e events that transpire before his arrival to the colony. First he is captured by Indians. Then, while he is held captive and presumed dead, his wife has a child by another man. Before the end of the book, however, we see that Chillingworth's sins are far greater than either those of Hester or Dimmesdale. His first sin was when he married Hester. He knew that she would never love him, and yet he made her marry him anyway. He admits this to her while they are talking in the jail cell. "Mine was the first wrong, when I betrayed thy budding youth into a false and unnatural relation with my decay." His second sin is allowing himself to become obsessed with vengeance against Dimmesdale. Once Chillingworth discovers that Dimmesdale was Hester's lover, he devotes himself completely to trying to destroy Dimmesdale's sanity. This obsession turns him from a peaceful scholar into a demon. He tries to blame Dimmesdale for his destruction, but ultimately Chillingworth must take responsibility for his own transgression of sympathy. Theme/Purpose/Idea The main theme of The Scarlet Letter is that hidden guilt causes more suffering than open guilt. This theme is demonstrated through the lives of the three main characters. In the book, Hester experiences open guilt through being publicly punished for her adultery. She is ridiculed and ostracized by the community, but later, is forgiven and even respected by those that punished her. Dimmesdale, however, refuses to admit that he committed adultery and thereby suffers hidden guilt. His guilt is compounded both by the fact that Hester is taking all the blame for him, and that he is acting as a hypocrite by not confessing. His guilt causes him to become paranoid and stressed. He tries to punish himself, but he knows that he can never be free from guilt until he publicly acknowledges his sin. His guilt causes him to mentally and physically deteriorate until he eventually dies giving his confession. Another the...
