Chillingworth's Dramatic Tone In The Scarlet Letter By Nathaniel Hawthorne

Nathaniel Hawthorne’s romance novel The Scarlet Letter unravels the tragic plot of the characters’ secrets being broadcast throughout the town. As Hawthorne uses a dramatic tone, he illustrates how Chillingworth and Hester despise each other however, they share a secret. After all, Hester revealed the truth to the Puritan world which created a dramatic scene. Overall this affected the naive and delicate Dimmesdale and his view of his perfect physician, Chillingworth.
Chillingworth is a benevolent soul according to the townspeople, but once he saw his cheating wife, a powerful hate overcame him that only the reader and Hester could see. Hawthorne writes “One thing thou wast my wife… ‘thou hast kept the secret of thy paramour. Keep likewise mine!… Breathe not, to any human soul, that thou didst ever call me husband” (79) clearly the reader has another point of view on Chillingworth. He had threatened Hester because if the Puritans were to discover that he is her husband, his reputation would be ruined and would be put to shame. Additionally Chillingworth had other reasons to question Hester, he had other plans, “... Hester, the man who lives who has wronged us both! Who is he?” (78). Chillingworth has begun a mission, a mission to find the identity of
Hester felt guilty and she had to liberate herself, in order to do that, she revealed the truth to Dimmesdale. Therefore the reader can conclude that Hester will be hurt somehow because Chillingworth has now threatened her. It is known how cruel Chillingworth is and what he is capable of. He is not afraid of doing the same to his dear wife who has betrayed him, soon the town will know and once again the purifying Puritans’ eyes will be on Hester and Pearl, with Dimmesdale and Chillingworth by their sides judging them. The judgmental Puritans will once again only see the wrong they have