Scaffold Scenes in The Scarlet Letter: A Character Analysis

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A scaffold is a raised platform used as a form of ignominy in a public situation. During The Scarlet Letter, by Nathaniel Hawthorne, there are three scenes that take place on the scaffold. In each scaffold scene the reader learns the four main characters are at each scaffold scene. The four main characters are Hester, Pearl, Dimmesdale, and Chillingworth. Throughout all the scaffold scenes, Nathaniel Hawthorne shows how each character is impacted.
The beginning of the novel jumps right into the first scaffold scene. At this scene the reader sees Hester holding baby Pearl. Hester is beautiful, has long brown hair, and a scarlet letter A on her bosom. Above the scaffold on a balcony is the Governor, the Reverend, and the priest Dimmesdale. …show more content…

It was late at night when Dimmesdale was on the scaffold on the night of the death of Governor Winthrop. Dimmesdale is on the scaffold due to his own guilt and self punishment. As Hester is passing by with Pearl, Dimmesdale asks them to join him on the scaffold. Soon after, there is a large meteor showing a scarlet letter A across the sky. Dimmesdale interprets the A as a symbol of his guilt, just like the A on Hester’s bosom. The reader also learns that Chillingworth is present below the scaffold. This scene clearly impacts Dimmesdale the most, but it also has impacts on the other three characters as well. Dimmesdale is so incredibly guilty about the sin he committed, that he has decided to torture himself in hopes that people see him standing on the scaffold. He feels stronger when he’s with Hester and Pearl, but the becomes weak again when Pearl asks him to stand with them the next day. “Nay, not so, my little Pearl! Answered the minister; for with the new energy of the moment, all the dread of public exposure, that had so long been the anguish of his life...”(121). This quotation shows the minister dying emotionally. This scaffold scene truly shows Dimmesdale suffering more than ever from the guilt he has bottled up inside. Hester is very quiet during this scene, much like the last scaffold scene. She is still strong and beautiful. The scaffold impacts Hester in a sense that she needs to be strong …show more content…

This happens on the Election Day, for this event there are many people in the crowd. With that being said, people crowd around Hester, but they still isolate her. As people glanced at the scarlet letter it was almost as if it burned into Hester’s bosom. Eventually Dimmesdale gets on the scaffold and asks Hester and Pearl to join him, doing this upsets Chillingworth greatly. All three of them gather on the scaffold once again and Dimmesdale admits that he committed adultery with Hester. Pearl finally accepts Dimmesdale, then he dies. This scene clearly impacts Dimmesdale the most, he is finally able to break free from his guilt and he can tell the truth, even though he dies. “At last-at last! - I stand upon the spot where, seven years since, I should have stood; here with this woman...”(197). During this scene Hester again remains fairly quiet. She is mostly concerned about the consequences of announcing the information. The reader sees Hester still with a white cap over her hair and the letter A still on her bosom. She is still strong, and beautiful. Just like the two previous scaffold scenes, they impact Hester in a way where she has to conceal and not feel her feelings and emotions. This scaffold scene does have a great impact on Pearl. Pearl finally gets the recognition she desperately needs from Dimmesdale. She went from a little girl who wanted recognition from her father, to a little girl

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