Roger Chillingworth
: a mad man, or a man driven to madness? This is a question that many readers of Hawthorne's "The Scarlet Letter" have decided by the time they reach the final chapter, really without thinking about it. Yet, if the story is reviewed, and one looks at the events that either happen directly because of Chillingworth, or how these events effected him, you may realize that he is a product, rather than a cause of pain. Throughout the work, it is clearly shown that he, like so many others over the time of history, is a product of earlier events and situations. And in these situations, he didn't make the right choice in how to handle the problem. He did not choose the rational path of problem ...
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first time Nathaniel Hawthorne begins to describe Dr. Prynne (a.k.a. ) he uses Hester to show that he is very normal in some aspects, yet very different in others. He is a mid aged man, whom wears his age well. But a small shoulder misalignment, causes slight distinction from the rest of the crowd. His facial features told of his intelligence, and his clothes were of a mix, some civilized, some savage. When he came onto the scene, while Hester was on the scaffold with baby Pearl, he hid his identity from the crowd, and merely asked of what the commotion was all about. The news hit him hard, yet, consistent with Chillingworth throughout the story, he does not show it with outward gestures. He asked one of the onlookers if she had told the name of the man whom took advantage of Hester, but was told that she would not break the privy. Chillingworth, filled with the bitterness of betrayal, confronted the sinner and asked personally, of whom committed the sin with her, but again, ...
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death. Or go against him, and deny all that he does and plans. A reader whom does not agree that Chillingworth is worth of mercy at this point will never understand or allow themselves to accept that he is tormented by this event, by what has come out of this incident. They will not believe that he is just in his head, and that there is a reason behind all the hatred. He is already and will always be a mad man.
Hawthorne does not spend anytime or detail on Dr. Prynne's history. All that is presented is that Hester is bitter toward him for "robbing her of her childhood," which can be taken as he married while she was yet a babe of youth.
Chillingworth, being a student of alchemy, was ...
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"Roger Chillingworth." Essayworld.com. Essayworld.com, 3 Mar. 2007. Web. 23 Dec. 2024. <http://www.essayworld.com/essays/Roger-Chillingworth/61197>
"Roger Chillingworth." Essayworld.com. March 3, 2007. Accessed December 23, 2024. http://www.essayworld.com/essays/Roger-Chillingworth/61197.
"Roger Chillingworth." Essayworld.com. March 3, 2007. Accessed December 23, 2024. http://www.essayworld.com/essays/Roger-Chillingworth/61197.
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