The Scarlet Letter, written by Nathaniel Hawthorne, contains many cases of characters transgressing. From Hesters criminal conversation to Mistress Hibbins witchery, wickedness is a major subject of the novel. Two chief characters stick out when sing who sins the most in the novel: Arthur Dimmesdale and Roger Chillingworth. Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale is an graven image in the community. Everyone loves him because he is a all right adult male and an intelligent clergyman. But, the clergyman does hold issues he is concealing: Dimmesdale is Hester ‘s secret lover and male parent of her kid, pearl. On the other manus, Roger Chillingworth is an intelligent bookman who was Hester ‘s original hubby. Chillingworth stays behind when Hester travels to America, and when he arrives in America, he finds out that Hester had an matter. He is eager to calculate out who her fornicator is and seeks retaliation on that individual. So the inquiry remains: Who is the bigger evildoer?

On one manus, Dimmesdale is considered the bigger evildoer. He commits a wickedness that is the biggest felony in the Puritan society: criminal conversation, punishable by decease. Not merely does he perpetrate the wickedness, he does non atone of it and keeps it concealed. Dimmesdale is a sermonizer who is supposed to be clean of all wickedness and really moral. He often preaches to his fold about penitence and coming clean of secret wickedness even though he, himself, does non pattern it. Dimmesdale is a dissembler and he literally does non pattern what he preaches. He is really cognizant of the fact that he is a hypocrite and alternatively of practising what he preaches, Dimmesdale validates his behaviour. In chapter eleven Dimmesdale attempts to squeal. “ Would non the people start up in their seats, by a coincident urge, and rupture him down out of the dais which he defiled? Not so, so! They heard it all, and did but fear him the more. They little guessed what lifelessly purport lurked in those self-condemning words. “ The godly young person! ” said they among themselves. “ The saint on Earth! ” Even though he confesses, he was non detailed plenty to be believed. The people keep believing that he is a diving and morally sound individual. In chapter 15, Hester Prynne weighs in on the state of affairs of who is the bigger evildoer. “ Be it sin or no, ” said Hester Prynne bitterly, as she still gazed after him, “ I hate the adult male! ” [ aˆ¦ ] “ Yes, I hate him! ” repeated Hester, more bitterly than earlier. “ He betrayed me! He has done me worse incorrect than I did him! ” As seen in this transition, Hester thinks that Dimmesdale ‘s wickedness is the greatest of all the wickednesss in the novel. Chillingworth besides weighs in on the state of affairs in chapter 14: “ What pick had you? ” asked Roger Chillingworth. “ My finger, pointed at this adult male, would hold hurled him from his dais into a keep, -thence, peradventure, to the gallows! ” Here Chillingworth says that Hester ‘s “ lover ” should be killed for what he did, connoting that Dimmesdale ‘s wickedness was greater than his ain. To some extent this is true but, Chillingworth ‘s ain wickednesss need to be taken into history.

On the other manus, Chillingworth is considered to be the bigger evildoer because of the measure of wickedness, the importance of the wickedness and the sum of duty felt for the wickedness. In chapter 17 Dimmesdale even states so. “ We are non, Hester, the worst evildoers in the universe. There is one worse than even the contaminated priest! That old adult male ‘s retaliation has been blacker than my wickedness. He has violated, in cold blood, the holiness of a human bosom. Thou and I, Hester, ne’er did so! ” Dimmesdale says that the retaliation that Chillingworth gives him is blacker than his ain wickedness.

First of wholly, the figure of times that Chillingworth sins outweigh all of the other characters wickednesss combined. Chillingworth repeatedly attacks Dimmesdale with emotional and mental torture with his changeless inquiring and desire for retaliation. As seen in chapter eleven, Chillingworth will halt at nil for retaliation. “ aˆ¦which led him to conceive of a more intimate retaliation than any person had of all time wreaked upon an enemy. ” In this transition, Chillingworth formulate a sort of retaliation that is more aggressive than any other human being has of all time formulated. He sins once more and once more by giving Dimmesdale what is thought to be redresss for his nutriments but are truly decreasing his wellness. Chillingworth sins so much that subsequently in the novel he achieves the position of the Satan.

Second, his wickedness is manner more of import and important than that of other characters in the novel. On one manus, Hester Prynne ‘s criminal conversation is seen as agencies for decease in the Puritan society ‘s eyes. On the other manus, Chillingworth ‘s perennial onslaughts on Dimmesdale create the immense false feeling of vivid “ evil. ” The badness of Chillingworth ‘s wickedness is besides seen when he transforms from a doctor to Dimmesdale into a Satan.

Third, Chillingworth feels about no compunction about his wickedness compared to the other characters. Dimmesdale and Hester both feel great compunction for their wickedness and the agony from Dimmesdale ‘s wickedness outweighs enduring from his wickedness. On the other manus, Chillingworth displayed no compunction throughout the full novel. For illustration, in chapter 14, we see no compunction whatsoever. “ What evil have I done the adult male? ” asked Roger Chillingworth once more. Here, Chillingworth refuses to acknowledge his guilt in pulverizing another individual ‘s psyche.

Both chief characters in The Scarlet Letter have great sums of wickedness and incorrect behaviors. Dimmesdale is the bigger wickedness because he committed criminal conversation which is a capital offense in the Puritan society. But, if non looking though Puritan eyes, Chillingworth is the bigger evildoer because of the measure of his wickedness, the importance of his wickedness and the sum of duty he felt for his wickedness. Dimmesdale concludes in chapter 23: “ Thou [ Chillingworth ] , excessively, hast profoundly sinned. ” Dimmesdale is right.