Roger Chillingworth The Scarlet Letter, by Nathaniel Hawthorne, is about Hester Prynne, who committed adultery in Puritan Boston. She was shamed and sent to the gallows, where she was publicly humiliated and sent back to prison. After his release, he tried to live the rest of his life on the outskirts of the city. The only companion he had was his daughter, Pearl, who is living proof of his crime. Hester and Pearl live their lives together, trying to overcome the shame Hester has brought upon them. The Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale is the local minister and Hester's adulterous companion. He tries to hide from his image, because of his horrible sin. Roger Chillingworth, Hester's husband was a businessman in England, and sent Hester to America before him so she could clean up her affairs. Throughout the story, the four main characters show many examples of their duality, that is, the concept that man (woman) possesses two antagonistic forces: good and evil, which are in constant opposition to each other. Roger Chillingworth is the best representation of duality. His character changes from an honest, hard-working husband to an evil, twisted old man. Roger Chillingworth's duality is first seen upon "his arrival in the market place" (Hawthorne 53). His wife, Hester Prynne, is on the gallows and is publicly humiliated in front of the entire town. As he looks at her “A twisted horror coiled over his features, like a serpent gliding swiftly over them, and pauses a little, with all its intertwined involutions in view” (54). He notices the "A" on her chest and asks a nearby citizen why the woman is on the gallows. The man explains to him that she was arrested for adultery against her husband who "sent his wife ahead of him, remaining himself to take care of some necessary business" (54). The town persona makes Chillingworth seem like a good, hard-working man. That he sent his wife here out of the goodness of his heart and she cheated on him. Hawthorne presents Chillingworth as the villain; saying that he was like a serpent. Not a page later, the citizen talks about how he took care of business in Europe and his wife. Later Chillingworth goes to prison to visit Hester, at the jailer's request. "He thought it best to introduce a physician. He described him as a man in all the Christian ways of physical science, and equally familiar with all that savages could teach.