1-Hart

Emily Hart
Mrs. Simons
Language Arts 3-4 H
July 25, 2013
Roger Chillingworth Character Analysis
In the novel, The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne, Roger Chillingworth is one of
the main characters and is Hester Prynnes estranged husband. He is consumed by his intent to
find out who Hesters unknown lover is and take revenge on him, and is considered the
embodiment of evil. He does develop throughout the story, but not in a good way.
First of all, Chillingworth is immediately interested in finding out who had an affair with
and fathered Hesters child. When he first speaks with Hester he says to her, Breathe not the
secret, above all, to the man thou wottest of. Shoudst thou fail me in this, beware! His fame, his
position, his life will be in my hands. Beware! (DQ 1, 120) without really knowing it for
himself he devotes his life from then on to torture Arthur Dimmesdale, the minister and Pearls
father and Hesters lover. (A1) Even after seven years Chillingworth is still curious as to know
who the father of Pearl is, Would it be beyond a philosophers research, think ye, gentlemen,
to analyze that childs nature, and, from its make and mould, to give a shrewd guess at the
father? (180) at that point in the story he is now well acquainted with Dimmesdale and ends up
living with him. While they are living together Chillingworth has suspicions that the young
minister is the father but it is when he finds out that they are correct his true character comes out.
Furthermore, there is evidence that suggests that the doctor was miserable, angry, and all
together unhappy which can turn a good person evil, as evidenced by, In a word, old Roger
Chillingworth was a striking evidence of a mans faculty of transforming himself into a Devil, if

2-Hart
he will only, for a reasonable space of time, undertake a Devils office, this unhappy person had
effected such a transformation by devoting himself, for seven years, to the constant analysis of a
heart full of torture, and deriving his enjoyment thence, and adding fuel to those fiery tortures
which he analyzed and gloated over, (DQ 1, 266) this quote shows just how evil he was turning.
Given these points Chillingworths character has developed throughout the story but not
in the best of ways. As he states on page 270, But all my life had been made up of earnest,
studious, thoughtful, quiet years, bestowed faithfully for that increase of mine own knowledge,
and faithfully, too, No life had been more peaceful and innocent than mine; few lives so rich
with benefits conferred. Was I not, though you might deem cold, nevertheless a man
thoughtful for others, caring little for himself,-kind, true, just, and of constant, if not warm
affections? Was I not all this? (DQ 1, 270) by saying this he is stating that before coming to
the New World and finding out about what happened with Hester he was a fine and good man
and was changed afterwards. (A 1) Evidence of how he changed afterwards would be, Had a
man seen old Roger Chillingworth, at that moment of his ecstasy, he would have had no need to
ask how Satan comports himself, when a precious human soul is lost to Heaven, and won into his
kingdom. (DQ 2, 216) Chillingworth now finds joy in others pain, suffering and guilt unlike
his former self would. This shows just how much he had changed throughout the novel. (A 2)
Conclusively, Roger Chillingworth is a cold, unhappy man, whose life is taken over by
trying to get revenge on Hesters lover and Pearls father as evidenced by the quotes above. His
character over the course of the novel really changed and developed.

3-Hart
Works Cited
Hawthorne, Nathaniel. No Fear The Scarlet Letter. New York: Spark, 2009. Print.