Which man is the physician in the story who becomes Hester's husband?

• A. Roger Chillingworth
• B. Arthur Dimmesdale
• C. John Wilson
• D. John Prynne

Answer: (A)

Roger Chillingworth is the man who acts as a physician in the story and is Hester Prynne’s husband. He returns to the Puritan colony after some years and takes on the role of a doctor, tending to Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale, the minister who secretly bears responsibility for Hester’s child. Chillingworth’s medical role gives him close access to Dimmesdale and lets him pursue his quiet, consuming plan of revenge, all while presenting himself as a healer. That dual identity—husband by marriage and physician by profession—is what makes him the correct answer. The other men in the story are not physicians, nor are they Hester’s husband. Dimmesdale is the minister, not a doctor, and others mentioned are townsmen who do not match this role.