, into...
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...Roger Chillingworth and Arthur Dimmesdale wage a constant mental and physical battle throughout the Scarlet Letter. Chillingworth, a man of noble purpose and strong dispositions, falls further and further into his obsession of revenge. While at the same time, Dimmesdale, a respected reverend, suffers mentally and physically from his affair with Hester Prynne. As we progress through the novel, a question materializes: who deserves the blame for Hester Prynne’s affair, Chillingworth, Dimmesdale, or Hester Prynne herself? All three main characters believe they hold some sort of responsibility for the affair between Hester Prynne and Reverend Dimmesdale. Ultimately, Hester Prynne wrongs both Roger Chillingworth and Arthur Dimmesdale. Mrs. Prynne’s sin led to Roger Chillingworth’s and Arthur Dimmesdale’s demise both mentally and physically. Arthur Dimmesdale, a religious man respected by the community, ironically has an affair with Hester Prynne. Dimmesdale understands the sin he commits. He realizes all too well that he must confess publicly, but he cannot bring himself to do so. Instead, he begs Hester to announce what he has done: Be not silent from any mistaken pity and tenderness for him; for, believe me, Hester, though he were to step down from a high place, and stand there beside thee on thy pedestal of shame, yet better were it so, than to hide a guilty heart through life. What can thy silence do for him, except tempt him…(64). Dimmesdale feels nothing but shame for...
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...embark on a journey of revenge, dig two graves.” Nomatter a revenge successes of no, it harms the person who does it. In a Nathaniel Hawthorne’s fiction book The Scarlet Letter, the character Roger Chillingworth represents someone who twists his purpose of life and tries to ruminate on Dimmesdale when he realizes his wife Hester Prynne commits adultery with Dimmesdale and has an illegitimate daughter, Pearl. When Chillingworth comes back to the Puritan town in Boston, he looks like a man “well stricken in years, a pale, thin, scholarlike visage, with eyes dim and bleared… with left shoulder a trifle higher than the right” (Hawthorne 56) Chillingworth's adverse physiognomy makes him becomes...
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...some of the words describing what Roger Chillingworth is because of sin in The Scarlet Letter. From the beginning, we see Roger as an enigmatic character, knowledgeable in medicine from his time in captivity, as well as - unbeknownst to others except the audience - the wife of Hester Prynne. As the story progresses, - and when Roger finds about Hester and Dimmesdale’s sin, - Roger becomes a more sinister character, whose darker complexion is only matched by the devil himself, with his only goal being to pursue Dimmesdale for his (and Hester’s) act of sin. For seven long years he stays, soon becoming dependent and obsessed about Dimmesdale’s suffering and pain, like a leech on a decayed animal. His...
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...Scarlet Letter Essay In the Puritan era, the government and the community’s religious affiliation were mixed together in a caldron of malice and negativity. This resulted in harsh punishments for people who went against the bible and sinned against God. Often times the punishment for such acts of sin was public ridicule upon a raised platform, referred to as a scaffold. This form of punishment is a reoccurring event in Nathaniel Hawthorne’s novel The Scarlet Letter, where the protagonist, Hester Prynne, was originally patronized for the creation of an illegitimate child named Pearl with an unknown man, learned to be minister Dimmesdale. However, scaffolding scenes reoccurs throughout the novel and represents turning points in the plot that change the motives and actions of varying characters. The first scaffold scene of the novel occurs when Hester Prynne is released from prison and while upon the scaffold, shows the crowd her scarlet letter “A” that she bares upon her chest. This scarlet “A” was a punishment appointed by the head ministers of the community for her adultery that she committed. However, Hester turns this would-be punishment as a way to individualize herself. Hester adorns the scarlet letter with “an elaborate embroidery and fantastic flourishes of gold thread” and with that, appears to have a “haughty smile” (Hawthorne 50). By making the scarlet letter elaborate and elegant, it portrays the idea that Hester wants to draw attention to the scarlet letter....
