Essay On The Scaffold In The Scarlet Letter

Throughout The Scarlet Letter, Hawthorne uses a great deal of symbolism especially with the meaning of the scaffold. The scaffold starts out to be place of sin and humiliation but ironically becomes a place of true salvation. It is used by many characters to show their emotions as well as how people of the Puritan society treated Hester, Pearl, and Arthur Dimmesdale.
In the first scaffold scene, Hester is holding her daughter Pearl in her arms. Hester has committed adultery and must stand on the scaffold for three hours to endure her punishment. She is placed with the scarlet letter “A” on her bosom so that people of the Puritan community know what she has done. Hester tries to hide the letter “A” by moving Pearl to cover it up, but decides to suffer trying to keep her dignity. The townspeople mock Hester, and she is scrutinized for the sin she has committed. While Hester and Pearl are on the scaffold, Arthur Dimmesdale and the other leaders of the community are watching from the side. Hester sees her husband Chillingsworth in the crowd, and as he realizes this, he puts his finger over his lips to tell Hester not to reveal who he is. This scene demonstrates that the people of the Puritan community enjoy watching public humiliation. They feel no sympathy and do not want
It first becomes a symbol for adultery but later becomes a symbol of an angel. At the end of The Scarlet Letter, the townspeople finally realize that Hester is not a sinful woman and realizes what she has done wrong. The significance of the scaffold changes throughout the novel. It starts as the place of persecution for Hester, but by the end of the book, it symbolizes freedom and escape for Dimmesdale. The narrator concludes with the quote, “On a field, sable, the letter A, gules’’ (Hawthorne 259). This symbolizes whether or not the townspeople really forgave Hester for what she has done or whether she be punishment after she