Scarlet Letter Scaffold Scene Essay

What is the significance of the scarlet letter A which is embroidered on Hester’s gown?

In Nathaniel Hawthorne’s, The Scarlet Letter, the author uses three scaffold scenes to mark the development of Hester Prynne. The image of Hester atop the scaffolding is a metaphor for her forced solitude; for her banishment from society; and for the futility of her punishment. In the first scene, Hawthorne uses the scaffold to explain how Hester can not believe that the “A'; and the baby are real. In the second scaffold scene, Hawthorne tries to convey to the reader that Hester has fully repented for her sin, however this is not true. In the final scaffold scene, Hester does not yet fully repent for her sin because her love for Dimmesdale is still strong. Through Hester, Hawthorne is trying to communicate to the

In contrast to the first scaffold scene, the second one happened during the night, completely unseen by the other villagers. Again, we see Dimmesdale and Hester (and Pearl), but this time, the lovers appeared to be both on the platform of shame. In this passage, Dimmesdale finally decided to act upon his guilt since he “had been driven hither (to the scaffold) by the impulse that Remorse which dogged him everywhere” (132-133). This scene symbolizes a moment of great insight for the minister because he started to understand a way to repent himself. As Dimmesdale touched his little girl’s hand, he experienced “[an]other life than his own, pouring like a torrent into his heart and hurrying through all his veins, as if the mother and the child were communicating their vital warmth to his half-torpid system” (137). The miserable sinner, who lived in utter darkness and despair for such a long time, at last began to grasp his responsibility towards Hester and Pearl and his role in the redemption of all three characters. However, Dimmesdale’s insight was not complete because he was still bounded with fear. When Pearl asked him to expose his sin to the public and admit her as his legitimate child, his courage

Hawthorne adds to The Scarlet Letter is when he explains the prison as “the black flower of civilized society” (2). By this Hawthorne means that the prison is a place of evil and a place that conceals the truth, in the event that Hester is being held there with the truth about her adulterous act. Hawthorne also describes Pearl’s eyes as having “another face, in the small black mirror”, instead of holding her mother’s “own miniature portrait” (48). This explains that Pearl’s eyes were empty and filled with sin as she came into life as a result of Hester’s scarlet letter. Another example of how Hawthorne uses the color black, as symbolism, is when Chillingworth states: “Even in the graveyard here at hand, they are new to me. I found them growing on a grave, which bore no tombstone, nor other memorial of the dead man, save these ugly remembrance. They grew out of his heart, and typify, it may be, some hideous secret that was buried with him, and with he had done better to confess during his lifetime” (83). This takes place when Roger Chillingworth brings Arthur Dimmesdale herbs with dark, flabby leaves. By this quote, Hawthorne implies that the herbs that Chillingworth had collected had no meaning but to signify evil that had been growing out of the grave, the remains that were left from the dead man who had been buried there. Another major part of The Scarlet Letter also comes from the symbolism of the color black

As the novel progresses the meaning of the symbolism of the letter “A” starts ti blossom into a new meaning. Toward the climax of the novel Hester Prynne’s appearance is altered to where she is no longer viewed as a sinner. The meaning on the symbol changes from of the devil to a some what vague symbol, as if it has lost its initial connotation. Society now views her a symbol that differs whom she really is, she is viewed as a strong woman through all the torment that is put in a unfortunate situation. At this point Hester has already learned how to dealt with the burden of the scarlet letter. Withstanding the pressures of society boiling down waiting patiently for Hester Prynne to crack, she does not, she grows into a stronger woman. A woman that has gone through hell and back and continues to thrive in her society even under the circumstances she lives in. The scarlet letter “A” meaning has changed, “ hatred, by a gradual and quiet process, will even be transformed to love, unless the change be impeded by a continually new irritation of the original feeling of hostility” (Hawthorne 147). Slowly Hester’s hard feelings toward the letter, and to the situation itself, begins to diminish. However, it is

The three scaffold scenes bring great significance to the plot of the Scarlet Letter. The novel is based on repenting the sins of adultery. The scaffold represents a place of shame and pity but also of final triumphs. Each scene illustrates the importance of the scaffold behind them with many potent similarities and differences.

