Scaffold Scenes In The Scarlet Letter

In the renowned gothic novel The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne, a plethora of plotlines are revealed that all contribute to the novel’s culminating scaffold scene. Throughout the novel, there are three different yet similar scaffold scenes, which all build suspense and add immensely to the novels conclusion. The four main characters in the novel namely Hester, Reverend Chillingworth, baby Pearl and Mr. Dimmsdale are always present in these scenes. Another commonality in the scenes is that they all surround the significance of the scarlet letter A. The recurring appearance of the scaffold scene within the novel demonstrates the importance of the hidden truth. The truth beneath appearance is a theme that has been manifested in the novel and is probably the most important aspect of the final scaffold scene.

Furthermore, in the first Scaffold scene, readers witness the public revelation of Hester’s grave sin that causes her to wear the eponymous scarlet A (the novel’s main symbol). In this scene, Hester and her new born baby Pearl are standing in front of the society, Pearl’s father Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale is also on the scaffold. Later in the scene readers witness the arrival of Hester’s husband which then sets the tone for every other scaffold scene throughout the novel. In this scene the truth beneath appearance is introduced as this is where the initial questions such as: who is Pearl’s Father? Who is the mystery man that catches Hester’s attention? These