Foreshadowing In The Scarlet Letter Essay

Nathaniel Hawthorne in the novel, the scarlet letter, portrays the level of wickedness that lives within humans. Pyle proves this to his audience by his precise and various strategies. Hawthorns dramatic irony both helps build suspense while foreshadowing how blind the Puritans are towards Chillingsworth true character, he foreshadows the pain and suffering Chillingworth will soon unravel upon dimmesdale; he does this through foreshadow, hyperbole and point of view.
Foreshadowing allows the audience to foresee the intensity of an event before it actually occurs. In this case we can foresee the destruction of the minister. DImmesdale will fall at the freewill of Chillingsworth. “He expressed great alarm at his pastor’s state of health but was
“Individuals of wiser faith, indeed, who knew that Heaven promotes its purposes without aiming at the stage-effect of what is called miraculous interposition, were inclined to see a providential hand in ROger Chillingworth’s so opportune arrival”(125). The narrator foreshadows that Chillingworth may come from the nether earth which can also be interpreted as hell. It adds a feel of ambiguity and mystery to Chillingworth because it reveals to the audience that CHillingworth is not an Angel but rather a Satanic creature. “The elders, the deacons, the motherly dames, and the young and fair maidens of Mr. Dimmesdale's flock, were alike importunate that he should make trial of the physicians frankly offered skill. Mir.DImmesdaLE GENTLY REPELLED THEIR ENTRIES”(125). This perspective is from the puritan society. The puritan’s want DImmesdale to allow Chillingworth to “help” him but the audience knows that CHillingworth wants to ruin Dimmesdale’s soul and extend his suffering for eternity. The perspective in the passage and novel allows the audience to understand things the characters do