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The Scarlet Letter.

An analysis of the concept of sin, judgement and punishment as illustrated in Hawthorne’s characterization of Hester Prynne, Arthur Dimmesdale and Roger Chillingworth in the novel The Scarlet Letter. Argues that while all three are guilty of sin, only the evil deeds of Chillingworth are without redemption or salvation.

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The Scarlet LetterIntroduction The Puritan era during which the action of Hawthorne's TheScarlet Letter takes place embodied a society in which the individual andhis or her actions were often pitted against a social order determined tostamp out behaviors it considered immoral Hester Prynne is pilloried bythe town fathers for having committed adultery She is led forth fromprison with an embroidered scarlet A on her bosom and her love child inher arms to a pillory where she is forced to endure three hours

At one point in the novel, Hester confronts Chillingworth with theknowledge that he is torturing Dimmesdale. When Hesterpleas with him, "Hast thou not tortured him enough?...Has he not paid theeall?", Chillingworth responds, "No!-no! As James Trammell Cox writes in the introduction to The ScarletLetter, that Hester, Dimmesdale and Chillingworth have transgressed butthat the nature of Chillingworth's transgression is one without redemption: Each of its central characters has transgressed: Dimmesdale and Hester through adultery; Chillingworth through what Hawthorne elsewhere terms the 'unpardonable sin'-the violation, not of another's body, but of one's soul. Her lover, ArthurDimmesdale, is a minister who cannot confess his culpability.Chillingworth comes to suspect Dimmesdale is Hester's lover, moving in withhim in the guise of a physician to poison and torture Dimmsdale. Chillingworth spends seven years living only forrevenge over Dimmesdale. However, the carefully plotted and preciselydirected revenge of Chillingworth is evil. We are not,Hester, the worst sinners in the world...That old man's revenge has beenblacker than my sin. Hester and Dimmesdale plan to escape from the tyranny of Puritan society,but their plans are foiled by Chillingworth who books passage on the sameship. He is tortured by his guilt, knowing that he seeks out others toconfess their sins all the while keeping how own buried deep within hisbosom. As Dimmesdale says to Chillingworth atthe end of this exchange, "But who are thou, that meddlest in this matter?-that dares thrust himself between the sufferer and his God?" (Hawthorne1961, 149). Wesee this when Chillingworth comes upon the sleeping Dimmesdale and pullsoff the vestment covering his bosom. We are told by the narrator that "RogerChillingworth was a striking evidence of man's faculty of transforminghimself into a devil, if he will only, for a reasonable space of time,undertake a devil's office" (Hawthorne 1961, 186). As he explains to Hester,"My old faith, long forgotten comes back to me, and explains all that we doand all we suffer...It is our fate. Chillingworth explains thatthe "black" weeds more than likely grew over the man's grave as amanifestation of his reluctance to confess his sins while living. Despite his appeals toDimmesdale to confess the sickness in his soul, Dimmesdale argues toChillingworth that there is only one healer of the soul and it is no mortalphysician. His vow to be a mere observer of heaven'sretribution alludes to a passive role from which he dissents.Chillingworth aggressively pursues his intrigue of psychological tortureand administers medicines that have psychotropic effects and slowly poisonshim. For them it is an actof human and genuine love. She is led forth fromprison, with an embroidered scarlet "A" on her bosom and her love child inher arms, to a pillory where she is forced to endure three hours ofhumiliation. These are ironic and hypocritical words emanatingfrom an individual who has no conscience and no penance over his torture ofanother human being due to wounded pride. Chillingworth's woundedpride makes him take vengeance into his own hands. Hester andDimmesdale's sin stems from genuine love and a weak moment of passion.Chillingworth's sin, however, is purposeful, relentless and withoutremorse. He has violated, in cold blood, the sanctity of ahuman heart" (Hawthorne 1961, 215).Conclusion The Puritan leaders of Massachusetts society believed that religiousauthority overrode civil authority. (Hawthorne 1961, x)The Scarlet Letter, then, describes the same events but from differentperspectives. Arthur Dimmesdale suffers greatly for his lovemaking with HesterPrynne. In one scene we see his hypocrisy when he tells Dimmesdale how allmen guilty of carrying a secret burden of sin should behave: "If they wouldserve their fellow men, let them do it by making manifest the power andreality of conscience, in constraining them to penitential self-abasement!"