In the first scaffold scene, Hester is led out of prison and has to stand with her baby on the scaffold to be publicly humiliated for committing adultery, in the second scaffold scene, Dimmesdale goes to the scaffold where he comes clean to his sin in private and later Hester and Pearl join him on the scaffold, and in the third scaffold scene, Dimmesdale confesses to his sin to the town with Hester and Pearl on the scaffold. The first scaffold scene is extremely important in the story because it is the first time Hester and her baby are introduced, and it is when the reader finds out the reason for her punishment. The scene gives specific details about the scarlet letter’s elegance, describing it with “an elaborate embroidery and fantastic flourishes of gold thread” (Hawthorne 46), contrary to the fact that it is worn for punishment. In this scene, Hester reminisces about her past to distract her from the painful situation, and she mentions a “man well stricken in years” with a “pale, thin scholar-like visage” that had “strange, penetrating power, when it was their owner’s purpose to read the human soul” (Hawthorne 50). This man is important because he is someone Hester is extremely fond of and hints that he is her husband, although he is nowhere to be found yet. The second scaffold scene is extremely important because it is when Dimmesdale finally confesses to his sin, although he does it in private at night. The readers truly feel Dimmesdale’s suffering because “while standing on the scaffold..Mr. Dimmesdale was overcome with a great horror of mind” and “on that spot..there was..the gnawing and poisonous truth of bodily pain” (Hawthorne 123). In this scene, the readers truly see how the guilt is taking over Dimmesdale’s life because he felt “overwhelmed with shame” when he was “standing where Hester Prynne had stood!” because he felt guilty that he should have been standing there alongside Hester the day she was publicly humiliated (Hawthorne 126). A little after this occurs, Dimmesdale sees Hester and Pearl and he tells them “come up hither once again, and we will stand all three together!” (Hawthorne 126). Dimmesdale held Pearl’s hand and once he “felt for [Pearl’s] other hand and took it” he experienced“what seemed a tumultuous rush of new life” within him, and soon after “the three formed an electric chain” (Hawthorne 126). This evokes an immense feeling of happiness and intimacy within Dimmesdale for Pearl and Hester. Pearl also is described as a symbol that acts as the connecting link between Dimmesdale and Hester, which is the first time where they all seem like a real, happy family. Lastly, when Pearl asks if he will stand on them with the scaffold the next day, he politely declines which shows that although he loves them and feels a connection between them, he is still afraid of judgment within his society and will not do it. Along with this, when the meteor shower occurs and Dimmesdale sees an “A” that he believes is directed towards his sin, Dimmesdale feels especially guilty that he thinks God knows his sin and is paranoid that everyone will find out his secret and judge him. The third scaffold scene is one of the most important scenes throughout the whole novel. In this scene, it is a special day for Dimmesdale because he finally time for him to deliver his Election Sermon. Shortly after, Dimmesdale finally gathers the courage to stand on the scaffold with Hester and Pearl, and come clean with his sin and tell everyone in the town. He reveals his secret and then shows his own “scarlet letter.” Later on the scaffold, Dimmesdale kissed Pearl, in which a “spell was broken” in her, and she is transformed into a real woman, and the pain she has been causing Hester ends forever (Hawthorne209). This is the first time he recognizes her after his true daughter. Shortly after this, Dimmesdale dies on the scaffold in Hester’s arms.
Pearl is a physical representation of Hester’s sin and passion committed by Hester and Dimmesdale which is shown in various ways throughout the novel. When Pearl and Hester visited Governor Bellingham, it is stated that when Bellingham saw Pearl he was “looking at the scarlet letter figure before him” and she is described as the “scarlet letter endowed with life” (Hawthorne 91, 84). This shows how much Pearl’s appearance and personality resembled the scarlet letter. Hester even admits to herself that Pearl “is the scarlet letter,” and “is [her] happiness” and “her mother’s only treasure” which is a reason why Hester feels so close to Pearl, especially because Pearl was meant to “preserve [Hester] from blacker depths of sin into which Satan might else have sought to plunge her” (74, 94, 95). Pearl resulted from “the rank luxuriance of a guilty passion” but was put into the world with a purpose, which was to bring Hester joy and prevent her from getting in trouble she would have gotten into without Pearl (Hawthorne 74). Pearl also represents sin because she is described multiple times as being devilish and elf-like, and Mistress Hibbins even goes to the extent of saying that her father is the devil. This shows how Pearl has certain characteristics that show she was born out of good faith as the result of sin. Pearl also has a very close connection with the scarlet letter, which is seen immediately because the “first object of which Pearl seemed to become aware was.. of the scarlet letter” and when Hester took it off for the first and only time in the book, Pearl “suddenly burst into a fit of passion” with “piercing shrieks” (74, 173). Pearl feels a disconnection with Hester when she takes off the scarlet letter because Pearl knows that the letter is a part of her, just like she is herself. This represents how Pearl feels very close to the letter because she knows that it represents her in some form.
