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Post by rebeccapl116 on Nov 26, 2012 19:29:18 GMT -5
Why has Chillingworth decided to settle in Boston? He has expressed his guilt to Hester and feels responsible for her situation to some extent. By staying, is he attempting to apologize and protect her? Does he want to bring the man she slept with to justice to help her or hurt her?
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Post by rebeccaki116 on Nov 26, 2012 20:53:54 GMT -5
Ever since Chillingworth went to visit Hester in the prison posing as her doctor, I thought his motives for staying in Boston might be for revenge. I don’t think he feels any guilt or takes any responsibility for Hester's situation for when Hester is propped up at the market place before the Puritan people like a peace of meat, Chillingworth puts his finger over his lips. In this action I believe he wants not to be associated with Hester, for fear in with hinder his reputation. In my opinion, his reasons for staying are so that he can intellectually torture Dimmesdale (the man Hester cheated on him with) into confessing his sin, and in this show his hypocrisy. Chillingworth’s main attack is how can a minister who preaches others who to right their sins, hide his biggest sin of all from his people.
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Post by 14elesvik on Dec 2, 2012 11:17:22 GMT -5
Like a lot of characters in the Scarlet Letter, Chillingworth is complex. He WAS human, meaning the narrator thinks well of him on some level. More evidence that the narrator likes Chillingworth is Chillingworth hates what the Puritans did to Hester. Not to mentino, Chillingworth dabbles with Native American medicines. Native Americans are known for being close to nature, for being 'wild men'. As a romantic, the narrator must like the Native Americans. However, Chillingworth 'does the devil's worth' and seeks to make Dimmesdale suffer just like Hester. Although he had good intentions, C becomes evil, ugly, and snake-like (reference to devil). Additionaly, no matter how much the romantics liked the Native Americans, the narrator must also look down on the Native Americans as sub-humans like everyone else in the 19th century. This is seen when the narrator constantly refers to the Native Americans as "savages".
More ambivalence is seen in chapter 14. Chillingworth is talking about how he extended D's life to continue his suffering, when he sees his reflection. When he sees his ugly, snake-like reflection he pauses and the narrator almost describes him as shocked. C has become evil, but he still acts like a human. The narrator is ambivalent towards C.
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Post by 14elesvik on Dec 2, 2012 11:37:02 GMT -5
I heard someone say something interesting about Chillingworth. They said his name was pronounced "Shilling-worth". Shilling as in the money. They told me that it was supposed to speak towards Chillingoworth's supposed methodical, practical greed (for money? for revenge?). Any comments?
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Post by rebeccapl116 on Dec 5, 2012 17:49:47 GMT -5
"Shilling-worth" is an interesting interpretation of his name. His originally pursuit of justice turned into obsession which could be perceived for some sort of greed. I read it as "chill", he's cold blooded. This would speak to him being snakelike--like you were saying earlier. This plays into the narrator's description of him in the woods with Hester, "stooping away along the earth...His gray beard almost touched the ground, as he crept onward," (171). As we discussed in class, the Forest represents Eden, while Chillingworth represents the devil. That's why I think the "Chilling" in his name is a more appropriate pronunciation.
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Post by 14elesvik on Dec 8, 2012 15:24:18 GMT -5
Interesting idea: Chillingworth's mentality. Chillingworth follows Classicism. This means he approaches everything with a cold, unfeeling logic. Thus, he approaches Dimmesdale with only logic not vengeful feelings. He wants to balance the scales-that is all. He feels nothing-he is the "mad scientist" who wants to control everything with regard for humans or feelings. Unlike Romanticism, which takes feelings into account, Chillingworth is more than just a Puritan robot-but the mad scientist.
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