Throughout The Scarlet Letter we were introduced to all the main characters and their problems. We also witnessed their emotions regarding the adulterous sin Hester committed with Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale. All the characters suffer either emotionally or physically. However I sympathize more for Roger Chillingworth. Roger had things to take care of and promised his wife they would meet up in Boston. After he was finished taking care of things, he expected to come to Boston and resume the relationship he had with his wife. However, he comes to Boston and the first thing he sees is his wife being punished in front of the whole town while holding her illegitimate child. This makes him feel backstabbed. He is so fueled with rage, he swore revenge on Hester's lover. As Hester's punishment was public, Dimmesdale's and Chillingworth's was internal. Dimmesdale's guilt was eating him inside and Chillingworth's envy and jealousy was bothering him. Chillingworth did not sin however, he has to live the rest of his life thinking about how things might have ended up if he was the father of Pearl. Dimmesdale did absolutely nothing to deserve this kind of emotional distress. Hester and Dimmesdale are the only ones who deserved the punishment for the sins they committed.
I agree with your statement about Chillingworth not deserving Hester's betrayal, but there were other things in your blog that did not quite make sense to me. Chillingworth, while torturing and getting his revenge on Dimmesdale, was actually sinning. He was not the perfect person. Another thing I do not believe is when you said that Chillingworth thought he would have a happy relationship with Hester when he went to Boston. That, in my opinion, is untrue because of the lack of love in the relationship. But other than those two points, I though you had a logical idea of the book.
ReplyDeleteHester and Dimmesdale may have committed a sin, but there is no proof stating that Roger did not do the same when he was separated from Hester. Also, there was never any love to return to. Hester and Roger were not married on the bases of love. Roger was an evil man on the inside deserving all the blame, he intentionally wished for revenge which is also a sin. If you say that Dimmesdale is at fault for his sin, then Roger and Dimmesdale both sined balancing the equation.
ReplyDeleteBy Dimmesdale committing adultery in the first place already puts him at fault. I agree with you that Chillingworth was filled with hatred because he felt backstabbed by his own wife. Even if there was no love in their relationship, she should not have slept with another man. The logical and more mature act would have been talking to Chillingworth about divorce. By doing this both Hester and Chillingworth would have been free to do whatever they wanted.
ReplyDeleteDimmesdale committed adultery, which makes him the guilty one without a doubt. Roger Chillingworth loved his wife and even after he gave part of his inheritance to Hester and Pearl. Roger did this even after being betrayed and cheated on by Hester. Sleeping with Dimmesdale was not the right thing to do. Hester and Roger should have had a formal and mutual divorce agreement. This way, both of them could have taken their own ways, leaving Roger unhurt and not cheated on and Hester without the guilt feeling and the embarressment she endured.
ReplyDeleteI agree with the fact that Chillingworth was the one to feel more sympathy for because any man would feel ashamed and embarrassed coming back from a two year trip to see their wife being punished for adultery. Even if Hester and Roger Chillingworth did not love each other, Dimmesdale should not have interfered in their relationship. He was a minister, and should have known better.
ReplyDeleteAt first, in my blog I typed about Dimmesdale and how he is innocent and I feel more sympathetic towards him. This blog changes my mind and now feel more sympathetic towards Chillingworth. I agree, Chillingworth is innocent and comes to Boston expecting to be with his wife, but instead he feels humiliated for her and himself since she committed adultery.
ReplyDeleteI agree with your argument about why we should sympathize more towards Chillingworth. However, I do not agree with the sentence where you say that he did not commit a sin. He DID commit a sin by taking revenge on Hester and torturing her through Dimmesdale. Even though he was angry about Hester's actions, he should not have gone to the extremes he went to. Although I sympathized more with Dimmesdale in my blog, you did an excellent job of trying to persuade me to sympathize with Chillingworth.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you George because Roger Chillingworth did have the short end of the stick. Through the suffering of having his wife be an adulterer, having to be away from his wife, and having to get revenge on someone caused him to change in character and become a miserable soul. Yes, even though him wanting to kill someone cannot be justified in any means, but he had the worst from it. Hester and Dimmesdale had each other, but Chillingworth was on his own.