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The effects of sin on Hester are what the entire story begins with. Due to committing adultery, Hester must be publicly condemned and wear the scarlet letter “A” on her dress forever. This causes Hester to feel extremely excluded from Puritan society because everyone thinks that she is a terrible, sinful person. Since she does not feel welcome anywhere, she decides to live with Pearl in a small cottage on the outskirts of town (68). Although she was kind and helpful to her community, even the “poor.. often riled the hand that was stretched forth to succor them” (71). However, Hester was most positively affected by the sin because it made her a stronger person and she learned from her mistake. Also, as a result of her sin, she got Pearl, who helped her become a better person and brought joy into her life. Hester and Dimmesdale’s sin affected Chillingworth in a negative way, but the way he responded to the situation was in his control. Chillingworth was an evil person, and he did everything in his control to ruin Dimmesdale’s life and cause him to suffer. It is understandable that he was angry, but his only goal in life was revenge for Dimmesdale. The sin affected Chillingworth in the least negative way. Dimmesdale fares the worst in the book because of how negatively affected he is by the sin. The guilt Dimmesdale felt by committing the sin and keeping it a secret was causing him to “[suffer] under bodily disease,” because he was “gnawed and tortured by some black trouble of the soul” (117). The guilt was so extreme that it caused Dimmesdale to get sick which “manifest[ed] in [his] bodily frame” (113). Chillingworth even realized that the root of Dimmesdale’s sickness was caused by a “wound or trouble in [his] soul” (113). Dimmesdale felt so alone, that he even tortured himself by whipping himself, unhealthily fasting for long periods of time, and depriving himself of sleep, as an attempt to repentance for his sin. Due to the fact that he was the town reverend, Dimmesdale questioned how “a ruined soul, like [his], [can] effect towards the redemption of other souls-or a polluted soul, towards their purification” (158). Dimmesdale felt guilty that the town looked up to him and loved him when he did not deserve it and was lying to their faces about how pure and good of a person he truly was. Dimmesdale could not take the pain and suffering because of how the guilt haunted his soul, which caused him to become ill.
Contrasts of night vs. day are used multiple times throughout The Scarlet Letter. During the day, characters must conceal their honest feelings and actions in fear of being punished or judged, while at night, people can reveal their true selves and guilt. Dimmesdale is a character that changes the most throughout the night and day. At night, Dimmesdale asks Hester and Pearl to stand with him on the scaffold (126). However, when Pearl asks “wilt thou stand here with mother and me, tomorrow noontide?” Dimmesdale says “not so, my child. I shall, indeed, stand with thy mother and thee one other day, but not tomorrow!” (127). During the day, Dimmesdale must hide his true relationship with Hester and Pearl in fear of the town finding out about his and Hester’s affair. At night, he can openly express his authentic feel to them and speak his mind when nobody is watching. The contrasts of the marketplace vs. the forest are very similar to the contrasts of night and day. A forest is a place that represents sin and evil in the Puritan society which diverges from the marketplace, where there are laws and rules put in place, and where everyone is protected from reality and evil. Due to the fact that Hester and Dimmesdale “need the whole wide world to breathe in, while they [talk] together” and Hester “never thought of meeting him in any narrower privacy than beneath the open sky” because a forest is a place free of judgment and it is a private place where nobody would know about their meeting (Hawthorne 151). Hester meets Dimmesdale in the forest to tell him the truth about Chillingworth’s identity. Contrasts between the Old World vs. the New World show how restrictive and strict the Puritans are. At the end of the book, Hester and Dimmesdale determine “that the Old World..offered them a more eligible shelter and concealment than the wilds of New England, or all America” (176). They decided to move to England to start a new life, where nobody would know their identities and it would be easier to hide than in America. The Puritans in the Old World treat Hester and Pearl with much disrespect because of their strict religious beliefs. The New World was a much less stern society where they decided to go because they knew they would not be judged or treated poorly.
