scarlet letter

Chillingworth visits Hester during her brief incarceration, where he berates her for having crushed his dreams of finding acceptance and love ("My heart was a great mansion with room for many souls, but cold and empty and without a parlor fire; I longed to light one!"). While he makes it obvious he will not take revenge upon her or the baby, he demands to know the name of Hester's lover. She refuses to tell him, but Chillingworth promises that he will find the man and destroy his soul.
Chillingworth establishes himself as the town physician, upon whom the townsfolk look with both respect of his knowledge and fear of his eccentric, bitter demeanor. Soon, the townsfolk request that Chillingworth look after the well-being of Arthur Dimmesdale, the depressed town reverend, and determine what is causing his inner darkness. Chillingworth quickly discovers that Dimmesdale's melancholy is a result of guilt from having sinned, namely by sleeping with Hester and causing her pregnancy.
Learning this catalyzes a profound change in Chillingworth. Although insular and spiteful to begin with, his discovery of the man who has taken everything from him mutates Chillingworth into a true madman, a "...mortal who has taken a fiend's office." His appearance is also affected, as his deformed shoulders twist into an even grosser state of irregularity, his face wrinkles and withers, and his eyes burn with hellish determination. From this day forward, Roger Chillingworth makes the torment of Dimmesdale the center of his life. Moving in with Dimmesdale, he uses his knowledge of psychology to intensify the reverend's guilt, pushing him deeper and deeper into self loathing and despair. All the while, Dimmesdale's growing popularity among the townsfolk spurs Chillingworth's jealousy and hate, causing him to torture Dimmesdale all the more.
After attempting (in vain) to persuade Chillingworth to stop his abuse of Dimmesdale, Hester tells the reverend of his physician's true identity, and