Zodiac Signs for characters in the Scarlet Letter: Hester Prynne, Roger Chillingworth, and Dimmesdale

The Scarlet Letter and Zodiac Signs

When looking at the three main characters that partake in the novel, “The Scarlet Letter,” they all display different traits and characteristics that could be labeled under a zodiac sign.  In astrology, there are twelve zodiac signs and depending on the time someone is born, determines what kind of personality they will have. Hester Prynne, Roger Chillingworth, and Arthur Dimmesdale would each fit a different zodiac.  However, do to their unique personalities, each character may me given two signs rather than one.

Firstly, let’s look at Hester Prynne.  Before she even committed her sin, she presented herself as passionate, independent and someone that would prefer to act in the moment rather than to think first.  Clearly, that’s gotten her in to trouble.  When she was younger, her passionate nature had to be restricted by her parents in order to be controlled.  You can see the passionate nature in her sin and love as well.  She’s also considered a feminist or a strong women by most.  From this information alone, we can weed out most of the zodiac signs.  The only signs that really seem passionate or independent are Aries, Leo and Sagittarius.  It’s interesting how they’re all fire signs.  Fire, according to astrology, represents life and zest.  Aries is the most independent and people born Arian tend to avoid thinking before acting.  Arian people are very strong-willed and are willing to take bold risks in pretty much everything they do.  Leo and Sagittarius wouldn’t fit Hester because of this.  Hester seems to be an Aries, but the sign Aquarius seems to be likely as well.  Aquarius is an air sign, and it’s also ruled by Saturn.  Saturn can point to restriction on a persons life, and Hester has dealt with a lot of limitations and punishments.  One obvious punishment she goes through is public shaming.  Aquarius is a public sign, it rules the 11th house.  The 11th house deals with social interactions within in the public.  Aquarius is the water bearer, too.  In other words, he brings water, or “ideas,” to large groups of people.  Aquarians set the seeds of ideas, which eventually grow and become important later in the future.  Hester gives to charity and makes clothes for people.  She is seen alone and an outcast many times in the crowd, which many Aquarian people deal with because they are ruled by Saturn. They have ideas that are way too futuristic and rebellious for people in their age of time to understand.  People today consider Hester to be one the first feminist.  That’s like the most Aquarian you can get.  In summary, Hester would most likely be an Aries or Aquarius.

Now onto the cold-hearted Roger Chillingworth.  There has been only one sign that is in compassionate, power hungry, and almost psychopathic.  That sign is Capricorn.  When you look at a Capricorn, or imagine a true a Capricorn, you would see a hunch back, unemotional, and ruthless person.  I think Chillingworth fits that description pretty well.  The only emotion he had, was to take revenge over Dimmesdale.  During the battle between Chillingworth and Dimmesdale, it was described as Science vs. Religion.  The sign Capricorn is least likely to believe in a religion.  Capricorn is the most skeptic and negative.  Whether or not Chillingworth was religious, he had a thing for science.  Capricorns appreciate the facts and often times considered awkward nerds.  The sign Scorpio also came to mind when pondering Chillingworth’s sign.  If you remember, Chillingworth went through a huge identity shift on his quest for revenge.  Even his complexion changed.  Scorpio born people are constantly changing throughout life.  This breaking and putting back together of identity is a constant theme in their life.  Scorpio’s are manipulative people and sometimes considered evil.  If you do wrong to a scorpio, your life will always be haunted by them.  It makes sense that Scorpio’s are considered the sign of the devil.  They take part in actions that are occult or taboo.  Chillingworth manipulates and destroys Dimmesdale right under his very nose for a very long time.  I don’t know what other sign could actually do that.  One last thing about Scorpios is that they love to solve puzzles.  Chillingworth was searching Dimmesdale’s mind inside and out for his hidden secret.

Dimmesdale’s sign was pretty easy to come up with.  After coming up with a sign for Chillingworth, I just had to think the opposite signs.  All the signs of opposite of Scorpio and Capricorn were Cancer, Pisces, Taurus and maybe even Libra.  All of these signs are rather weak or “nice.”  Dimmesdale is weak.  He couldn’t do what Hester did.  Hester is a risk-taker Aries.  The opposite sign of Aries is Libra.  But out of the four signs, Pisces seems the most viable.  Pisces are nice, sensitive, and have a very poor footing on life.  That outlines Dimmesdale spot on.  Dimmesdale is suffering from guilt for pretty much half of the book and almost dies from the doctor, who’s trying to destroy him.  He even said that he should’ve known that Chillingworth was the doctor, when Hester was talking to him about leaving to Europe.  Only a Pisces could get in the kind of mess.  Pisces are so easy to control and manipulate.  Not only from personal experience, but research as well.  It’s very easy to take advantage of them.  They are ruled by neptune.  The planet of the sea, delusion, and fantasy.  Ironically though, pisces are pretty intelligent people.  Most likely because a pisces’s mercury sign is almost always in a fortunate placement.  The mercury sign represents your mind.  Dimmesdale has a good education and he’s a religious leader.  You’d have to be intelligent for that.  Pisces is the most religious of the zodiac signs.  In astrology, pisces rules the twelfth house.  This house is relation to God.  Dimmesdale clearly relates to God.  It’s also the house of self-undoing, which Dimmesdale clearly does to himself through his guilt.

Hopefully the zodiac signs that were chosen presented a suitable description for each of the characters.  Hester is an Aries or Aquarius because of her feminist look.  Chillingworth is a Capricorn or Scorpio because he is evil and cunning.  And lastly, Dimmesdale is a Pisces because he is religious and sensitive.