The Scaffold in The Scarlet Letter :: Scarlet Letter essays

The Scaffold in The Scarlet Letter           The Scarlet Letter, by Nathaniel Hawthorne, is characterized by three major events that occur on the town support.  What takes stick on this platform will determine the path which the three main characters, Hester Prynne, Mr. Dimmsdale, and their daughter Pearl will follow.  The three scenes mark the beginning, middle, and end of their ignominy.             The scaffold is a platform where criminals are punished before all the townspeople.  In this case, the criminal is Hester Prynne and the crowd has gathered to witness her shame.  The first scene at the ominous platform is Hesters first public appearance with the child and the scarlet letter. Hesters husband, Roger Prynne (Chillingworth) makes a sudden reappearance and is among the onlookers.  The Reverend Mr. Dimmsdale is also there just he does not stand with Hester on the scaffold, instead he stands on the balcony with those who pass judgment on her.             During this measure, Reverend Mr. Wilson demands that Hester give the name of her lover. He gives her the chance to take the scarlet letter off her breast if she were to emit surface his name(64).  Had she relented and revealed his name she might never have had to rule the humiliation of the scarlet letter.  just now she refused, and so her path was set.             The second time at the scaffold was a cut intoing point for Hester. She, Pearl, and Dimmsdale are in concert for the first time, ...the three formed an electric chain as if they were ever meant to be together if something, or someone, had not gotten in their way (140).  But it is here that Hester finally realizes the damage which hiding Chillingworths identity has caused Dimmsdale.  Chillingworth was a occult enemy...continually at his side , under the semblance of a friend and helper... when in justness he was tormenting Dimmsdale at every opportunity (153). When Hester sees the miserable state that he is in, weak and on the verge of lunacy, it leads her to later seek him out in the forest to confess the true identity of Chillingworth, which in turn leads to their plan to leave Salem.             Their plans were never carried through because of another visit to