In the parishioners' conjectures, which figure is accused of using dark arts to affect Dimmesdale?

• A. Hester Prynne
• B. Pearl
• C. Dimmesdale
• D. Chillingworth

Answer: (D)

Focus on how the community reads illness and guilt as signs of hidden powers at work. Dimmesdale’s suffering and fading strength are seen by the parishioners as the result of some secret, corrupt influence rather than mere illness. Roger Chillingworth, who arrives as a physician and harbors a vengeful, calculating purpose, embodies that ominous force. His careful, almost occult-like treatment of Dimmesdale—concealing his true identity, probing for the minister’s sin, and pressuring him to confess—feels to the townsfolk like manipulation through dark arts rather than ordinary medicine. This combination of secrecy, a menacing presence, and a vendetta underpins why people attribute Dimmesdale’s misery to Chillingworth. Hester and Pearl are tied to sin and symbolism, but they aren’t depicted as using occult powers against Dimmesdale, and Dimmesdale himself is the suffering party, not the one wielding influence.