Symbolism of color in The Scarlet Letter is used to represent many different things. First of all, red is used to represent sin and wrongdoings in the book. At the beginning of the book, Hester’s scarlet letter is described as having “fine red cloth” and her letter is supposed to represent her sin and act as a symbol of shame (Hawthorne 46). Hester’s letter was a constant reminder of her sin and the shame that comes along with it, and it also set her apart from society. Along with Hester, Pearl is distinguished by usually being dressed in the color red. Pearl is also referred to as “the scarlet vision” and how her name should not be pearl but “Ruby, rather! or Coral! or Red Rose, at the very least, judging by [her] hue” (91). This is extremely important in the book because it represents how Pearl is a physical representation of the sin Hester and Dimmesdale committed. Red is also a color that represents passion, and Pearl is a symbol of the sin of passion that they committed to have her. Along with that, natural objects also have many different meanings in the book. At the beginning of the book, the narrator talks about a “wild rose bush” that “has been kept alive in history” outside of the prison (42). The rose bush is supposed to “symbolize some moral blossom..or relieve the darkening close of a tale of human frailty and sorrow” (42). The rose bush also represents Hawthorne’s beliefs of Romanticism in the novel by showing that the “deep heart of Nature could pity and be kind to [the prisoners]” who walk by and see the rose bush (41). The rose bush is a representation of goodness and hope in a society full of sin and disorder, like Hester’s. A different natural object in the book is the weeds on a grave that Chillingworth saw and believed “grew out of [the deceased man in the grave’s] heart,..[that] may be some hideous secret buried with him” (Hawthorne 108). The weeds are supposed to be a physical representation of the man’s sin because he did not reveal his secret during his lifetime. The weeds are also seen as black to show that the unconfessed sin harms the person (Hawthorne 109). The weeds are important because they resulted from the same issue Dimmesdale is struggling with since he is too scared to confess to his sin. Along with that, the letter is also an extremely important symbol in the book. The scarlet letter initially represents the sin Hester committed, and the shame that comes along with it. The letter is an “A” and it stands for Adulteress in which Hester has to wear the letter for punishment. However, the meaning changes when the town’s views of her change, and “they said that it meant Able; so strong was Hester Prynne, was a woman’s strength” (134). The letter even went as far as “[having] the effect of the cross on a nun’s bosom” and “imparted to the wearer a kind of sacredness” (135). The letter eventually becomes an important symbol of Hester’s capability and strength, which is ironic because it was meant to be worn for punishment and to represent Hester’s sin and shame.
This quote is stated by the narrator. The quote is telling the readers Pearl’s response to Reverend Wilson’s question: “Canst thou tell me, my child, who made thee?” (92). The quote is important because the magistrates have been asking who the father of Pearl is since the day Hester was publicly humiliated. Wilson thinks that maybe Pearl will finally reveal the father’s identity, but Pearl responds by saying she was only plucked by the rosebush as her response. Her specific answer to Reverend Wilson’s question is extremely important because Pearl is comparing herself with the rosebush itself, and how they are so similar. At the beginning of the novel, the rosebush is first mentioned outside of the prison door and is supposed to represent hope in a chaotic society. When the rosebush is mentioned the narrator states that some people believed it had “sprung up under the footsteps of the sainted Ann Hutchingson” who was punished for heresy and eventually excommunicated and banished from the Church (42). This shows how something so beautiful, could have come from something so sinful. This is parallel to one of the many things Pearl symbolizes in the book. Pearl symbolizes hope to Hester because she helps Hester stay strong and was the only person to bring happiness to her life after she was shamed by the Puritan community. Pearl, like the rose bush, resulted from a sinful act as well.
This quote was stated by the narrator about Hester. This quote was said because Hester felt that the letter had not done its job of punishing her enough. She felt this way for many different reasons. First of all, the letter was meant to be worn as punishment for committing adultery, but the townspeople started to view Hester differently and instead saw the letter as a symbol of strength. The purpose of the scarlet letter failed because it was supposed to be seen as a symbol of shame, not admiration. The letter was supposed to make Hester learn from her mistakes and become a better person, but she just became a passionless and depressed person. Hester also starts thinking thoughts of suicide, because of the burden Pearl has brought upon her. Suicide is a sin, and since she was having these suicidal thoughts, the scarlet letter had not been effective in making her a better Puritan.
This quote is stated by Chillingworth and it is directed toward Hester. Chillingworth says this quote because he is upset that Hester is going to tell Dimmesdale the truth about his identity. He is stating that he felt it was necessary to make Chillingworth suffer for revenge. It was the darkness within him that made him feel like he needed to punish Dimmesdale. He is also saying that although she did him wrongly, she is not a sinful person, in the same way, that he is not Devil-like because he has been torturing Dimmesdale. He feels this way because he believes their fate is in control of the situation. Lastly, he is saying that Hester needs to let the darkness within him do what it wants to do.
This quote is stated by Hester to Dimmesdale. In this situation, Hester had just told Dimmesdale the truth about Chillingworth’s identity and he is extremely upset and feels that he can never forgive her. He eventually realizes he is overreacting and forgives her. Hester then tells Dimmesdale that although they both committed a sin, it was not intended to hurt others nor was it evil. Chillingworth’s sin, on the other hand, was committed intentionally to harm Dimmesdale so his sin was a lot worse than theirs was. Although they committed adultery, Hester states that they loved each other and agreed to keep it a secret, so their sin was not completely bad, and she does not feel guilty about it.
This quote is stated at the end of the book by the narrator and is supposed to represent the moral of The Scarlet Letter. The quote is saying that it is important for people to be honest with the world, and even if they do not reveal their worst traits, at least show that there are flaws within themselves. This quote is teaching the readers a lesson to learn from Dimmesdale’s mistakes and not be like him. This is because Dimmesdale waited extremely long to reveal the sin he committed, and the guilt he felt by holding it inside made him physically ill and ruined his life. He waited until the end of the book to reveal the truth to the townspeople, and felt proud of who he was and extremely relieved until he died shortly after he told them.
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