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...The Scarlet Letter and The Crucible are two literary classics that portray excellence in expounding the importance of life. Both written works encompass striking similarities in aspects such as the setting, plot, and major conflicts. However, The Scarlet Letter and The Crucible bare conspicuous differences such as in The Scarlet Letter solid evidence for the crime of adultery is distinctly manifested while in The Crucible the court possesses no tangible evidence for the crime of witchcraft. In addition, The Scarlet Letter is a novel while The Crucible is a play. The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne and The Crucible by Arthur Miller have pronounced similitude, such as the common conflicts, and the setting, and also bare an impactful distinction between the resolutions of the two written works and the characters. The major conflict in...
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...Good vs. Evil Symbols In The Scarlet Letter, the story is created by the sin of Hester Prynne and Arthur Dimmesdale while Roger Chillingworth seeks for revenge of the adulterer. These three main characters will be highlighted in this essay. Throughout the novel, Hawthorne uses the symbols of light and dark to depict good and evil among the characters Hester Prynne, Arthur Dimmesdale, and Roger Chillingworth. Hawthorne explains both Hester’s light and dark sides with sunshine. It was stated that, “she made a halo of the misfortune and ignominy in which she was enveloped” (Hawthorne 51). Nathaniel Hawthorne is telling us she made the best out of the punishment she had to go through. Hester brought light to all the darkness that she dealt with. Hawthorne said that Hester coming out of the jail was “like a black shadow emerging into sunshine” (49). Hester looked like a shadow with the sin she had committed. People did not recognize Hester when she had come out of the prison. Hester is described by the author with sunshine for her dark and light sides....
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...Themes Women are stronger than men Dimmesdale, who has not been forced to bear a scarlet letter for his play in the sin, complains, “‘But as matters stand with my soul, whatever good capacity there originally was in me, all of God’s gifts that were the choicest have become the ministers of spiritual torment. Hester, I am most miserable!’” however it is ironic how Hester, who has felt with public embarrassment, does not complain, therefore women are stronger than men (Hawthorne, 187). Nature is more forgiving than the Puritan religion Hester and Dimmesdale sit together as, "The forest was obscure around them, and creaked with a blast that was passing through it. The boughs were tossing heavily above their heads; while one solemn old tree groaned dolefully to another, as if telling the sad story of the pair that sat beneath, or constrained to forbade evil to come, ” and these trees are more understanding than the Puritan religion which demonstrates nature is more forgiving than the Puritan religion (Hawthorne, 192). Sinning improves lives Hester knows that, “The scarlet letter was her passport into regions where other women dared not tread. Shame, Despair, Solitude!” These all qualities she experienced after sinning providing that sinning teaches lessons to people to help improve their lives (Hawthorne, 196). The lesser sin should be ignored After learning of Chillingworth’s identity, Dimmesdale says, “‘We are not, Hester, the worst sinners in the world...
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...In The Scarlet Letter, Hawthorne craftily uses Robert Chillingworth to project his ideas of morality of relationships, revenge, and science on the world. First he uses Hester’s failed marriage to show the importance of proper relationships. Then he uses Dimmesdale to show the effect of revenge and evil sin does to a person. Finally he uses the Puritan’s reactions to his science to show how morality’s need in quests for knowledge. Chillingworth’s quest for science ahead of spiritual or emotional relationships represent the path of evil and loneliness suffered by those who disregard their own morality. Chillingworth, the original husband of Hester, sees nothing more than her physical self and expects her to succumb to his own will. Hester herself...
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...The Scarlet Letter Study Guide Published in 1850, The Scarlet Letter is considered Nathaniel Hawthorne's most famous novel--and the first quintessentially American novel in style, theme, and language. Set in seventeenth-century Puritan Massachusetts, the novel centers around the travails of Hester Prynne, who gives birth to a daughter Pearl after an adulterous affair. Hawthorne's novel is concerned with the effects of the affair rather than the affair itself, using Hester's public shaming as a springboard to explore the lingering taboos of Puritan New England in contemporary society. The Scarlet Letter was an immediate success for a number of reasons. First and foremost, the United States was still a relatively new society, less than one hundred years old at the time of the novel’s publication. Indeed, still tied to Britain in its cultural formation, Hawthorne's novel offered a uniquely American style, language, set of characters, and--most importantly--a uniquely American central dilemma. Besides entertainment, then, Hawthorne's novel had the possibility of goading change, since it addressed a topic that was still relatively controversial, even taboo. Certainly Puritan values had eased somewhat by 1850, but not enough to make the novel completely welcome. It was to some degree a career-threatening decision to center his novel around an adulterous affair (but compare the plot of Fielding's Tom Jones). But Hawthorne was not concerned with a prurient affair here, though the novel’s...
