How has Chillingworth changed throughout the novel?

Chillingworth is one of the more complex characters in SL because he is a dynamic character. Towards the beginning of the novel, he is identified as Hester's husband who has been held captive for a few years by Indians. In this time, Hester has committed adultery and has had an illegitimate baby. Chillingworth talks to Hester in the prison as a physician, but as their conversation progresses, we discover more about his character. Hester feels shocked as she looks into her husband's face to see that his personality has changed dramatically over the past seven years. He was a calm and quiet physician but changed into a "servant of the devil", carefully concealing this new evil energy emanating from him (page 110, second to last paragraph). Chillingworth's new evilness is accelerated to a whole new level when he becomes a caretaker of the young priest, Dimmesdale. Chillingworth always suspects that Dimmesdale is Pearl's father, but he is almost certain that this is the case when he discovers a wound on Dimmesdale's chest: his own concealed scarlet letter. Chillingworth almost goes mad with his obsession for revenge. His whole life is consumed by it, and when Dimmesdale eventually dies, he realizes he has nothing to live for anymore, a very miserable situation (now that his enemy is dead he has nothing to occupy himself).

Pearl's Effect On Her Mother

Pearl is Hester's living reminder of the sin she has committed. Pearl is not only a strange child with sometimes seemingly evil characteristics, but she emphasizes the significance of the scarlett letter on her mother's chest. Pearl is constantly pointing out, touching, or talking about the scarlet A that Hester is forced to wear. This puts additional emotional strain on Hester because it hurts her that the scarlet letter is not only obvious to the entire town of Boston, but also to her daughter. In a way, it makes sense that Pearl would be so focused on the scarlet letter because if it was not there, Pearl would not be there either. The scarlet letter and Pearl work almost as one, which is why I think Pearl pitched a fit in the forest when Hester removed the letter. Pearl has a childlike curiosity about the letter, but her constant questions do not make life easier for Hester. Pearl sometimes mocks her mother because of the letter, and this hurts Hester, but strangely makes Pearl very happy. Citizens of Boston almost flinch away from the scarlet letter, and they seem to have somewhat of the same reaction towards Pearl, calling her a child of the devil. Pearl and the letter are both beautiful, contrasting to what they symbolize (both are a production of adultery). Hester loves her little girl, but at times I think she almost fears Pearl's advanced mind and her elfish and sometimes creepy ways.

Hester Prynne and Roger Chillingworth's Relationship

One of the key ideas presented to readers at the start of SL was that Hester and Chillingworth had had a complex relationship before Chillingworth went missing. Hester is described as a young, beautiful woman while Chillingworth is described as old and decrepit, not exactly a relationship where both have the same mindset. Determining the nature of their relationship was pretty much up to the reader.

I thought that Hester was probably bored and indifferent towards Chillingworth during their marriage. She was young and pretty, and she did not seem to care for him as much as he seemed to care for her - otherwise, why would she have gotten over him so fast when she thought he was dead and hooked up with another guy? In the prison, Hester almost seemed to fear him. She must have also felt a little ignored (again, this made her bored) because he had a demanding job and seemed to have a stonger passion for medicine than for his wife.

I had trouble deciding if Chillingworth truly loved Hester, or if it was just pride that made him seek revenge against Dimmesdale. In the beginning of the novel, the reader gets the sense that they should start to feel something like fear towards Chillingworth, but he wasn't the full-blown creep that he became at the end of the book. His physical appearance alone is enough to get that creepy feeling, but as his mind changes throughout the novel, we discover that his appearance isn't the only thing to fear.

Literary Elements

There were a number of examples of literary elements in SL, which made it a really good "class read." Imagery, foreshadowing, symbolism, allusions, and characterization were all used in the story at some point.

Imagery was the most prominent feature in SL. It made SL a Romantic novel. The word choice was very good and descriptive, and the majority of the writing was a description of some sort; there wasn't really a whole lot of plot. This ties in with another aspect of the book: characterization. Four characters (Hester Prynne, Pearl, Dimmesdale, and Chillingworth) were constantly being evaluated and Hawthorne put a lot of emphasis on describing their appearance and also contemplating their personality. The names alone (Chillingworth and Dimmesdale) create a vivid image of these characters for the reader. Imagery is a big part of Romantic writing. There were many instances in the book where I noted the imagery to be really exceptional: Hester and her baby Pearl on the scaffold, the characterization of Chillingworth, and the scene in the forest.

The use of symbolism in SL was blatantly obvious. Pearl was the living reminder of the sin Hester committed, the scarlett letter took away Hester's individuality, and the rose bush (contrasting to the ugly jail beside it) emphasized how Hester did not belong in prison, just as the rose bush did not belong there. These are just some of the examples of symbolism in the book. There were also several allusions in the book, relating to the Puritan Boston before the Romantic time period. Examples of these allusions included references to Ann Hutchinson, John Wilson, Bradstreet, Endicott, Dudley, Bellingham, and the list goes on and on.

