The Scaffold Scenes in Nathaniel Hawthrone´s The Scarlet Letter

In the first scaffold scene, Hester is being led from the prison where she has spent the last few months, towards the scaffold clutching her newborn baby to her bosom, covering the scarlet letter-the two symbols representing truth and her lost innocence. She stands on the scaffold, with the magistrates and ministers standing above her

In addition, William wanted the sin of adultery to be a death penalty offense. This was an idea illustrated through the protagonist, Hester Prynne. Hester had committed adultery against her husband, by engaging sexual intercourse with Reverend Dimmesdale. As a result, she became pregnant, which startled high officials. A few months after sleeping with Dimmesdale, Hester began to show symptoms of early pregnancy. This led the townspeople to wonder if she was in fact pregnant. The rumor soon stood at the doors of high officials, where she was questioned whether or not she had a child in her womb. Soon after, Hester was condemned publicly on the scaffold. Hawthorne wrote, “Speak Woman!” said another cold voice, coldly and sternly, proceeding from the crowd about the scaffold” (Hawthorne, 1850, p. 79). Hester was publicly judged not only by prominent men, but by the townspeople as well.

In Nathaniel Hawthorne’s, The Scarlet Letter, the author uses three scaffold scenes to mark the development of Hester Prynne. The image of Hester atop the scaffolding is a metaphor for her forced solitude; for her banishment from society; and for the futility of her punishment. In the first scene, Hawthorne uses the scaffold to explain how Hester can not believe that the “A'; and the baby are real. In the second scaffold scene, Hawthorne tries to convey to the reader that Hester has fully repented for her sin, however this is not true. In the final scaffold scene, Hester does not yet fully repent for her sin because her love for Dimmesdale is still strong. Through Hester, Hawthorne is trying to communicate to the

In the novel The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne, we notice that action only happens in a few places, among which are the forest, the market place, the governor’s residence, and Dimmesdale’s house. Although all these locations are significant to the story, the most important symbol among them is certainly the scaffold in the market place, where the story begins and ends. The scaffold’s meaning changes throughout the story and has different values for different characters. It represents humiliation, then insight, and finally redemption for Hester and Dimmesdale, but for Chillingworth, it symbolizes birth of sin, growth of sin, and ultimately consummation by sin.

While standing upon the scaffold, Hester “was conscious of a shelter in the presence of these thousand witnesses” (Hawthorne 61). As punishment for her adulterous actions, Hester stood on the scaffold so her sin could be publicly exposed. Hawthorne writes a paradox of Hester being safe in a crowd of angry people rather than by herself at home. His paradox supports the theme of safety being found in unusual places. After a surprise visit from her husband, Hester “fled for refuge, as it were to the public exposure, and dreaded the moment when its protection should be withdrawn from her” (Hawthorne 61). Hester is still standing on the scaffold when her husband arrives and hears of her sin. She is safe in the exposure of the scaffold because her husband cannot confront her privately without revealing his true identity. Hester finds refuge again in the public exposure of the scaffold. With Hawthorne’s paradox still present in this scene, it also supports how Hester was in a state of freedom and protection during her scaffold scenes.

The scaffold scene in chapter two illustrates the hyperbolic reaction to Hester Prynne’s actions. The people of the colony put Hester up on a piece of scaffolding. They do this in order to publicly degrade her, however their attempt to shame Hester only makes her stronger. (41)- “In fact this scaffold constituted part of a penal machine.” Even though Hester is on what Hawthorne describes as part of a penal machine she is brave and head strong. She acts defiantly towards the gossiping townspeople.