(Hawthorne 1961, 145). Toprotect Dimmsdale, Hester eventually reveals his identity to Chillingworth. In fact, Chillingworth's evil is made worse by the fact that he usesmorality and social mores to torture his wife's lover. Such menfelt they were able to identify the temporal and spiritual worlds, therebyshowing no tolerance for those whose practices or beliefs they feltviolated their own religious superiority. This is why Dimmesdale will informHester that the old man's evil is a blacker sin than the one they committedtogether. Chillingworth's reaction to what hespies on the body of the unaware Dimmesdale is portrayed by Hawthorne asSatan incarnate: "Had a man seen old Roger Chillingworth, at that moment ofhis ecstasy, he would have had no need to ask how Satan comports himselfwhen a precious human soul is lost to heaven and won into his kingdom"(Hawthorne 1961, 151). Hester Prynne is pilloried bythe town fathers for having committed adultery. Hester remains willing to bear the burdenof her sin, refusing to be repentant of a love she considers God sent.Dimmesdale suffers horribly from his conscience, knowing that he is actinghypocritically to preach to others when he is full of sin. We see that Hawthorne has sympathy and identifies withimperfect beings that are oppressed by some arbitrary religiousinterpretation of perfection. The pathological mentality of Chillingworth, as the wronged husband,stems from his descent into his fiendish plot to make Dimmesdale accept forhimself the scarlet letter. To escape the clutches of Chillingworth, Dimmesdale mounts thepillory with Hester and Pearl and acknowledges his daughter and, thereby,finding salvation. Not to thee! At one point in the novel we see Hawthorne's belief that no humanbeing has the right to judge or punish other human beings for their sins.Hester confesses to Dimmesdale that Chillingworth is her husband and thathe has only vengeance in mind toward Dimmesdale. Hester does not change; her resolve to not be repentant of her lovethat she considers to be God sent is static. The sin of Chillingworth ismore reprehensible than either Dimmesdale's or Hester's, because has hadinvaded the inviolate ground of another man's soul, something Dimmesdaletells him no authority but God has the right to do. He dies as Pearl grants him a kiss. He has but increased the debt!"(Hawthorne 1961, 189). However, Hester and Dimmesdale find salvation because their sin wascommitted out of passion and based on love. We see in the characterizations of Hester, Dimmesdale andChillingworth that Hawthorne appears to believe that all human beings aresinners. ReferencesHawthorne, N. He has damned himself. The officious, hypocritical andprosecutorial nature of men like Roger Chillingworth was the same nature ofthose who orchestrated the Salem witch hunts. Chillingworth, in contrast, lives only for evil withoutrepentance. Chillingworth wholeheartedly rejects his moral self toseek revenge, which is painted blacker by Hawthorne than the sin of eitherDimmesdale or Hester. Hester willnot view her relationship with Dimmesdale as sinful, even though shedutifully accepts the penance she must pay for transgressing against socialmores. He admits to Hester that it wasunnatural for such an old, decaying man to wed a young and lovely woman.The loveless match ends in the estrangement of husband and wife.Chillingworth then abandons his wife, presumed dead at sea, and out ofloneliness she reaches out to love Dimmesdale. Hester shoulders full responsibility forher sin and protects her fellow sinner, struggling to believe that anymortal is above sin or guilt like herself. Roger Chillingworth passes himself off as a physician and vowsvengeance upon the man that is her daughter Pearl's father. If the sins of the sinners seem less sinful than those who judgethem in The Scarlet Letter, it might stem from Hawthorne's views of Puritansociety. Men like Chillingworthrationalized and validated control over others, including persecution andprosecution, because they felt they had a moral right to do so. When he learns of this,Dimmesdale is inconsolable that he should have exposed his ailing soul tothe very person that would gloat over his suffering. He tells Hester sheis accountable for his suffering and this situation, "I cannot forgivethee!" (Hawthorne 1961, 214). (1961). Who made me so?" (Hawthorne 1961, 189). In the three characters of Hester, Dimmesdale and Chillingworth, onecan observe three different conflicts; Hester and her defiance of Puritanethics and the development of her own morals, Dimmesdale and his dilemma ofhis conscience over his actions; he cannot resolve his error until he worksout his salvation according to the codes of his faith, and Chillingworthwho has no compunctions about destroying him who was the source of hisdamaged pride; he does not accept responsibility for his actions andthereby displaces any salvation he might have achieved. She admits that when she agreednot to tell Chillingworth the identity of Pearl's father she somehow failedto perform her duty to Dimmesdale. The Scarlet Letter. Even when toldshe can remove her scarlet letter, Hester refuses as she is not repentantand has only the identity of her love to conceal. This diabolical agent had the Divinepermission, for a season, to burrow into the clergyman's intimacy and plotagainst his soul" (Hawthorne 1961, 139). New York, NY: Scholastic Book Services. Chillingworth is notonly incapable of redemption but he is also a hypocrite who is as guilty asHester or Dimmesdale but refuses to acknowledge his own evil actions aswrong. Because ofthis, he has been transformed into evil incarnate, with Hawthorne making anumber of allusions to Satan and the Devil with respect to Chillingworth,"Ever and anon, too, there came a glare of red light out of his eyes; as ifthe old man's soul were on fire, and kept on smoldering duskily within hisbreast until, by some casual puff of passion, it