What Are The Three Scaffold Scenes In The Scarlet Letter

The three scaffold scenes in The Scarlet Letter, a novel by Nathaniel Hawthorne represent the three main points of the scarlet letter. They each contain a great deal of significance to the characters involved, especially Dimmesdale. The three scaffold scenes are significant to Dimmesdale in different ways because each successive scene is an improvement in his personality. The first scaffold scene is when Hester Prynne is accused of committing adultery and Dimmesdale, her lover, lets her stand alone for the crime they both committed. Dimmesdale is present throughout the whole scene but he is very hesitant to admit that he is the secret lover, although Mr. Wilson is pestering him to find out who it is. He doesn’t admit because he is afraid if he does confess it will ruin his reputation as a person and as a minister. “The young pastor’s voice was tremendously sweet, rich, deep, and broken. The feeling that it so evidently manifested, rather than the direct purport of the words, caused it to
He thinks of the sin that he has committed by not standing on the scaffold seven years ago when Hester was accused. “Mr. Dimmesdale was overcome with a great horror of mind, as if the universe were gazing at a scarlet token on his naked breast, right over his heart” (144). The thoughts are so overbearing that he screams, trying to relieve himself from his thoughts and the weight of the guilt he is carrying. Dimmesdale then hopes for the town to find him on the scaffold confessing his sins but no one awakes to see him. “‘It is done!’ muttered the minister, covering his face with his hands. ‘The whole town will awake, and hurry forth, and find me here!’” (145). From this, it can be seen that he has not given up his life to accept his punishment but it is advancement from the first scene when he showed no outward sign of his remorse is shown. The second scaffold scene represents public