Perceptions of Dimmesdale and Chillingworth in the Scarlet Letter Essay

Chillingworth and Dimmesdale: Reflections of True Puritan Society 18th century’s perception of the Puritan Society was that Puritans were a zealous community of people that lived with strict moral standards which allowed them to live in perfect harmony. However, the truth is Puritans were overly zealous whose values created paranoia and intolerance for other views. Through the characters Dimmesdale and Chillingworth who are also falsely perceived, Hawthorne suggest they are representative of the dour living of Puritan society that is hidden by the puritan’s tranquil and utopian outlook. John Winthrop aimed to created Christian utopian society when he founded the puritan community, he failed in this goal. Even with his failure, people still thought of the society as pure and just. What he engendered instead was a community whose theology denied human being’s free will, filled with paranoia, racism, sexism and hatred of sexuality and youth. These themes are clearly represented in the Scarlet Letter. The hatred of youth is shown early on in the novel, when Hester Prynne first enters from the prison, â€Å"This woman [Hester Prynne] has brought shame upon us all, and ought to die. Is there not law for it? Truly, there is, both in the Scripture and the statue-book.†(199). The aged ugly woman who makes this statement is used by Hawthorne to serve as representative for the puritans, while Hester represents youth and sexuality. The undeserving punishment of death for the crime of adultery only further demonstrates the extremities of this so-called per fect society. While perhaps seen as God’s will that a person who commits adultery must die, it is instead the government’s way of controlling the people by fear and terror so that t... ...ore it would be released free, which he then delivered the greatest sermon yet. The puritans economic status increased as less and less free will was granted, basically proving along with Dimmesdale, as corruption increases in religious figures or people they gradually better themselves, Dimmesdale in his sermons, while the Puritans in their economic status. Through the characters Dimmesdale and Chillingworth, Hawthorne reveals the true nature of Puritan society through parallels among the three. All three’s hidden evil is masked by each of their perfect appearances. Chillingworth exhibited the Puritan’s benefit of the doubt they received because of their relation to religion, while Dimmesdale presented the fact that corruption fuels the association with religion and as corruption within someone or something increases, so does a person or people’s betterment.