Finally, the scaffold is where Dimmesdale delivers his final sermon, rips open his shirt, and reveals the letter “A” engraved into his chest, thus confessing his sin of adultery and crushing the dream he and Hester had of escaping to a new life in Europe. Chillingworth is watching this same scene and hiding in the shadows, plotting his revenge. The reader sees Dimmesdale connected to Hester and Pearl their first time together as a family. The scaffold serves as stage for many of the novel’s key moments: it is the scene of Hester’s punishment, where she stands alone holding baby Pearl, enduring the town’s shame. When Hester walks out of the prison door to her punishment on the scaffold, the rosebush reflects her beauty in a sea of gray, her uniqueness in a town of judgment and frowns. The rosebush is the one, beautiful piece of nature that blossoms against the gray of the prison in the center of town. Her only connection to the town is through her seamstress work. They are mocked by children, avoided by adults, and Hester is often the topic of the weekly sermon at church. They live in a small shack, and they are shunned by the townspeople for many years. Hester and Pearl live in isolation during their time in Boston. When Chillingworth arrives, posing as a doctor, the townspeople believe divine providence has sent him to Boston to help their dear Reverend overcome his illness. His internal struggles become external problems, and even the townspeople notice.
THE SCARLET LETTER SCAFFOLD DRAWING FULL
Hester’s sin follows her for the rest of her life, and she begins to fear that the sin of passion she shares with Dimmesdale has been embodied in her daughter Pearl, who is full of passion and light, very much unlike the standards of Puritan Boston.ĭimmesdale is haunted by his guilt from not coming forward as Pearl’s father for seven years.
The sin of adultery, even though her husband is thought to have been lost at sea, is not something that can be discussed or argued about in 17th-century Boston. The novel centers around the sin of Hester Prynne in her Puritan society.