Scarlet Letter 8

1) "And it seemed a fouler offence committed by Roger Chillingworth, than any which had since been done to him, that, in the time when her[Hester's] heart grew no better, he had persuaded her to fancy herself happy by his side" (Hawthorne 159).

Chillingworth and Hester's marriage was a sham. Chillingworth loved Hester, but Hester did not love him in return. She never pretended to love him either. Chillingworth knew his wife did not love him, and yet he made it seem like she did. He persuaded her to feel happy when she really was not. This is why his crime is worse than Hester's sin. With Hester and her sin, she actually loved, and it was a mutual love between herself and Dimmesdale. It was solely between the two of them, and affected no one else. Chillingworth, however, fabricated love where there was none. You can not force someone to love you. If they are meant to love you, then they will; there is no point in trying to water a plant when there was no seed planted in the first place. Forcing some to love you is a worse sin than actually giving in to real love. Love is a heavenly emotion, and trying to create false love is anything but heavenly. If you try and make someone love you when they do not, you are bound to, like Chillingworth, be cheated on. He even admitted it was no surprise that Hester committed adultery. Therefore, he should not be getting as worked up as he is over someone who never loved him.

2) "No golden light had ever been so precious as the gloom of this dark forest. Here, seen only by his[Dimmesdale's] eyes, the scarlet letter need not burn into the bosom of the fallen woman[Hester]! Here, seen only by her eyes, Arthur Dimmesdale, false to God and man, might be, for one moment, true!" (177).

In each others' eyes, Hester and Dimmesdale are absolved of the thing that burdens them most. For Hester, it is the Scarlet Letter. It has burned its likeness onto her soul for the past seven years, enforced by little Pearl. She could not go anywhere without anyone looking at her differently, seeing the Scarlet A and immediately condemning her. It has weighed down her garments all these years, and only recently has its weight begun to lessen. It is still there, however, no matter what, and it will always retain its original meaning to Hester, no matter what others may say it means now. To Dimmesdale, though, it did not matter, because he shared in its inferno. For Dimmesdale, it is the fact that he has lied to everyone. His congregation believes him to be the holiest man since Christ, and here he is deceiving them all. He tries to confess, but they only venerate him more. He has not told a soul of his sin, lying to them all. It may not have been as severe in the beginning, but over the past seven years it has culminated to pain him at every turn. For Hester, the pain has lessened, but for Dimmesdale, the pain is worse. To Hester, Dimmesdale was not lying, because she knew the truth. Hester is the one person he does not have to lie to, but she shares the same secret. She only made hers public.