These literary elements, unlike those in other books we've read for class, were clear and defined, which was surprising to me because of all of the flowery language. I expected the book to be very difficult to translate into present-day words, but once I got used to reading SL it was easy to pick out the important elements in the book.

Dealing with SL as a Romantic Novel

The Scarlett Letter was obviously a Romantic novel. Novels written in the Romantic time period tended to be a little darker, based mainly on emotion and not on actual facts. SL fits perfectly into this mold. The book includes all sorts of dark concepts, from sinning and revenge to shame and death. The overall tone was also dark and slightly depressing.

Nature and transcendentalism were huge parts of the book. The scene in the woods was a Romantic place, and the imagery that Hawthorne used to describe nature had Romantic written all over it (very wordy). Also, Pearl seemed connected to the woods, and a quote in the book described her as being more at home in the forest than she was at her typical house with Hester. This is an example of transcendentalism, because it described Pearl "becoming one" with nature.

Gothic concepts filled the plot, and many of the characters were dark as well. Chillingworth was described as creepy and evil, which is not exactly an observation based on solid fact, but instead based on others' intuition. Dimmesdale was a very complex and dark character, the perverse (vocab word!) side of him coming out after his conversation with Hester in the forest.

As far as dealing with this Romantic novel, I think that it was a very good book. I'm so glad we were assigned a book from the Romantic time period instead a book from the Enlightenment because I think that teenagers in general are more intrigued by emotions rather than logical thinking (again, I agree with Mrs. D's theory that typically, teenagers are Romantic). SL had almost every "buzz word" of Romanticism incorporated in the story, so I think it represented the time period very well.

I expected a sad ending

I expected a sad ending to the novel because of the various examples of foreshadowing scattered throughout the plot and the overall tone/atmosphere. The ending of SL fit perfectly with the rest of the story, and I wouldn't have expected Hawthorne to finish the book any other way. Dimmesdale finally confesses his sin on the scaffold, but dies immediately after, Chillingworth never being able to get his full revenge.

One example of foreshadowing that I noticed was in chapter six, "Pearl", at the end of the first paragraph ("God, as a direct consequence...which she owed her being." pg 61) This quote illustrates Hester's growing fear about the future, highlighted by Pearl's strange and almost evil personality. Pearl was a living reminder of the sin Hester committed, and Hester feels a lingering sense of doom as Pearl grows up and develops a somewhat evil personality.

Another part in the book that hinted towards the ending was the ominous scarlet letter A that appeared in the sky the night Dimmesdale, Hester, and Pearl were on the scaffold together ("We impute it, therefore...another symbol in it." pg 102). This not only showed Dimmesdale's immense guilt, but also foreshadowed the upcoming confession. If a scarlet letter flashed across the sky, it is something that is obviously seen if there are people there to witness it (symbolic for Dimmesdale's big confession at the end of SL).

Also, SL is a Romantic novel, which means that the overall atmosphere was dark and gloomy, and what better way to end a dark and gloomy novel than a tragic confession accompanied by death? I do not think Hawthorne could have possibly come up with a happy ending to this story, simply because it would not have "meshed" well with the rest of the plot.

After I read the end of the book, I realized what a good story it was. Sure, it was not the most exciting book to read, and I'll admit that I wasn't too happy at first about the book being assigned in class. But I was really impressed with how well-written it was, and once I got into it, the plot was intriguing. I think the fact that this book was Romantic also made it more interesting, because so far I have enjoyed reading Romantic pieces.

Wearing the Letter W

Today I pinned a red letter W to the front of my sweatshirt. The letter W represents one of my character flaws, which is that I worry too much. There were very few people who actually guessed what it stood for. Most who asked me about it (about 30 people) had never read The Scarlett Letter, and some had never even heard of the novel. I actually found it a little exhausting to have to explain it over and over again, but I guess thirty people learned something new today.

I noticed something really weird while I was wearing the scarlett letter. I noticed that after I got tired of people staring at it and asking me questions, that I had unknowingly placed my hand over the letter - a similarity to Dimmesdale and Hester Prynne! It sounds like I'm making this up, but I seriously placed my hand over my chest to prevent people from seeing it.

I think I have a better grip on why the scarlett letter was considered such a big punishment. "Worry" is not as much of a big deal as "adultery" is, and if something as embarassing as an A was pasted on my chest, it would be humiliating to go out in public. Even though I only got a glimpse of the punishment (and admittingly, it wasn't much of a punishment for me as much as it was an annoyance towards people coming up to me and asking me constantly what it meant) it gave me a whole new respect for Hester Prynne in The Scarlett Letter. If it had been me branded with the "shameful letter", I probably would have at least moved away from town, or not ventured out into society as often as she seemed to because of shame.