Why does Chillingworth desperately try to stop Dimmesdale from confessing his sins on the scaffold?

Why does Chillingworth desperately try to stop Dimmesdale from confessing his sins on the scaffold?

• A. He wants to protect Dimmesdale from public shame
• B. He wants to continue torturing Dimmesdale and to have done it himself to accost his full vengeance on him
• C. He wants to preserve Dimmesdale's reputation
• D. He wants to keep Dimmesdale from leaving town

Answer: (B)

Chillingworth’s driving force is revenge and the need to control Dimmesdale’s misery. He has framed himself as Dimmesdale’s physician in order to feed on the minister’s secret guilt and to wield power over him through that secret. If Dimmesdale suddenly confesses on the scaffold, the secret would be revealed to everyone and the minister would free himself from this inward torture, ending Chillingworth’s personal grip on him. The chance to torment Dimmesdale, to exact his full vengeance by keeping Dimmesdale in a state of private guilt, would be lost. So Chillingworth fights to prevent the confession, to remain the one who inflicts the punishment and to prolong Dimmesdale’s suffering for as long as possible.

Chillingworth’s driving force is revenge and the need to control Dimmesdale’s misery. He has framed himself as Dimmesdale’s physician in order to feed on the minister’s secret guilt and to wield power over him through that secret. If Dimmesdale suddenly confesses on the scaffold, the secret would be revealed to everyone and the minister would free himself from this inward torture, ending Chillingworth’s personal grip on him. The chance to torment Dimmesdale, to exact his full vengeance by keeping Dimmesdale in a state of private guilt, would be lost. So Chillingworth fights to prevent the confession, to remain the one who inflicts the punishment and to prolong Dimmesdale’s suffering for as long as possible.