Her character, as we can see, is a blend of both individualism and conformity. She uses it to start a new life for herself. In Puritan society, it is assumed that sinners will be devastated by their public humiliation, but Hester takes the abuse with remarkable dignity. ![]() Her unwillingness to listen to people’s evil gossip allows the author, more than anything else, to incorporate the idea of social conformity versus individualism. Yet again, she holds her head high in an attempt to remain righteous and makes numerous attempts to change people’s view of her. When she reintegrates into her surroundings and begins to wear the scarlet letter, she is heavily criticized and remains in “seclusion from human society” (61). She ignores her humiliation and escapes into her own world in which “she saw again her native village in Old England” (Hawthorne, 42). The surrounding crowd insults her, but she does not seem to be affected by the hateful atmosphere. She has been thrust into the light, both figuratively and literally, and is publicly shamed for her sin. The three scaffold scenes allow the author to reveal the different ways in which Hester, Pearl, and Dimmesdale deal with societal pressures, based on their strength of character and on how these differences allow individuals to develop a distinct future for themselves and go their separate ways.Īt the first scaffold scene, Hester stands alone with her newborn baby. ![]() ![]() The contrast between characters who conform to society and those who do not is used to further the reader’s understanding of their strength and stability. In Hawthorne’s novel The Scarlet Letter, various settings and a consistent structure are present through the three scaffold scenes.
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