Although Roger Chillingworth's zealous desire to seek out Hester's secret lover is justified, he crossed the boundary of human realm with his demonic sphere of soul possession. Hester, who is scared of him, asks, "Art thou like the Black Man that haunts the forest round about us? Hast thou enticed me into a bold that will prove the ruin of my soul?" She identifies Chillingworth with Satan, the figure who tries to get people to sign his book and enlist them for evil.
             Chillingworth's mental deformity is signaled by his physical deformity (his shoulder). Perhaps, his physical deformity is one of the reasons that evoke him to find out Hester's secret lover. Because he is deformed, he cannot fulfill the young women's fantasy. Also, their age difference is widely ranged. Although he dearly wanted to "...sought to warm thee by the warmth which thy presence made there," when he realized that she never loved him, he felt strong jealousy and wanted to revenge Hester's secret lover who was able to be loved by someone.
             However, his devilish machination is understandable when one can see situation in Chillingwoth's view. He was "the bookworm of great libraries" and "a man already in decay." Chillingworth hoped to overcome his physical deformity by absorbing intellectual gifts. "I had lived in vain. The world had been so cheerless... I longed to kindle one," suggests that he too, was after all, an ordinary man. He wanted to be loved by someone and to love someone.
             Nonetheless, Chillingworth is too much influenced by his emotion. One can comprehend that anybody would be mad if one found out that their husband or wife is convicted of adultery while one was gone taking care of business. Also, historically, a woman's virtue was the property of her husband. It therefore makes sense that Chillingworth is personally insulted when he finds out about his wi
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