{{short description|Fictional character from the 1850 novel "The Scarlet Letter"}} {{Multiple issues| {{Notability|date=November 2015}} {{more citations needed|date=February 2014}} }} {{Infobox character | first = The Scarlet Letter | designer = Nathaniel Hawthorne | occupation = Physician, alchemist | spouse = Hester Prynne | nationality = 20px English }}
'''Roger Chillingworth''' is a fictional character and primary antagonist in the 1850 novel ''The Scarlet Letter'' by Nathaniel Hawthorne. He is an English scholar who moves to the New World after his wife, Hester Prynne.
== Fictional role == [[File:The Scarlet Letter (1926) - 1.jpg|thumb|upright|Chillgworth portrayed by Henry B. Walthall in a 1926 silent film adaptation]] Chillingworth, a physician and student of alchemy, attempts to emigrate from England to Puritan Boston. He sends his wife ahead to set up in Boston, but he is delayed by problems at sea and then held captive by Indians. When he finally arrives in Boston, he finds his wife on a scaffold, being shamed for committing adultery. Meeting Hester in jail, Chillingworth presses her to divulge the name of her partner in adultery, but she refuses. Searching without her help, he eventually discovers that her lover is the town minister, Arthur Dimmesdale. Using his position as a doctor, and under the guise of treating Dimmesdale's unexplained sickness, Chillingworth manipulates Dimmesdale into insanity and suffering. Toward the end of the book, he tries to prevent Dimmesdale from confessing his sin publicly in order to force Dimmesdale to keep living with the emotional and spiritual suffering from the guilt of his unconfessed sin, but Dimmesdale confesses anyway, and dies shortly thereafter in Hester's arms. Chillingworth then also dies within a year because he no longer has a victim to harm.<ref>Hawthorne, Nathaniel. The Scarlet Letter. Champaign, Ill.: Project Gutenberg, 199. Print.</ref>
==Portrayals== Chillingworth was portrayed by Henry B. Walthall in Victor Seastrom's 1926 film adaptation, starring Lillian Gish. He reprised the role opposite Colleen Moore in the 1934 adaptation.<ref name="AFI2">{{cite web|url=http://www.afi.com/members/catalog/SearchResult.aspx?s=&Type=PN&Tbl=&CatID=DATABIN_CAST&ID=69668&searchedFor=Henry_B._Walthall_&SortType=ASC&SortCol=RELEASE_YEAR |title=Henry B. Walthall |publisher=AFI Catalog of Feature Films |accessdate=2014-12-23}}</ref> Chillingworth was played by Robert Duvall in the 1995 adaptation, starring Demi Moore.
==References== {{reflist}}
{{The Scarlet Letter}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Chillingworth, Roger}} Category:The Scarlet Letter characters Category:Fictional characters who use magic Category:Fictional medical doctors Category:Literary characters introduced in 1850 Category:Male literary villains Category:Male characters in literature Category:Male film villains Category:Fictional English people
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