1. The Scaffold Essay
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In The Scarlet Letter, the scaffold, as a symbol of shame and the punishment of sin, plays a significant role throughout the story. The three scaffold scenes not only are important moments in the development of the plot, but also give unity to the structure of the novel.
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The first scaffold scene, which occurs in chapters two through three, discloses a large amount of information concerning the main characters and the sin that bonds their fates together. Hester Prynne, who is sentenced to endure three hours of public humiliation on the scaffold, is the infamous adulteress. She holds her sin-borne baby, Pearl, in her arms and wears the mark of her ignominious status, a scarlet letter A on her breast. While Hester stands on the scaffold with outward calmness and defiance, her husband stands on the outer edge of the crowd and gazes upon her shame in subdued rage. The scene gathers tension when Hester is demanded to reveal the name of the baby's father. Although her very partner in crime, Reverend Dimmesdale, is standing right in front of her and pleading her to speak, Hester remains silent. An extension of the scene gives the interview between her and her husband, Roger Chillingworth, in which he vows revenge on the unnamed father. Thus, the first scaffold scene, as the inciting moment, gives much background information, and sets into motion several conflicts central to the story (34-52).
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It has been seven years since the beginning of the story. Hester has settled with her daughter, Pearl, in the outskirts of Boston and made a living off needleworks. Although the townspeople no longer hold Hester in strong contempt, she is still an outcast (53-60). In contrast, Arthur Dimmesdale has gained the love of the congregation for his empathetic sermons, and Roger Chillingworth, having taken a keen interest in the young pastor, has become both his parishioner and physician (82-6). The second scaffold scene takes place as Dimmesdale makes a midnight walk to the scaffold in hopes of alleviating his guilty conscience through a symbolic punishment. Hester and Pearl also join the scene; Pearl, unsatisfied that he will not acknowledge her openly, mocks him for his cowardice. As the three stand on the scaffold together as they should have seven years before, a meteor, in the likeness of a great scarlet letter A, appears in the sky. Terrified by this sign and the image of Chillingworth's face, Dimmesdale confesses his fear for the physician. Hester, however, does not reveal Chillingworth's identity. The scene culminates when Chillingworth comes and leads Dimmesdale back to his lodging (101-9). The second scaffold scene gives the reader a glimpse into Dimmesdale's chaotic mind, which is, under the burden of his concealed sin and Chillingworth's incessant prying, nigh on the brink of collapse. Also, Dimmesdale's emaciated state actuates Hester to rescue him from Chillingworth's scheme (114-5). Thus, the story, gathering yet more momentum, prepares for the resolution.
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The third, and the last scaffold scene occurs in chapter twenty-three. Several days before, Hester and Dimmesdale rendezvoused in the forest and decided to flee to Europe by ship after the Election Day(136-8). However, after he delivers the sermon of his life, Dimmesdale's conscience finally overcomes his hypocrisy. He repels Chillingworth's intervention, and mounts the scaffold with Hester's help. Supported by a completely dumbfounded Hester and holding Pearl in his hand, Dimmesdale confesses with his last breath the sin that has weighed so heavily on his soul for the past seven years. Thus, he finally gains Pearl's acceptance and breaks free from evil clutch of Chillingworth (169-76). In this final scaffold scene, all the main characters are again gathered for the final moment of confrontation and suspense. The last scaffold scene gives resolution to the previous conflicts in the story and forcefully re-emphasizes the novel's moral, the pernicious effects of unconfessed sin, bringing the story to a bittersweet end.
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Throughout the story, each of the three scaffold scenes serves as a platform that gathers all the main characters for an evaluation of their minds, the effect of their sins on them, and the changes they have experienced. Meanwhile, the interactions between the characters create suspense and steer the story onward along its course. These scaffold scenes contribute a great deal of information and are undoubtedly integral to the unity of the story.

2a. Hester and her Sin
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The conflicts between Hester Prynne, Arthur Dimmesdale, and Roger Chillingworth constitute the major portion of The Scarlet Letter. Each character demonstrates unique qualities and, as each battles against sin, undergoes considerable change throughout the course of the story.
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The central female character, Hester Prynne, makes her first appearance in chapter two. As she emerges from the prison doors, she is portrayed as a tall, beautiful, and elegant young woman with dark, lustrous hair, a striking epitome of womanhood. Under her feminine look, however, is a intractable spirit. She dons a “peculiarly picturesque” dress in challenge to the Puritan standards of modesty and embroiders her scarlet letter, the token of her shame, in bold fancy. The same attitude of defiance shows as Hester stands on the scaffold as the object of public condemnation. While she experiences shame and turmoil in her mind, she conceals her internal conflict under an imperturbable facade of dignified calmness. Moreover, although the church leaders attempt to exact from her the name of the father, she sternly refuses to speak (34-47).
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Hester’s identity as the adulteress imposes a withering effect on both her body and her mind. The scorching letter on her breast checks her impulsiveness and passion and suppresses any sprout of tenderness and warmth (save that for Pearl) that burgeons in her heart. Seven years since the humiliation on the scaffold, Hester, dressed in drab garments and with her hair covered, loses all traces of feminine charms (57, 112). She is a victim of the Puritan regulations, but one whose spirit is not bound to subjugation. During the seven years of isolation, Hester demonstrates great strength, honesty, compassion, and independence. She perseveres in the face of stress and antagonism and almost never tries to conceal her sin. Making a modest living from her needleworks, Hester gives generously to the poor and soon becomes a benefactor among the townspeople (57-58, 110-11).
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A dramatic change takes place on Hester during her meeting with Dimmesdale in the forest. Thrilled by the possibility of escaping the suffocating shame and starting a family with the one she loves, Hester casts off her letter and bonnet and regains her femininity at once. This transformation, however, is brief. As soon as Hester puts on her token of shame at Pearl's demand, her beauty withers into cold, lifeless stillness under the heavy burden of sin (139-45).
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After Dimmesdale's death, Hester leaves for Europe with Pearl, but comes back to Boston years later. She takes up the scarlet letter again and leads the quiet life of a counselor until the end of her days (176-80).

