The Scarlet Letter 18

The Scarlet Letter

Chapter Fourteen

Entry Eighteen


Roger Chillingworth's obsession grows more and more. Mentally torturing Dimmesdale and eventually satisfying his desire for revenge, has now become his aim in life.
When Hester meets him to talk about "yonder miserable man", he answers in an eagerly and curious way because he loves talking about Dimmesdale.
This phenomenon is exactly like love. When you are in love with someone, you talk about this person all the time and you want to know everything he or she is doing. Chillingworth shows the same behavior, only that his emotions have a negative background.
Hester also realizes that. She sees how much he changed from the man she once married to a person obsessed by vengeance.
He transformed from an "intellectual and studious man" (calm and quiet characteristics) to an "eager, searching (and) almost fierce" person.The smile he puts always on his face to conceal his change even strengthen his black appearance.

"Ever and anon, too, there came a glare of red light out of his eyes; as if the old man’s soul were on fire, and kept on smouldering duskily within his breast, until, by some casual puff of passion, it was blown into a momentary flame. This he repressed as speedily as possible, and strove to look as if nothing of the kind had happened."

In his soul, Satan's hellfire is burning because of his black emotions. From time to time, he can't help but reveal this dark aspect of his soul, but then quickly tries to hide it again deep inside of him.
So Chillingworth is still anxious to pretend being someone else, but he has already gotten so deep into his "research" that it is like an addiction to him; he can't stop thinking of revenge and retribution.

As soon as Hester Prynne realizes that, the scarlet letter begins to burn on her bosom.

"Here was another ruin, the responsibility of which came partly home to her."

Another person for whose pain she feels responsible for.
In my opinion, this responsibility will kill her from the inside. This is the reason why she also changed (adulterer to able) and got more harder. All the assumen guilt is too much to bear for her so she hides inside of her soul, not letting anyone see her brokenness.