"I must not only punish, but punish with impunity. A wrong is unredressed when retribution overtakes its redresser. It is equally unredressed when the avenger fails to make himself felt as such to him who has done the wrong." With these ferverous words from the introductory paragraph of Edgar Allan Poe's Cask of Amontillado, the story of Montresor's revenge begins. Poe repeatedly stresses the need for revenge due to bitterness and resentment in Montresor's character towards Fortunato, but more importantly, stress is placed on revenge by which the victim realizes their injustice towards the redresser. Unfortunately, it seems that Montresor is denied this pure and encompassing revenge when his victim,

The scarlet letter first represents the word adultery. This was the sin Hester and Dimmesdale had committed. This crime was the driving force behind the entire story. Again, without Hester and Dimmesdale’s sin, there would be no story. The letter also represents how our sins can weigh us down if we do not get rid of them. A prime example of this is when Hester, Dimmesdale and Pearl were in the forest. Hester took off the scarlet letter and she said it felt like the world had been taken off of her shoulders. With this scene, Hawthorne is trying to tell his readers to not let your wrongdoings in life hold you down

Throughout this novel, Author Nathaniel Hawthorne used Pearl as different symbols. Pearl was a symbol of Hester and Dimmesdale’s sin, the innocent reminder of that sin, and balance. He shows her being these symbols often throughout the book. Though, as the book goes on you can notice Pearl start to grow and evolve into the different symbols. Some of her original symbolism stays with her, however, she goes through stages as she ages. She was put through many things she couldn’t understand and endured pain because of her surroundings. When Hester is being screamed at to tell everyone who Pearl’s father, Hawthorne says Pearl, “pierced the air with its wailings and screams.”(Hawthorne 78). Just like her aging, her symbolism

The scaffold goes through many different symbolic meanings and shifts between them through the three scaffold scenes in the novel. At first the scaffold symbolizes oppression and humiliation, as seen when Hester is being punished on the scaffold. This though eventually shifts to mean connection and bonding, which is revealed in the second scaffold scene, where Dimmesdale, Hester, and Pearl unite holding hands on the scaffold. The final meaning the scaffold symbolizes occurs in the last few scenes of the novel where Dimmesdale tells the village of what he has done and where he meets his untimely demise. Thus, the scaffold switches to the meanings of confession and relief. This overall transformation of meaning paralleling the different stages

The scaffold represents nonconformity and sin, so it’s important that the night meeting of Hester, pearl, and dimmesdale should occur at this time and setting. The scene in which the meteor appears as an “A” across the sky continues to foreshadows Dimmesdale's announcement to the public of his sin, since the sky is very public and open just like his secrets soon will be. The scene then closes with the three creating a bond throughout their similarities and secrecy. This conception signifies the fact that strength comes from unity the sharing of burdens. He decides to run from his shame by leaving town with Hester and Pearl.

In The Scarlet Letter, by Nathaniel Hawthorne, during the Puritan Era of Colonial America, a woman is being prosecuted for adultery and she is forced to adorn a bright scarlet “A” upon her chest. The Scarlet Letter depicts the hardships faced by Puritan women if they do anything against the Puritan beliefs, such as adultery. Hester Prynne has committed this crime and is imprisoned for it. The reason the letter resting upon Hester’s chest is so brightly colored is so that anyone who passes her notices the letter and forever reminds Hester of her shame. The color red comes up constantly throughout the story.

Serving as the namesake for the book, the letter “A” is intentionally tinted red to convey ideas of passion, ridicule, and submission to human desire. While the letter itself resembles Hester and Dimmesdale’s adulterous sin, the letter is intentionally red to illustrate the intense passion and love shared between the two. The bold crimson hue on Hester’s bosom sharply contrasts the dull colors typically worn in Puritan society, expressing the ostentatious nature of her public ignominy. This bright color is viewed as unwelcomed and negative, as exemplified in Hester’s encounter with a fellow maiden in town. Hester sees the maiden “glancing at the scarlet letter, shyly and aside…with a faint, chill crimson in her cheeks, as if her purity were somewhat sullied by that momentary glance” (Hawthorne 74).

In the first scaffold scene, the main focus is Hester and the scarlet letter. Pearl is an infant being coddled by her mother. She also is the physical sign of Hester’s sin. They are standing on the scaffold alone, being humiliated in front of the entire town by the magistrates. Reverend Dimmesdale is standing on the platform with her, giving a sermon. At this point in the novel, Dimmesdale had no significance to Hester and the scaffold, or so we thought. Turns out that he was the mistress in her scandalous love affair. But the only people who

“Women belong in the kitchen.” “All women should be barefoot and pregnant.” “Women are strictly homemakers.” These are a few of the commonly used phrases regarding the female role in society that date back to the mid-seventeenth century. However, ardent supporters of gender equality have surfaced in almost every culture where this ideology is practiced. Nathaniel Hawthorne explores this inveterate societal conflict through his story The Scarlet Letter. The main character, Hester Prynne, is punished for committing adultery by being forced to wear a scarlet letter upon her bosom; Hawthorne created a story sympathetic to the female cause and demonstrated, through Hester, qualities of early feminism that later establish themselves during his