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
came to a sort of scaffold (51),” Hawthorne tells in the opening seen of the novel, The Scarlet Letter. The scaffold is a place for punishment. “This scaffold constituted a portion of a penal machine, which now, for two or three generations past, has been merely historical and traditionary among us, but was held, in the old time, to be as effectual an agent in the promotion of good citizenship, as ever was the guillotine,” Hawthorne states in explaining the scaffolds use. The scaffold had wooden steps
The Signigicance of the Scaffold Scenes in the Scarlet Letter 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. In the first scaffold scene Hester Prynne is depicted standing alone while clutching her baby. She has
is the scaffold. During this period in time, the scaffold was used for public humiliation. Those who had committed either a crime or a sin were forced to stand upon it in front of everybody in the town, as a form of confession or public recognition of one’s sin. In The Scarlet Letter, the scaffold not only represents the act of confessing but it also can be seen as a symbol of the stern, inflexible doctrine of the Puritan faith. The Scarlet Letter is centered on the three scaffold scenes, which unite
ANALYSIS OF PLOT STRUCTURE The Scarlet Letter is a unified, masterfully written novel. It is structured around three crucial scaffold scenes and three major characters that are all related. The story is about Hester Prynne, who is given a scarlet letter to wear as a symbol of her adultery. Her life is closely tied to two men, Roger Chillingworth, her husband, and Arthur Dimmesdale, her minister and the father of her child. Her husband is an old, misshapen man who Hester married while still in Europe
Hawthorne, had many various turning points. The most interesting to me were the ³scaffold scenes.² Each had its own exciting moments. It kept the story moving. Nathaniel Hawthorne uses the ³scenes² as major turning points. In chronological order, the first ³scaffold scene² was what started the novel. The book opened right where Hester and Pearl were on the scaffold. In this scene, Hester and her baby are standing on the scaffold in front of the entire village. Everyone one is staring and whispering. She
be identified. Roger Chillingworth was seeking revenge because of Hester’s crime. These three characters all took part on the three pivotal scaffold scenes. Hawthorne unifies his novel with three pivotal scaffold scenes to show how each of these major characters grow and develop. In the first scaffold scene, during midday, Hester is standing on the scaffold, Dimmesdale is nearby sharing the platform, and Chillingworth is in the crowd. Hester is holding her baby in her arms quietly. “She was ladylike
into characters and promote his views on society. The scaffold scenes in The Scarlet Letter tell the reader exactly what is to come, and the presence of light in those scenes gives the reader insight into the characters. The scaffold scenes establish a pattern of what is to come in the novel through a common tie prevalent in the three different scaffold scenes. The tie is that of creation and release. In the first scaffold scene, Hester releases not only her guilt about her crime,
the black man, and the scaffold are three metaphors. Perhaps the most important metaphor would be the scaffold, which plays a great role throughout the entire story. The three scaffold scenes which Hawthorne incorporated into The Scarlet Letter contain a great deal of significance and importance the plot. Each scene brings a different aspect of the main characters, the crowd or more minor characters, and what truth or punishment is being brought forth. The first scaffold scene takes place at the very
Justice at the Scaffold in The Scarlet Letter Richard Harter Fogle acknowledges the aspect of the superhuman as "the sphere of absolute insight, justice, and mercy: few of Hawthorne's tales and romances can be adequately considered without taking it into account" ("Realms of Being and Dramatic Irony" 309). This superhuman aspect surfaces through Divine Justice in The Scarlet Letter. On the other hand, the merely human application of justice emerges through the Puritan laws, or Earthly Justice
every day. Hester also has to stand on the scaffold, so everyone in the town can recognize that she is an adulteress. There are three scaffold scenes in The Scarlet Letter. The three scaffold scenes state “Much emphasis has been placed upon them, and justly so; to know these scenes well is to have a purchase on a romance which is remarkable for its synthesis of elements” (“Scarlet” 109). Dimmesdale starts to feel worse when Hester stands on the scaffold
English 3 AP, Period 4 9 December 2014 The Scaffolds of Action Throughout The Scarlet Letter, by Nathaniel Hawthorne, there are many important scenes that are being introduced to the reader that highlights the effectiveness of the development of the plot. In addition to that, the author develops these segments to help emphasize the importance of the events that are happening in the novel. He specifically chooses to include the three scaffold, or platform, scenes to show the readers how each symbolizes
be identified. Roger Chillingworth was seeking revenge because of Hester’s crime. These three characters all took part in the three pivotal scaffold scenes. Hawthorne unifies his novel with three pivotal scaffold scenes to show how each of these major characters grow and develop. In the first scaffold scene, during midday, Hester is standing on the scaffold, Dimmesdale is nearby sharing the
The Scaffold of Sin in The Scarlet Letter "This scaffold constituted a portion of a penal machine . . . . The very ideal of ignominy was embodied and made manifest in this contrivance of wood and iron" (Hawthorne 62-63). A scaffold's effect on the novel can be seen through an examination of the first, second, and third scaffold scenes. These sections mark the beginning, middle, and end of the novel. The novel The Scarlet Letter, by Nathaniel Hawthorne, is constructed around
structure for the novel, each scaffold scene conveys something different. One could say, arguably, that nearly everything in The Scarlet Letter is a symbol for something else. In the novel, there are four different versions of the letter “A”. The first is presented at the beginning of the book, where Hester is forced to wear a scarlet letter “A” upon her breast. The second occurrence is during the second scaffold scene, when the pastor Arthur Dimmesdale is on the scaffold with Hester and Pearl, and
A scaffold is a raised platform used as a form of ignominy in a public situation. During The Scarlet Letter, by Nathaniel Hawthorne, there are three scenes that take place on the scaffold. In each scaffold scene the reader learns the four main characters are at each scaffold scene. The four main characters are Hester, Pearl, Dimmesdale, and Chillingworth. Throughout all the scaffold scenes, Nathaniel Hawthorne shows how each character is impacted. The beginning of the novel jumps right into the
which the story takes place. The scaffold is an important setting in the novel The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne. The scaffold scenes are the most dramatic and foreshadowing and help highlight the most important events of the novel. This is evident in the beginning, middle and conclusion of the book. The main characters are present in these scenes and the main symbol, the scarlet letter. In the first scaffold scene, Hester Prynne stands at the scaffold holding her infant daughter pearl
The Scaffold Scenes in Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter In Nathaniel Hawthorne?s The Scarlet Letter, the Puritans constantly look down upon sinners like Hester Prynne, both literally and symbolically. The use of the three scaffold scenes throughout the course of the novel proved to be an effective method in proving this theory and showing how Puritan society differs from that of today?s. In the first scaffold scene, Hester is being led from the prison where she has spent the last
adultery. The hardships endured by these two characters express the difficulty of absolving oneself from sin in 17th-century Puritan New England. Hawthorne cleverly structures the novel around three key scenes involving the four main characters and their local scaffold. These three scaffold scenes are pivotal and “essential to the novel’s structure, to its fusion of form and meaning,” as they suggest three crucial steps in reaching salvation: recognition of wrongdoing, inner repentance, and public
was unable to reveal his dark secret. That leaves Hester. In the beginning she was not only forced to be true to herself and the whole town, but to emotionally and mentally evolve. She had found her identity in the novel the day she stood on that scaffold. If given a choice, Hester would have rather worn the mark of shame than not, because the letter had transformed her into who she is. The blood red letter may not be pretty, but it is immensely better than living a lie. By digging a little deeper