The first scaffold scene symbolize sin. The first scaffold scene is taking place in the marketplace during the day. On the scaffold Hester is standing on the scaffold holding her baby with a scarlet letter, Hester Prynne is standing on the scaffold for committing a sin, which is adultery. Hester baby is also a symbol for Hester sinning. This scaffold scene symbolize sin because Hester is being punished for adulterers and in results she got a living scarlet letter wick is Peal. “"If thou feelest it to be for thy soul's peace, and that thy earthly punishment will thereby be made more effectual to salvation, I charge thee to speak out the name of thy fellow-sinner and fellow-sufferer!"” (p.46). The quote that is being stated states that Hester is being asked questions about who is the other sinner because they are

The symbol of the scaffold evolves in The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne. In Nathaniel Hawthorne’s novel The Scarlet letter is build around the symbolic scaffold. The main characters transform the scaffold from the exposition to resolution. Next the traits of the scaffold itself deteriorate throughout the novel. Finally, the scaffold is applied symbolically throughout Hawthorne’s novel.

The changing imagery of each of the three scaffold scenes presents Hawthorne’s idea of private vs. public sin. Using different visual elements such as light and placement, Hawthorne’s imagery creates a separation of each scene (and character) for the reader. This idea is carried out through the portrayal of Dimmesdale and Hester, each with their own kind of sin to endure. In the first scaffold scene, Hawthorne exemplifies Hester’s public sin as she stands in the exposure of daylight, facing a crowd of townspeople, her embroidered A visible to all. Her shame is very much public, with societies reactions and judgements ringing loudly throughout the scenes description.

The layout of The Scarlet Letter, By Nathaniel Hawthorne, is portrayed through three major scenes that happen on the scaffold in the town square. The events that occur on the scaffold will determine the path that each of the main characters, Hester, Dimmesdale, Chillingworth, and Pearl will take throughout the novel. Each scene marks a different change in the individual’s transformation. The events on the scaffold show the change over time in the person’s mindset and their relationship to the story.

The scaffold scene at the beginning of the novel is the first significant setting that is present in The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne. Our group decided to recreate the scaffold scene from chapters 2 and 3 because it presented a very powerful introduction to this old English book. This scene is pivotal in understanding the rest of the novel. This is the first time that the readers learn about Hester standing on the scaffold and being taunted by her letter “A” on her bosom, as people from her community scorn her and use her sin as a moral lesson. In order to construct this scene, our group used numerous materials: popsicle sticks, toothpicks, clay, paint, Styrofoam, paper, cardboard, fake moss, felt, and a string. With all of these materials, we were able to re-enact the scaffold setting. The people were created with the toothpicks, clay, paint, and for Hester, the red paint. The letter “A” was created using the red paint because it has to be noticeably apparent compared to the rest of her dim, beige clothing.

Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter, a dark tale of sin and redemption, centers on the small Puritan community of Boston during the seventeenth century. In the center of this bustling community is the market place. With in it are all the central features of the town, the most symbolic of these is the scaffold. Many a soul is scarred upon this scaffold. It is a place of intense scrutiny and upon it, reality comes into a brutal light. In exceptional contrast to the scaffold is the forest beyond the town. Here, there is no judgement and reality waxes and wanes. Hawthorne creates this place for the characters to escape and themselves without restraint or worry. The comparison is clear: the market place, especially the scaffold,

In the book, The Scarlet Letter written by N. Hawthorne the themes of sin, passion, and the supernatural illustrates the personal rebellion against social belief.

The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne tells the story of a woman who was gifted a child through the sin of adultery. There are five scenes that stand out in this book. The first one being the first scene of the book, where Hester is on the scaffold. The second significant scene is when Dimmesdale went to Chillingworth for medical health. The following scene is from when Dimmesdale yelled into the town during the night from on the scaffold, followed by the forest scene, and concluded with Dimmesdale’s death scene.

This idea is built upon by the introduction of Hawthorne’s main character, Hester Prynne, and the mental and physical isolation she faces due to her act of sin committed in the Puritan community. For the first part of her punishment she forced to stand upon the town scaffold completely alone, save for the infant she carries, and endure the “cruel weight and hardness of reality” (40). Since her sin, in that time period, was ruled evil and against the law of the Bible, the community’s response was to isolate her upon the scaffold as punishment, creating a demonstration of the Puritan