Scarlet Letter Quote 6

"Thou hast escaped me!" [Chillingworth] repeated more than once. "Thou hast escaped me!"


Throughout the whole story, Chillingworth has been constantly trying to discover who his wife committed adultery with. After discovering who it is, Chillingworth plans to seek revenge upon him in response of his feeling of betrayel. In many cases leading up to this point Chillingworth taunts Dimmesdale. Chillingworth’s revenge plan is ruined when Dimmesdale publicly exposes his sin, which Chillingworth was planning to do all along. By saying “Thou hast escaped me”, it sounds like Chillingworth views the predicament as a game that amuses him. Because he repeats it more than once, he seems very distraught about his master plan going down the drain. Chillingworth is upset that he no longer has a grip on Dimmesdale, because now everybody knows his wrongdoing.

This is somewhat important to the story because it reveals Chillingworth’s intentions. It is also the climax of the story because the secret is out. Dimmesdale has admitted to his sin and the question of “Who is the father?” is finally answered. It is interesting to see the reaction of Chillingworth when he hears that Dimmsdale had confessed. The reader can tell that Chillingworth was aghast because he had nothing to hang over the head of DImmesdale anymore. In a sense, Chillingworth is free from the secret holding him down. This quote also compares the personality of Chillingworth and Dimmesdale. While Chillingworth uses the bad situation for selfish gain and entertainment, Dimmesdale truly wanted to be free of his sin and confess his wrongdoing. At this point in the book the dominoes have fallen and we got to see the reactions of those experiencing the confession.