Chillingworth vs. Dimmesdale

Sometimes two people can be completely different on every level of their personalities, and other times they can have things in common they never noticed. In The Scarlet Letter, Roger Chillingworth and Arthur Dimmesdale are polar opposites. They differ in their physical appearance, their personalities, and their intentions. However, they do have one thing in common. Although Chillingworth's intentions differ from Dimmesdale's, both of them share evil motives. I think these motives add suspense to the novel, almost making it a little bit of a horror story.
Chillingworth is described as an old, deformed, unattractive scholar from England. After his arrival in Boston and his discovery of his wife and her newborn child, Chillingworth decides to seek revenge against her unknown lover. Throughout the novel he begins to become a rather malevolent character, using his knowledge and wisdom to disguise himself as a doctor. Because Dimmesdale has been ill since the affair and continuously clutches at his chest, he asks Chillingworth to live in his home to take care of him. During his stay, Chillingworth becomes suspicious and drugs Dimmesdale only to discover a mark on his chest, revealing his identity as Hester's lover. He uses this as an opportunity to seek revenge against him. "Calm, gentle, passionless as he appeared, there was yet, we fear, a quiet depth of malice, hitherto latent, but active now, in this unfortunate old man, which led him to imagine a more intimate revenge than any mortal had ever wreaked upon an enemy" (91). This is the point in the novel where Chillingworth can really be considered wicked. In his own way, he mentally torture Dimmesdale, almost attaching himself to the minister to watch his actions around his wife, Hester.
On the other hand, Dimmesdale is a very handsome, young, minister of Boston. Dimmesdale, who is Hester's nameless lover, has a rather dull personality. Although he feels guilty, he does not take responsibility for his sin and Pearl, Hester's daughter. Dimmesdale physically and mentally tortures himself for the remorse he feels. Unlike Chillingworth, who fools everyone into thinking he is a doctor so he can get revenge, Dimmesdale uses his way with words and religious beliefs to speak to the Puritans about God rather than use his talents to do cruel deeds. Dimmesdale is not said to be good or evil. He does not commit any considerably good acts in the novel; however, his treatment towards Hester immoral. "What say you do to it, once again, Brother Dimmesdale? Must it be thou, or I, that shall deal with this poor sinner's soul?" (18). In this quote, another Reverend is telling Dimmesdale to force Hester to confess the identity of the father of her lovechild. This further shows Dimmesdale selfishness in upholding his reputation because he does not step up to expose his secret.
The one thing Dimmesdale and Chillingworth have in common are their malicious intentions, but not toward each other. Chillingworth is vengeful towards Dimmesdale after he finds out about his wife's affair. On the contrary, Dimmesdale ignores Hester because of the incident, and does not take responsibility for his sin to protect his status in the community. In my opinion, Chillingworth and Dimmesdale's differences can symbolically relate to the real world today. Chillingworth represents science with him being a scholar and posing as a doctor. Dimmesdale would represent religion, or spirituality, in the fact he is a reverend and believes only God can punish him for his sin. Science is always trying to overcome religion just as Chillingworth is trying to mentally overpower Dimmesdale. Hawthorne exhibits his views of Romanticism through these two characters by making them the antagonists. Chillingworth is in charge of science, which Hawthorne did not like, and Dimmesdale is in charge of religion, which Hawthorne also disagreed with. Overall, Dimmesdale and Chillingworth could not be any different. While Chillingworth is nasty and hateful, Dimmesdale is sort of dull and uninteresting. They both have evil inside of them though and it is evident throughout The Scarlet Letter. I think Hawthorne included these two characters in the novel to create mystery and suspense, and also to get the reader to form their own interpretations and opinions them.