Who does Hester see while on the scaffold?
Dimmesdale
Hester and Pearl join Dimmesdale on the scaffold, the place where seven long years earlier “Hester Prynne had lived through her first hours of public ignominy.” Although the crowd is gone, Pearl asks the minister if he will join her and Hester there at noontide.
Who sees Dimmesdale Hester and Pearl on the scaffold?
Roger Chillingworth
Looking up, Dimmesdale seems to see in the sky a dull red light in the shape of an immense letter A. At the same instant, Dimmesdale is aware that Pearl is pointing toward Roger Chillingworth who stands nearby, grimly smiling up at the three people on the scaffold.
What does Hester see in the flashback she has while on the scaffold?
Hester’s flashback from atop the scaffold is credited to her superior memory, which was, as the narrator says, “preternaturally active.” She remembers all kinds of scenes from her childhood: being in school, playing, fighting with other children, and so forth.
What does Hester do when she stands on the scaffold?
The first scaffold or pillory scene occurs right at the beginning of the novel when Hester stands with an infant in her arms on the scaffold in midday. She has committed the unforgivable sin of adultery and must be made a public spectacle.
How did Dimmesdale get the A on his chest?
At this point in the narrative, Chillingworth had been suspecting that something other than physical is gnawing away at the minister. He discovers that Dimmesdale, out of the guilt and sadness he feels from what occurs with Hester, has carved a letter “A” on his chest.
How did Hester feel on the scaffold?
In the first scaffold scene, Hester and Pearl stand alone, publicly humiliated, while Dimmesdale watches from the side, standing with the other leaders of the community. Emotionally and physically, he is separate from her, but she bravely bears her solitary suffering.
Who sees Dimmesdale on the scaffold at night?
One night, Dimmesdale mounts the town scaffold where Hester and Pearl once stood to be shamed. He imagines the scene filled with townspeople. He cries out in anguish, but Mr. Wilson, who was walking by in the distance, doesn’t see Dimmesdale.
What did pearl ask Mr Dimmesdale?
3. What did Pearl ask Mr. Dimmesdale? Pearl asked Dimmesdale if he would stand on the scaffolding, hand in hand, with Hester and her at noontime the next day.
How does Hester embrace the scarlet letter?
Hester’s eventual acceptance of the scarlet letter “She turned her eyes downward at the scarlet letter, and even touched it with her finger, to assure herself that the infant and her shame were real.
How does Hester support herself financially in the scarlet letter?
Hester Prynne, heroine and protagonist of Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter, lives alone with her infant daughter, Pearl , in the Massachusetts Bay Colony. She manages to make a living to support herself and her daughter by sewing and embroidering for others. She is not able to…
How did Dimmesdale punish himself?
Dimmesdale begins to torture himself physically: he scourges himself with a whip, he fasts, and he holds extended vigils, during which he stays awake throughout the night meditating upon his sin. He decides to hold a vigil on the scaffold where, years before, Hester suffered for her sin.
What happened to Pearl at the end of the scarlet letter?
In a rather ironic ending, Pearl, the “elf-child” becomes the most human in the final scaffold scene. Having inherited property from Chillingworth, she has become the “richest heiress of her day, in the New World.” With such riches, she may have married well, but her mother has taken her away to Europe.
How did Hester recognize her husband in the Scarlet Letter?
Looking into the crowd from her place on the scaffold, Hester recognizes her husband, who she has not seen for some two years now, because “one of [his] shoulders rose higher than the other.”. He was believed to have been lost at sea, but it appears that he was shipwrecked and then abducted by natives of the continent.
What happens in Chapter 12 of the Scarlet Letter?
What happened in chapter 12 of the scarlet letter? Dimmesdale mounts the scaffold. The pain in his breast causes him to scream aloud, and he worries that everyone in the town will wake up and come to look at him. Dimmesdale invites them to join him on the scaffold, which they do. In this regard, what does the scaffold symbolize in Chapter 12?
How does Hester feel about Dimmesdale in Chapter 13?
When Chapter 13 starts, Hester is thinking how much Dimmesdale has changed since they first met, and since she was convicted of adultery. He is skittish, weak, and dispassionate now, seven years after Pearl’s birth. He is growing more so each passing day, as his part in the ‘crime’ weighs on him.
Who is Roger Chillingworth in the Scarlet Letter?
She is willing to suffer alone rather than force him to suffer, publicly, with her: a significant sacrifice on her part. Hester recognizes her husband, Roger Chillingworth, who has returned from the Indian settlement for ransom. He recognizes her, but she signals him to be quiet.
