English III Notes 14 Hester and the Physician
The Scarlet Letter
Pearl and Hester come upon the physician (Chillingworth) at the sea shore
collecting herbs. She tells him she has concerns to speak about. He tells her there
is talk by the magistrates to remove the Scarlet Letter from her, because of all the
good she has done.
 Hester says, “it not lies with the pleasure of the magistrates to take off this
badge,…were I worthy to be quit of it, it would fall away of its won nature, or
be transformed into something that should speak a different purport” p. 147
 She is shocked to see the change in Chillingworth over these 7 years – he was
older, his former aspect of an intellectual and studious man, calm and quiet,
which she remembered, had vanished. He tried to conceal his evil, a glare of
a red light in his eyes, as if his soul were on fire, with a smile. Romanticism
 He was transforming himself into a Devil p. 148
 She wants to talk to him about Dimmesdale – she tells him she has kept their
secret, but…
 Hester says, “… you cause him to die daily a living death; and still he know
you not” - he does not know who you really are and why you are doing this
to him.
 Chillingworth says, if I had fingered this man, he would be put in jail and
then to dealth. – He says, he actually kept him alive all these years, because
he did not have the fortitude and courage that Hester displayed.
 Chillingworth, goes on to say, Dimmesdale, in his heart, knew who
Chillingworth really was.
 Chillingworth admits - “ Yea, indeed! – he did not err! – there was a fiend
[Chillingworth, himself] at his elbow! A mortal man, with once a human
heart, has become a fiend for his especial torment!” Hester asks, have you
not tortured him enough, “Has he not paid thee all?” p. 150
 Chillingworth reminds Hester, that no he [Dimmesdale] has not paid enough
– remember back 9 years ago, “No life had been more peaceful and innocent
than mine; few lives so rich with benefits conferred”…”Was I not, though you
might deem me cold, nevertheless a man thoughtful for others, craving little
for himself – kind, true, just and of constant, if not warm affections…” He
reminds Hester of the man he used to be.
 Now Chillingworth, tells her I am a fiend, and who made me this way, --- he
means that it is Hester and Dimmesdale’s fault. – She asks why don’t you
torture me, he said, the Scarlet Letter is her punishment.
 Hester wants to reveal the secret to Dimmesdale, that Chillingworth is her
husband. She says, “He must discern thee in thy true character” p. 151
 Hester wants Dimmesdale to know Chillingworth’s nature, and she states,
 “Do with him as you wilt! The lis no good for him, - no good for me, - no good
for thee! There is no good for little Pearl There is not path to guide us out of
this dismal maze” p. 151
 Chillingworth, believes that Hester has grown as a woman, and says, “I pity
thee for the good that has been wasted in they nature”
 Hester responds, “ “And I thee…for the hatred that has transformed a wise
and just man to a fiend” p. 151 – asks him to leave Dimmesdale alone, and
become more of a human being, if not for Dimmesdale’s sake then for his
own.