was blown into a momentaryflame" (Hawthorne 1961, 186). He begins his character as intellectual which hetransforms to a diabolical form. Being repentant due to their lack of resolve ingiving in to their passionate love, it is possible for them to achieveredemption. Chillingworth, incontrast to both Hester and Dimmesdale, feels no remorse or guilt over historture of Dimmesdale and, thereby, Hester. Hiswillful attempts to destroy the soul of another stem from his belief thathe is justified in taking vengeance into his own hands. Hester tells Chillingworth it would have been better for Dimmesdalehad she confessed to his identity and sent him to the gallows than to haveabandoned him to Chillingworth's evil vengeance. For Chillingworth, on the other hand, who has willfully violated Dimmesdale's personality, and remains unrepentant, there can be no salvation. However, we also see that he believes that no human beingmaintains a monopoly on virtue and goodness. He acknowledges that he is compelled beyondhis will by a dark force to acquit himself; his view denies moralresponsibility. It was men like Chillingworth who often acted in the name ofmoral righteousness that were more evil and damned than those they accused. Hester and Dimmesdale do, indeed, sin, butit is only viewed as a sin to those who judge them. He, if it stand with His good pleasure, can cure; or He can kill"(Hawthorne 1961, 149). While being pilloried, Hester spies her much older husband inthe crowd. Eventually Dimmesdale regains his sense in light of thisrevelation by Hester and states, "May God forgive us both! But if it bethe soul's disease, then do I commit myself to the one Physician of thesoul! Inthis manner, evil stems from the relationship between love and hate in thenovel but hatred alone cannot admit redemption. You search his thoughts. Once more we see Hawthorne's belief thathumans should not sit in judgement or punishment over other human beings,especially when they are as guilty of sin as Chillingworth's evil actionsmake him. He diabolically and without conscience sets out todestroy the man who took his place and won Hester's heart. He attempts to fool Dimmesdale intoconfessing what it is that burdens his soul in order to heal himphysically. Dimmesdale finds thesalvation that is the rightful share of all Christians; his final moment ofrepentance and peace is the climax of the novel that transcends the scandalof which he was a part. We see this inHester's thoughts when she confronts him about his torture of Dimmesdale,"Strengthened by years of hard and solemn trial, she felt herself no longerso inadequate to cope with Roger Chillingworth...She had climber her way,since then, to a higher point. The contrast between Hester and Dimmesdale expresses a central theme of Hawthorne's: 'To thine own self be true!' No sin of passion denies salvation to the truly penitent...Hawthorne's lovers achieve a final grace beyond that which was available to them before they had sinned. Because ofthese two perspectives, both will eventually find redemption and salvation. We see from this exchange one more attempt to focuson the fact that Chillingworth is more a sinner than Dimmesdale, primarilybecause Chillingworth is putting himself in the position of judgement andvengeance that belongs only to God. While Hester andDimmesdale have sinned, their sin stems from their mutual passion and truelove for one another. Hawthorne seems to believethat all humans are imperfect and Puritanical mores and beliefs stemmedmore from intolerance and evil in the name of persecution than anything todo with morality or spirituality. There is no evil in Hester andDimmesdale's making love or even in the misguided actions of the ignorantPuritan town fathers. She informs him thatonly a higher power can absolve her of such guilt. Distraught, Hester flings herself to theground exclaiming, "Thou shalt forgive me!...Let God punish! When Chillingworthconfronts Hester she admits he was true to his word when he married her.However, as he confesses, "And what am I now?...I have already told theewhat I am! In a society with such stringent, intolerant and unforgivingmores, it is not difficult to imagine people making mistakes. Dimmesdale remainsin the clutches of Chillingworth who claims to be a physician that heals.In one scene in the novel, Dimmesdale comments on weeds that have grownfrom the grave of a dead man in the cemetery. The illness afflicting Dimmesdale is portrayed by Chillingworth tostem from a sickness of the soul. A fiend! As he tells Dimmesdale, "A sickness, a sore place, if we mayso call it, in your spirit hath immediately its appropriate manifestationin your bodily frame" (Hawthorne 1961, 149). He violates the biblical injunction "Vengeance is mine, saith theLord." Chillingworth is willing to sacrifice his fellow man to serve hisown dark concerns. While both Hester and Dimmesdale attempt toreconnect with society, Chillingworth is alienated from society, abandonsany ethic, and becomes pure evil in the process. Chillingworth dissolves into a less humancharacter; his hatred consumes him and he is not saved. Chillingworth, upon hisreturn, jealously avenges what he considers the actions of evildoers. The Scarlet Letter seems to suggest that evil stems from theclose relationship between love and hate. His circumstances force him to act withoutregard for social mores or morality. Hester has taken to living a life on the