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...Symbols in "The Scarlet Letter" A In “The Scarlet Letter,” symbols appear everywhere. Hawthorne uses several different concrete objects to represent something of deeper meaning. Among these symbols is the scarlet letter "A" itself. It is made of red cloth and beautifully embroidered. It is a literal symbol of the sin of adultery. The letter "A" appears in several places and several forms. It is the letter that appears on Hester's heart that she is condemned to wear for the remainder of her life. At Governor Bellingham's mansion it is magnified in the breastplate. It seems as though she is hidden behind it. On the night that Dimmesdale stands on the scaffold with Hester and Pearl, a huge letter A appears in the sky. Later, while in the forest, Pearl arranges a letter a on her heart that is made of eel grass. One of the most dramatic of the A's that appear in the book is the A that appears on Dimmesdale's chest. Not only does the "A" symbolize adultery, but it also has several other meanings to the different characters as well. To the community, it is simply a mark of punishment. To Hester, it is a mark of embarrassment and humiliation. To Dimmesdale, the scarlet letter is a reminder of his own guilt. To Pearl, the mark is a mysterious curiosity. To Chillingworth, the "A" is his chance to get revenge on Dimmesdale. Later, the letter symbolizes "Able" when Hester wins some respect from the townspeople. The scarlet letter is meant to be a symbol of shame, but instead it becomes...
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...novel The Scarlet Letter. One important influence on the story is money. Hawthorne had never made much money as an author and the birth of his first daughter added to the financial burden ("Biographical Note" VII). He received a job at the Salem Custom House only to lose it three years later and be forced to write again to support his family (IX). Consequently, The Scarlet Letter was published a year later (IX). It was only intended to be a long short story, but the extra money a novel would bring in was needed ("Introduction" XVI). Hawthorne then wrote an introduction section titled "The Custom House" to extend the length of the book and The Scarlet Letter became a full novel (XVI). In addition to financial worries, another influence on the story is Hawthorne's rejection of his ancestors. His forefathers were strict Puritans, and John Hathorne, his great-great-grandfather, was a judge presiding during the Salem witch trials ("Biographical Note" VII). Hawthorne did not condone their acts and actually spent a great deal of his life renouncing the Puritans in general (VII). Similarly, The Scarlet Letter was a literal "soapbox" for Hawthorne to convey to the world that the majority of Puritans were strict and unfeeling. For example, before Hester emerges from the prison she is being scorned by a group of women who feel that she deserves a larger punishment than she actually receives. Instead of only being made to stand on the scaffold and wear the scarlet letter on her chest...
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...Nathaniel Hawthorne’s novel The Scarlet Letter, tells the story of a woman who commits adultery in a puritanical society. As punishment for her sin, Hester Prynne must wear the ignominious scarlet letter ‘A’ for adulteress. As a result, she is the constant target of ridicule and persecution, which in Puritan society was a punishment almost equivalent to death.Throughout the novel, multiple Puritan beliefs are reflected, however; these tenets of Puritanism are used to reveal a further symbolic or Romantic meaning. Hawthorne himself, claimed that the novel was more indicative of Romantic ideals. Even the style in which the novel was written is reflective of the Romantic Era. Puritan writing was simple and facile to interpret, whereas The Scarlet...
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...There are many “sinners” that believe their actions shouldn’t be frowned upon in the novel, The Scarlet Letter”, but many people do not recall which character had a greater outcome of sin making. Throughout the novel thoughts became obvious about who this character might be, but then the words jumped out at me as the thought of one character who was a greater sinner than most. It becomes obvious throughout the story that Chillingworth has committed the greater sin throughout his whole life. The Scarlet Letter is full of romance and redemption amongst all of the main characters in Puritan Boston, Massachusetts during the 17th-century of the year 1642 to 1649. Hester, Dimmesdale and Chillingworth are three of the many characters in this “Master Piece” and they all have one very thing in common which is the fact that they all are sinners of their own making....
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