Scarlett Letter

A detailed Summary of Scarlett Letter

In the novel, The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne, the three scaffold scenes provide the novel with basic structure and perfect balance. The scaffold scenes unite the plot and the four main characters together. Also, each scene atop the scaffold symbolizes a major turning point in the novel, where sin is either confessed and/or developed.

The first scaffold scene is where the reader meets all of the significant characters; Hester Prynne, Pearl, Rev. Dimmesdale, and Mr. Chillingworth. In this important scene, the novel focuses on Hester's newly found scarlet letter that she got from committing adultery and not telling who her partner in sin was. It is in the first scene that Hester confesses her sin and for the first time displays her scarlet letter to the townspeople. From this point on the whole community shuns her and looks down upon her, as she is a sinner.

Before Hester climbs the scaffold she feels weak and grim, due to her stay in the town prison, yet once upon it, she proves her strength by displaying her beautifully embroidered "A" to the townspeople for judging. Also up to this point in the novel Hester's child, Pearl, is just an innocent baby, free of sin. However

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It is also in this scene that a letter "A" flashes in the sky that seems to symbolize the scarlet letter "A". This makes Dimmesdale feel the pain to an even greater extent and he is hurt by it. In contrast to what Dimmesdale thought though, he is told the next day that the "A" that flashed in the sky stood for Angel and not Adultery. This, however, only makes Dimmesdale feel worse, and since no one heard his confession, he knows that he must climb the scaffold yet again and confess.

Before climbing the scaffold, Chillingworth tries to stop Dimmesdale from putting shame on himself and climbing the scaffold; however, this is the only place that Dimmesdale can escape Chillingworth's constant harassment. Up until this point, God, Satan, and the angels know of Dimmesdale's sin, but not the townspeople. After telling the townspeople he cannot live any longer, and the Reverend, the father, the lover and the mentor, pass away with a clean soul because he confesses his sins. With the death of Dimmesdale, Chillingworth too has no more to live for as he has no ones life to make miserable, so he, too, dies.

after Hester's display she now lives on as a symbol of love, a product of her parents sin.

Reverend Dimmesdale is also present at this scene. He is there to interrogate Hester as to who the father of he

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Approximate Word count = 934
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: Miscellaneous

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Scarlett Letter

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