Scaffold Scene In 'The Minister's Vigil'

This scene is similar to the previous scaffold scene in The Minister’s Vigil. In the scaffold scene, Dimmesdale laughed at loud at the irony of the situation. As he laughed, little Pearl laughed in retort. He then immediately realized that Hester and Pearl were both with him in the darkness. Similarly, in this scene, he again hears the voice of his love in the dark. In the scaffold scene, he thought through all of the sin he fell into and the darkness he lives in. In the forest as he stops to identify the voice, he is dressed in the sombre night that characterizes his life. However, unlike their previous encounter in the middle of night when he recognized them immediately, Dimmesdale now has the doubt that she is standing in front of him. His