The Signigicance of the Scaffold Scenes in the Scarlet Letter

In Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter, symbolsim is constantly present in the actual scarlet letter “A” as it is viewed as a symbol of sin and the gradally changes its meanign, guilt is also a mejore symbol, and Pearl’s role in this novel is symbolic as well. The Scarlet Letter includes many profound and crucial symbols. these devices of symbolism are best portayed in the novel, most noticably through the letter “A” best exemplifies the changes in the symbolic meaning throughout the novel.

He turns toward the scaffold and asks Pearl and Hester to join him. Chillingworth attempts to stop him as he whispers “Do not perish in dishonor, I can yet save you.” Yet Dimmesdale proceeds onto the scaffold with Pearl and Hester. He publicly admits his sins and exposes his chest. Among his confession, many spectators have "testified to having seen, on the breast of the unhappy minister." Some swore to have witnessed a "scarlet letter- the very semblance of that worn by Hester Prynne." While others considered it to be a horribly inflicted torture, or caused by magical toxic drugs. Though it wasn't clearly explained, the author assures readers that it's their option to choose among those theories. In the end, his admission allows him to escape Chillingworth's torture, recover his soul, and Pearl recognizes her true father and no longer labeled the devil's

Scaffold- The scaffold is a place where most of the important scenes in the Scarlet Letter take place. It was placed under Boston’s earliest church and was made of wood and iron. The scaffold is a place of shame and punishment for anyone in the community that commits a sin. It is the most public place in the Puritan society and used for torture of the sinners as they walk up the steps and stand there for hours at a time. In the beginning it is where Hester is placed to be publically humiliated in front of the people of Boston. She stood with Pearl while she was judged and singled out for her sin of adultery. This was part of her punishment, along with having to wear a scarlet letter “A” on her chest

The scaffold’s first appearance in the novel takes place when Hester Prynne and her daughter, Pearl, are being interrogated by the top officials of the town. Here, Hester and Pearl are forced to climb up to the scaffold, where they are singled out and alienated while they are forced to endure public

The second scaffold scene takes place about seven years later at night when “[Dimmesdale] had been driven hither by the impulse of that Remorse which dogged him everywhere…” (136). Here the scaffold represents the purging of guilt for Dimmesdale. Unlike Hester and Pearl who had been forced to climb up the scaffold, Dimmesdale does so willingly as an attempt to lessen his intense feelings of guilt for his adultery. As Hester and Pearl are returning home from a burial, they decide to climb up the scaffold and join him.

Symbol of Sin In Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter, the use of a torturous scaffold symbolizes sin and redemption. In Hawthorne’s novel, the afflicting scaffold is present in three scenes throughout the story. The first scene occurs during the introduction of the novel, where Hester Prynne is given time on the structure in return for her sinful crime of adultery.

In the S​carlet Letter,​by Nathaniel Hawthorne, there are many obvious and hidden symbols that the reader will become aware of. One of the more obvious symbols in the novel is the scaffold, which the town uses for punishment. The scaffold d​oesn’t necessarily have many meanings, but its primary meaning of punishment and challenge later changes to one of freedom and harmony. The first appearance of the scaffold in the novel comes when Hester Prynne and her daughter, Pearl, are being questioned by the top officials of the town.

Early representations of the scaffold most closely relate to Hester’s public display of her sin. The scaffold is a punishment for a sinner where he or she stands in front of the population of the town to face ridicule and shame for his or her sin. As the town-beadle states before Hester’s punishment, ’Come along, Madam Hester, and show your scarlet letter in the market place!’ (Hawthorne p. 48). His statement details what Hester’s punishment is and portrays the earliest meaning of the symbol of the scaffold. As it is later stated, when she starts thinking about her childhood it is to rid herself, ”From the cruel weight and hardness of the reality” (Hawthorne p. 51). The statement gives the true degree of Hester’s public punishment and the severity of it. The symbol of the scaffold embodies Hester’s punishment through these statements and enriches the experience of Hester’s punishment through its use. Although it takes on this meaning early in the story, later, it is Dimmesdale who privately repents on the scaffold.

Throughout the novel, the puritans continuously isolate Hester and anyone who commits any form of crime. The scaffold provides

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.

Imagine being publicly shamed every day in your life. In Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter, the author uses three scaffold scenes to represent the change in Hester Prynne. The image of Hester atop the scaffolding is a metaphor for her banishment from society, and for the pointlessness of her punishment. The three scaffold scenes have a numerous amount of similarities, but they also have quite a few differences.

executed by the community. When they were released from jail, the first place that they went was to the scaffold, to be shown to the community. In The Scarlet Letter, by Nathaniel Hawthorne, the scaffold was not only a place of shame, but it was where character 's social status rose and fell throughout the book.

The first scaffold scene sets a pattern for the next two, giving a base for Hawthorne to build off of when he talks about the next two. Hester and Pearl are on the scaffold alone, waiting for the town to ridicule them. Hester starts daydreaming while in the scaffold because she doesn’t want anyone to see how she is truly feeling. She doesn’t want the sympathy of anyone in the town. She wears her Scarlet A on her chest which she has embroidered magnificently, but she does not want anyone to see it. So she tries to place Pearl over it as a means to hide it. But as Pearl is a Scarlet Letter herself all she does is draw more attention to her sin. Dimmesdale watches from the side with other leaders from the town, knowing he too should be ridiculed,

In the Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne there is a supernatural effect in the second scaffold scene which make it more significant than the other two scaffold scenes. Reverend Dimmesdale climbs the scaffold with no audience in the middle of the night to try to alleviate some of his guilt. The second scaffold scene was more significant than the other two because it helps the reader understand Dimmesdale's guilt and how aware he is of the guilt.

The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne is a tale of sin and hypocrisy. The book tells the story of Hester Prynne and her persecution and seclusion from Puritan society. She commits adultery with Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale and later gives birth to Pearl. The townspeople use this sin to persecute and publicly humiliate Hester on the scaffold in the marketplace. The same scaffold is reintroduced to the readers two more times throughout the book. The three scaffold scenes represent the basic structure of the story because they introduce the scarlet letters, symbols used throughout the book to represent Pearl, Hester, and Dimmesdale; they introduce and show Roger Chillingworth’s malice against Reverend Dimmesdale; and they show the crippling