And hetortured Hester because she committed adultery. One day when Dimmsdale is asleep, Chillingworth sneaks over to him and pushes his shirt aside. He is thrilled to find what he has been looking for all this time. Now that Chillingworth has the prove that Dimmsdale is the father of Pearl, he can plan his revenge on Dimmsdale. Pearl desires the minister to acknowledge her in public. Pearl immediately goes to the brook and washes off the kiss. To faithful Puritans, signs, particularly natural ones, were of the utmost importance, and were read as symbols of divine will.
Unlike those found in most literature, symbols in the Puritan sense do not signify in complicated or contradictory ways. Here, as the narrator recognizes, the meteor physically and figuratively illuminates Dimmesdale, Hester, and Pearl, and it exposes their relationship to Chillingworth. His constant burden of guilt taints and controls the way he sees the world. Just as Dimmesdale must remain an example of piety—no matter how one has to stretch the facts—so, too, must Hester remain either a scapegoat or a negative example.
She is not allowed to receive forgiveness. Ace your assignments with our guide to The Scarlet Letter! SparkTeach Teacher's Handbook. Did Hester ever love Chillingworth? What type of work does Chillingworth take on in New England? What does Dimmesdale believe he sees when the meteor lights up the night sky? How does Pearl react when she first sees her mother without the scarlet A? 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. Summary Chapters 11— Summary: Chapter The Interior of a Heart Chillingworth continues to play mind games with Dimmesdale , making his revenge as terrible as possible. Previous section Chapters 9—10 Next section Chapters 13— Test your knowledge Take the Chapters Quick Quiz.
Popular pages: The Scarlet Letter. Chillingworth is jealous of the love that Hester has for Dimmesdale and disgusted that Dimmesdale will not confess that he is Pearl's father. His acts of psychological torture against Dimmesdale includes becoming his medical adviser, seen in chapters nine and ten. The two men move in together and spend a great deal of time in each other's company.
Chillingworth works to win Dimmesdale's trust, hoping that he will unburden himself and confess his sin. They have long conversations about the sins of other men, and Chillingworth opines that men's spiritual sickness manifests physically, implying that Dimmesdale's fading health is the result of his hidden sinfulness. Chillingworth never goes so far as to overtly accuse Dimmesdale, but he becomes adept at playing on Dimmesdale's psychological weaknesses and persistently trying to get him to admit what he has done.
Since Dimmesdale is a Puritan and deeply understands their beliefs about how God punishes sinners, Chillingworth's subtle manipulations are effective.
His cruelty intensifies the anxiety Dimmesdale feels about eternal punishment, to say nothing of the guilt he feels about leaving Hester and Pearl to fend for themselves in a hostile community and his hypocrisy in leading a congregation.
Roger Chillingworth tortures Arthur Dimmesdale by continually questioning the cause of his mysterious affliction and neglecting to clean Dimmesdale's self-inflicted wound on his chest. Initially, Chillingworth suspects that Reverend Dimmesdale is Pearl's father and offers to help cure Dimmesdale of his mysterious illness. Roger Chillingworth even offers to become Dimmesdale's roommate, which allows him to investigate Dimmesdale's dark secret.
He eventually discovers the self-inflicted letter "A" that Reverend Dimmesdale has carved in his chest and proceeds to psychologically torture him. Chillingworth is obsessed with vengeance and conspires to torture the sick reverend by gradually provoking his guilt.
As the novel progresses, Chillingworth develops into an absolute fiend who refuses to let Dimmesdale out of his presence.
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