Who is the elderly minister in the scarlet letter

You burrow and rankle in his heart! Your clutch is on his life, and you cause him to die daily a living death. He enters Dimmesdale's heart "like a thief enters a chamber where a man lies only half asleep. By Chapter 14, when Hester meets him in the forest, Chillingworth has a blackness in his visage and a red light showing out of his eyes, as if "the old man's soul were on fire, and kept on smoldering duskily within his breast. His obsession with revenge is what makes him — in Hawthorne's eyes — the worst sinner and, therefore, a pawn of the devil.

It is appropriate that Hester meets him in the dark forest, a place the Puritans see as the abode of the Black Man. This man of science, so lacking in sentiment, is coldly and single-mindedly seeking what is only God's prerogative: vengeance. Chillingworth has become such a fiend that his very existence depends on Dimmesdale. When he knowingly smiles to Hester at the Election Day ceremony, he is acknowledging that he, too, will be on that ship bound for Europe, the faithful companion of the minister.

It is their fate to be together. When Dimmesdale surprises the physician and climbs the scaffold to confess, Chillingworth knows the minister is about to escape him.

His mental torture of the minister is his only reason for living; when his object is beyond reach, Chillingworth does, indeed cease to exist. In the Conclusion, we discover that Chillingworth "positively withered up, shrivelled away. Perhaps this act can, to some degree, redeem the person whose sin was the blackest.

Previous Arthur Dimmesdale. Next Pearl. Removing book from your Reading List will also remove any bookmarked pages associated with this title. What makes Hester and Reverend Dimmesdale finally feel hope about their future? Why does Hester choose the forest to meet Dimmesdale and Chillingworth?

What does the last sentence of the novel mean? Society Empathy. Characters Character List. Read an in-depth analysis of Pearl. Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale Dimmesdale is a young man who achieved fame in England as a theologian and then emigrated to America.

Governor Bellingham Governor Bellingham is a wealthy, elderly gentleman who spends much of his time consulting with the other town fathers. Mistress Hibbins Mistress Hibbins is a widow who lives with her brother, Governor Bellingham, in a luxurious mansion.

Reverend Mr. Next section Hester Prynne. Popular pages: The Scarlet Letter. After he had formed his own congregation, Dimmesdale met and fell in love with a beautiful Puritan woman named Hester Prynne who had joined his religious group. Although she was already married, Hester and Dimmesdale had an affair that resulted in her becoming pregnant and conceiving a daughter out of wedlock. At some point, Dimmesdale may had discovered about the illegitimate pregnancy and knew that he had done a terrible thing.

He attempted to punish himself and had an "A" symbol carved onto his chest; either he had done it himself or he had someone else do it for him. Afterwards, he decides to keep his sin a secret from the townsfolk. Dimmesdale and his mentor, John Wilson, were present at Hester's public shaming where she stood on a scaffold with her 3-month-old baby in her arms for a few hours and received humiliation from the Puritans.

After being persuaded by Wilson to talk to Hester, Dimmesdale said a silent prayer to himself and questions her who the name of her baby's father is, but she refuses. Dimmesdale was with Wilson when he delivered a sermon and Hester was taken back to her prison cell. About 3 years later, Dimmesdale, along with Wilson and a physician named Roger Chillingworth , arrive at the Governor's house.

The men spot a girl named Pearl there and they tease her, calling her a "demon-child", but they stop when they saw that she is Hester's child and she is nearby. As Governor Bellingham suggests that Pearl should be removed from her mother's care because of the child's blasphemy, Hester begs Dimmesdale to help her. He accepts her pleas and argued that Pearl is a child made from God as a punishment but was also made to prevent her mother from committing a sin again.

He even points out that the red dress Pearl is wearing symbolizes Hester's scarlet letter, and Chillingworth notes how the minister spoke passionately.

Dimmesdale has his hand touched by Pearl before she runs down the hall, and his speech had successfully convinced the Governor to not have the child taken away from Hester. Some time later, Dimmesdale notices his health is failing and experiences heart problems, with the townsfolk even praising him as a saint due to his strange illness. Chillingworth offers to look after him and the minister moves in with the physician.

But in Chillingworth's care, Dimmesdale finds himself being tormented by the physician, physically and mentally. Chillingworth is convinced that the minister's fragile health may be caused by a secret he's hiding, and when he asks him to talk about it, Dimmesdale refuses. One day, the men were talking about sin and redemption when they spot Pearl in the graveyard outside of Dimmesdale's home, picking up burrs and placing them on Hester's scarlet letter. She tosses a burr at Dimmesdale, and tells Hester they should leave since the Black Man has possessed the minister.

He backs away from the window when the burr was thrown at him. He again refuses to reveal his secret to Chillingworth but he later makes up with him. As Dimmesdale's health worsens, so does Chillingworth's determination.

When the minister was asleep a few days later, Chillingworth opens his shirt and slightly sees his red scar that makes him excited. In addition, he finds himself being mistreated and tortured by the physician as revenge. Dimmesdale becomes miserable and the more he suffers, the more he resents the physician. When he isn't with Chillingworth, Dimmesdale continues to do his sermons, but lately his topic has been about sin.

Even if his parishioners admire him, he is sickened by their reactions and cannot bring himself to confess the truth a few times, although he is yearning to do it. He starts having visions at night, with one where he sees Hester and Pearl in her scarlet dress. Pearl was seen pointing her mother's scarlet letter and Hester pointing to his chest. He is affected by these visions but is unable to seek comfort in the Bible. The more he suffers, the more he hates himself.

He whips himself, fasts, holds extended vigils and stays up late as a punishment for his sin. He comes up with a plan that could ease his suffering. Late one night, Dimmesdale mounts on top of the scaffold Hester stood on seven years earlier. The pain in his chest causes him to scream in agony and fears his screams would wake up the Puritans.

Some people were awakened, but assume it was just a witch's voice. He has foolish thoughts as he stands on the scaffold, and he sees John Wilson walking back after attending the first Boston Governor on his deathbed. He laughs when he sees Wilson and calls out to him, but Wilson doesn't see him or respond. He imagines what would happen when the townsfolk see their beloved minister publicly shaming himself after he was almost seen. Additional Views Explore Object. Description Conservation Exhibitions Provenance Inscription Credit Description Nathaniel Hawthorne, author of "The Scarlet Letter" , regarded this painting, which William Walters commissioned from Merle in , as the finest illustration of his novel.

Set in Puritan Boston, the novel relates how Hester Prynne was publicly disgraced and condemned to wear a scarlet letter "A" for adultery.