2b. Dimmesdale
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Arthur Dimmesdale, the lover of Hester and the father of Pearl, is first introduced in chapter three when he urges Hester to speak at the bidding of Mr. Wilson. He is a pale young man of great sensitivity, easily startled, with lofty brows, melancholy eyes, and tremulous lips. A well-educated and competent Puritan pastor, he is exalted among his congregation for his near-angelic innocence (46-8).
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Ever since his affair with Hester, Dimmesdale has lived in heart-rending conflict. On the outside, he retains his impeccable reputation as a God-fearing clergyman with a promising future. On the inside, however, his sin and hypocrisy gnaw on his conscience so relentlessly, that Dimmesdale habitually places his hand over his heart, whereupon a scarlet letter is carved. Every time he attempts to confess, his fears hold him back from speaking the whole truth in plain terms. Ironically enough, Dimmesdale's congregation comes to revere him more for his seeming humility, and his struggles with sins grant him empathy, which allows him to continually ascend in his career. Hoping to repent for his sin, Dimmesdale resorts to fasting and flagellation. Such punishments of the flesh, however, cannot remedy the malady of the soul. Under the heavy weight of his sin and Chillingworth's subtle badgering, Dimmesdale gradually becomes emaciated, and his nerves are weakened to the point of hallucination (95-100).
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At their rendezvous in the forest, Dimmesdale agrees to elope with Hester. This unexpected chance of starting anew is so enticing to Dimmesdale, that he temporarily overlooks its evil. Having fallen into temptation again, moments after, Dimmesdale notices that his guard against other evils is severely weakened and starts to contemplate the rightfulness of his action (148-152). On the Election Day, after delivering the most powerful sermon in his life, Dimmesdale eventually gives in to the voice of conscience. He rebuts Chillingworth's intervention and, standing upon the scaffold with Hester and Pearl, confesses his long-hidden sin to the public. With his final strength, he casts off the clutch of sin and dies true to his faith (169-76).

2c. Chillingworth
Hester's lawful husband comes into the story in chapter three, as a travel-worn man who comes to Boston to be redeemed from Indian captivity (42-3). Although he is outraged by the shame Hester has brought upon herself, he is reasonable enough to acknowledge his own fault in the tragedy. However, he refuses to let their marital ties to be known and takes up the alias of Roger Chillingworth, vowing to revenge himself on Hester's lover (50-53).
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Roger Chillingworth bears the appearance of an elderly scholar: thin, pale, with one shoulder slightly higher than the other. Despite his physical deformity, Chillingworth is a intellectually gifted man with strong powers of reason; his gaze, keen and penetrative, is able to pierce through the outward disguises and detect signs that are useful to himself (41-2). Chillingworth soon takes a special interest in Dimmesdale and becomes both his physician and parishioner. To discover Dimmesdale's secret, Chillingworth moves in with him and begins the quest of searching into the young man's heart. Chillingworth conducts this undertaking with the attitude of a mad scientist: he is methodical and painstaking in his approach, probing and analyzing with cold-blooded, disinterested use of reason, until he discovers that Dimmesdale is indeed the unnamed lover of Hester (88-95).
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Before this point in the story, Chillingworth has led the honorable life of an intellectual. Although he lacks warmth and passion, he is nevertheless a selfless man, “kind, true, just”, and steadfast (116). However, Chillingworth's sin, his obsession with seeking revenge on Dimmesdale, destroys the goodness within himself and turns him into a fiend. His mental perversion is also manifested in his body, as Hester observes that he has grown “duskier and more misshapen” and that his former calmness is replaced with an air of frenzied eagerness, bent on Dimmesdale's destruction (77, 114). In fact, Chillingworth eventually becomes so consumed with his hatred for the pastor, that after Dimmesdale death, he, too, withers and passes away within a year's time, but bequeathes a great part of his possessions to Pearl (178).
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Throughout the course of the story, each one of the three characters has committed some sin and is affected by their sin both physically and mentally, and each one of them faces conflicts both with others and within himself or herself. These characters not only contribute to the plot of the story, but also help to illustrate the moral and the views that the author wishes to convey.