ReplyDeleteI agree with your entire blog. I too believe that Chillingworth should be shown more sympathy, and the statement about how he was the only person who had not sinned. Chillingworth had worked all of his life, and put in years of time into studying different chemicals and remedies, only for one reason; to build a supporting base for him and his wife Hester. However as he arrives to the town what does he see in front of him? He sees a angry crowd talking about his wife that committed adultery. How would one feel if they were put in that position? He is innocent and deserves more respect than a sinner.
ReplyDeleteThe completely agree with you on the point that Roger Chillingworth is the most sympathetic character in the novel. He really is the only person who did not deserve to be punished. He started off wanting to seek revenge, just like anyone would, then had no chance to execute his plan, because Dimmesdale spoiled it. He then died a sad life. Who knows, maybe Chillingworth actually cared for Hester. Maybe Chillingworth wanted a daughter of his own, and since he could not have one, felt the need to treat Pearl like his own. From the information given in the book, it appears as what is stated above is true. He awarded Pearl with a large portion of his fortune when he passed away, showing that he actually did care, but was just pissed off for a long time. If I were Chillingworth, I would just stab Dimmesdale once I found out.
ReplyDeleteI have to agree with you, Roger came back thinking he would be reunited with his wife and they would live happily ever after. However he came and found out his wife has been cheating on him and has a child. I sympathize with him, and I think what he did was acceptable, I too would have gotten revenge, if I was betrayed. What Hester did was wrong and there is no way to justify it. I also agree with you point that he is the only one that has not sinned, and he should be sympathized more for that reason.
ReplyDeleteI disagree with you completely. There was no true love between the much older Chillingworth and Hester, therefore his revenge is unjustifiable. You also mention that he did not commit a sin, however his vengeful punishments against Dimmesdale are just as sinful as Hester's adultery. Chillingworth should have acted like the better and wiser man by moving on and accepting that Hester did not truly love him. Chillingworth reminds me of Hugh Hefner. He tries to build a relationship with a younger woman, but gets angry whenever they leave him to build a family with someone more age appropriate.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you, Roger's revenge was on point. He trusted his wife but he was proven otherwise in the worst way possible, by getting cheated on. Roger felt immense pain and betrayel as he was greeted by his wife and also a newborn baby which did not belong to him. Any man would feel that it is right to seek revenge in a situation like this because pride enters the picture. Chillingworth's entire life turned upside down because of Hester's and Dimmesdale's sinful act, yet he gave an inheritance to Pearl even though she was not his blood.
ReplyDeleteRoger Chillingworth was an innocent man, who did not deserve to be cheated on, until he wished pain and misery to Mr. Dimmesdale. I disagree with your reasoning, because Chillingworth's sin was far greater than Arthur Dimmesdale's sin. Dimmesdale made a mistake and he asked God for forgiveness every single day. Chillingworth had an agenda of vengeance and sought to inflict torment, which can not be justified. If Roger Chillingworth had continued hs life without attempting to hurt others, then he would have been the more honorable man, instead, he committed sin and lost the respect that I held for him towards the start of the novel.
ReplyDeleteIn my blog, I feel more sympathetic for Dimmesdale rather than Chillingworth, but you did an unbeatable job in trying to persuade me to feel otherwise. I agree with you that Chillingworth feels backstabbed and fueled with revenge because his wife cheated on him. However, I disagree that Chillingworth was free from sins because he tried to kill Dimmesdale. He was torturing and mind poisoning him. It is true that his actions were the result of the disgrace and disrespect he felt, but his malevolent and harsh punishments against Dimmesdale were just as sinful, if not worse, than Hester's adultery. Also, I disagree with you because Hester's and Roger Chillingworth's marriage was not from true love. Rather it was a business deal. Hester already received the worst punishment that any woman could have been given. Dimmesdale was suffering internally and he even became physically ill because of his guilt. If Chillingworth was a negative human, he would have never cared about the fact that he was lying to his townspeople. That is why I feel more sympathetic for the poor reverend. Nevertheless, your argument was strong.
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