Dimmesdale's Place On The Scaffold In The Scarlet Letter By Nathaniel Hawthorne

In The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne, there are three different scenes that take place on the scaffold. The opening of the book, the middle, and the very end of the book all involve the scaffold at one point. Each scene is a very important part of the story, and each scene represents Arthur Dimmesdale’s continued descent into madness as his guilt consumes him. At first, Dimmesdale is standing over the scaffold, giving orders and feeling proud and powerful. Later however, Dimmesdale is feeling completely worthless, standing on the scaffold alone, wallowing in his own guilt and feeling weak and powerless. In the end, Dimmesdale takes his final breath on the scaffold, but not before he forgives himself, and regains the sense of pride that he once had. The first scene that Hester appears in depicts her standing at the scaffold, recieving her punishment for the sin of adultery that she committed. Hester is to stand at the scaffold for three hours, while the townspeople berate and …show more content…
He wanders to the scaffold alone, in the middle of the night in an attempt to perform a private vigil for himself, as he is becoming completely consumed by guilt. Completely opposite the first scaffold scene, Dimmesdale now feels powerless and horrified: “And thus, while standing on the scaffold, in this vain show of expiation, Mr. Dimmesdale was overcome with a great horror of mind, as if the universe were gazing at a scarlet token on his naked breast, right over his heart.” (Pg 223) Dimmesdale is horrified with what he has done, and he goes to the scaffold as he desires to understand what Hester felt like while she was reprimanded, because he feels as if he deserves the same punishment. This scene depicts Dimmesdale completely broken down, overcome by remorse for what he has done. All he wants is to be forgiven for his sins, because as of no, he has no feeling of self-worth