The Scarlet Letter

In Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter, the author uses three scaffold scenes to identify the development of Hester Prynne. The story takes place in the 1600s in a small Puritan village in Boston. Hester on the scaffold is a symbol of her forced isolation; for her rejection from society; and for the uselessness of her punishment. In the first scene, Hawthorne uses the scaffold to explain how Hester cannot believe that the "A" and the baby are real. In the second scaffold scene, Hawthorne tries to show that Hester has fully asked forgiveness for her sin, though this is not true. In the final scaffold scene, Hester does not yet fully ask forgiveness for her sin because her love for Dimmesdale is still strong. …