The conflicts of the characters in The Scarlet
Letter are resolved, ironically, on the scaffold, a setting
which foreshadowed conflict in Chapter I. Yet, there are two scenes in which the
scaffold appears after the initial scaffold scene, so interpretations of the resolutions
of the characters' conflicts differ.
In Chapter XII, The
Reverend Dimmesdale goes out at night and steps onto the scaffold, driven "hither by the
impulse of that Remorse which dogged him everywhere." While he stands on this scaffold,
Hester and Pearl pass by; he calls to them--"we will stand all three together!"--and has
them join hands with him there. As they do so,
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there came what seemed a tumultuous rush of new
life, other life than his own, pouring like a torrent into his heart, and hurrying
through all his veins, s if the mother and the child were communicating their vital
warmth to his half torpid system. The three formed an electric
chain.
Arthur Dimmesdale
acknowledges the link among them and admits to his sin, resolving his conflicting
emotions. He promises Pearl that he will stand again with them at Judgment Day. His
earlier shriek demonstrates further Dimmesdale's urge to expose himself. Chillingworth
appears in this scene, as well.
However, a more complete
resolution of the conflicts of the characters, especially that of Dimmesdale vs.
Chillingworth, comes in the scaffold scene on Election Day in Chapter XXIII. In this
chapter, the fates of the characters are sealed. Arthur Dimmesdale mounts the scaffold
in daylight this time. Roger Chillingworth pleads with Dimmesdale not to mount the
scaffold and admit his guilt because he knows if Dimmesdale does admit his sin, he will
no longer have any hold upon the minister. Nevertheless, Dimmesdale confesses that he is
a sinner, tears open his shirt, and reveals a letter A upon his chest; Hester and Pearl
stand beside him as family, Pearl kisses her father and "a spell was broken" as she
becomes more human, less sprite-like since her passion has been subdued with
Dimmesdale's confession. Chillingworth, with a "blank countenance out of which the life
seemed to have departed," cries, "Thou hast escaped me!" Now, he has no purpose, and
shortly thereafter, he dies.
With the acknowledgement of
all the main characters' sins, the conflicts are resolved. Hester and Pearl depart for
Europe, but after some time, Hester returns to Boston and resumes wearing the scarlet
letter as it has become too much her identity. Still, it ceases to be a stigma and
becomes, instead, something "to be sorrowed over." Hester dies and is buried at a space
from an old grave made after Election Day. She is, at last, united with her
love.
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