outskirts oftown. It is in the above exchange we see that Chillingworth is positioninghimself as God, something that only a Devil would attempt to achieve. The old man, on the other hand, had broughthimself nearer to her level, or perhaps below it, by the revenge which hehad stooped for" (Hawthorne 1961, 183). As Hawthorne(1961) writes of Chillingworth, "This unhappy person had effected such atransformation by developing himself, for seven years, to the constantanalysis of a heart full of torture, and deriving his enjoyment thence, andadding fuel to those fiery tortures which he analyzed and gloated over"(186). Your clutch is on his life, and you cause him todie daily a living death; and still he knows you not" (Hawthorne 1961,187). As Dimmesdale and Hester willgain salvation during the course of seven years, so Chillingworth willcontinue to descend to the depths of unpardonable hell. It is such fiendish glee taken in vengeance that makesChillingworth without redemption, casting him in the visage of Satan. Chillingworth,robbed of the target of his revenge, dies a year later. The Scarlet LetterIntroduction The Puritan era during which the action of Hawthorne's (1961) TheScarlet Letter takes place embodied a society in which the individual andhis or her actions were often pitted against a social order determined tostamp out behaviors it considered immoral. While Hester and Dimmesdale'sactions are accountable to earthly authority, the revenge of Chillingworthis unaccountable to earthly authority because of it remains evil in nature.Body The lovemaking of Hester and Dimmesdale creates enormous sufferingfor both Hester and Dimmesdale. He has descended into a life of pure hatred, evil and revengefor which he has no compunction or remorse. It is such a single-mindedconviction that turns Chillingworth's love to hate, the most unpardonableof sin in Hawthorne's view. Unlike Dimmesdale, who suffers greatly over his secret burden ofsin, Chillingworth has no moral dilemma over purposefully trying to destroyDimmesdale's soul. In thisscene we see that Chillingworth's transgression against Dimmesdale is farworse than any transgression by the minister or Hester. However, due to a lack of tolerance or mercy and a presumedsuperiority over other mortals, Chillingworth will never find redemption orsalvation. The themes of sin, evil, and redemption pervade The Scarlet Letter.Hester and Dimmesdale have sinned and both will pay penance for their sins. The only thing that Hawthorne appears to judgeas sinful is a Puritan community so certain of its divine right to judgeothers that it tramples the human heart to shreds in the process. Dimmesdale's conscienceeventually forces him to confess and accept his sin, bringing himredemption. Hester will endure seven long years of ignominy and shame, wearingher scarlet "A" and surviving by doing needlework and helping the poor andneedy. You burrowand rankle in his heart! Helays total blame for the scandal upon the one who cheated him out of hismarriage. Such aperspective is revealed when we are told Dimmesdale is afflicted by theDevil, "It grew to be a widely diffused opinion that the Reverend ArthurDimmesdale...was haunted either by Satan himself, or Satan's emissary, inthe guise of old Roger Chillingworth. There are no social or moral constraints placed upon his desireto see retribution. Thou shaltforgive" (Hawthorne 1961, 214). One might argue that Hester sees the love between her andDimmesdale as transgressing social morality but not the morality of ahigher power. As he responds to Chillingworth's appeals to unburden his soul,"No!-not to thee!-not to an earthly physician. Chillingworth, in contrast, dissolves his humanity by being focused onlyon revenge and refusing to acknowledge the hatred that propels him. In some manner he feels that acting as minister and serving othersin the name of God is more of a social contribution than admitting hisguilt, thereby undermining the religious spirit of the community.Nevertheless, he is wracked by guilt over his sin as he attempts to livewith his secret. In contrast, Chillingworthdoes not find salvation for his sinful actions are evil and based totallyon revenge. She refuses to take off her scarlet letter, though Chillingworthtells her he made appeals on her behalf to do so. Now Roger "Chillingworth", her husband convinces Hester torefrain from identifying him. Chillingworth is so consumed with revenge that he cannot accept anyresponsibility for his actions. Let the black flower blossom as itmay!" (Hawthorne 1961, 191). While waiting in Boston for the arrival of her husband, RogerPrynne, Hester has committed adultery with an unknown male (ArthurDimmesdale). His soul aim is to destroy the soul of Dimmesdale. Hester goes into a diatribe about theevil manner in which Chillingworth has robbed Dimmesdale of his soul, "Youare beside him, sleeping and waking. For Chillingworthportends to be able to see into the soul and heart of another human being,a soul and heart he judges and decides to avenge by his own hand. WhenChillingworth explains the nature of the weeds as being the confession of aburied heart and unspoken crime, Dimmesdale informs him, "There can be, ifI forebode aright, no power, short of the Divine mercy, to disclose,whether by uttered words, or by type or emblem, the secrets that may beburied with a human heart" (Hawthorne 1961, 143).

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