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Three Scaffold scenes - Progression of Dimmesdale In The Scarlet Letter, Nathaniel Hawthorne portrays Arthur Dimmesdale as a troubled individual. In him lies the central conflict of the book. Dimmesdale's soul is torn between two opposing forces: his heart, his love for freedom and his passion for Hester Prynne, and his head, his knowledge of Puritanism and its denial of fleshly love. He has committed the sin of adultery but cannot seek divine forgiveness, believing as the Puritans did that sinners received no grace. His dilemma, his struggle to cope with sin, manifests itself in the three scaffold scenes depicted in The Scarlet Letter. These scenes form a progression through which Dimmesdale at first denies, then accepts reluctantly, and finally conquers his sin. During Hester Prynne's three-hour ignominy, Dimmesdale openly denies his sin. Hawthorne introduces Dimmesdale as "a being who felt himself quite astray and at a loss in the pathway of human existence" (64). The author made it obvious that a grim secret lies hidden in the depths of Dimmesdale's soul. This secret, however, does not reveal itself immediately, since Dimmesdale hides it from the closely watching town. In addition, he magnifies his own denial of his sin when he charges Hester to "speak out the name of thy fellow-sinner and fellow-sufferer"(65).
Approximate Word count = 792
Approximate Pages = 3.2
(250 words per page double spaced)
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