The scaffold scenes are one of the most dramatic structuring devices in The Scarlet Letter. They provide a framework for the entire novel and help highlight the most important themes. Notice that the novel contains 24 chapters. The first scaffold scene is contained in chapters 1-3. The second scaffold scene happens exactly in the book's middle, at chapter 12. Chapter 23 contains the last. All of the book's main characters are present in each of these scenes, as is the novel's primary symbol, the scarlet letter.
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. Presented in all of its beauty, the scarlet letter symbolizes her artistry and imagination, showing her in contrast to her more conventional lover. From the sidelines, Chillingworth, Hester's husband, learns of his wife's transgression. An evil impulse almost immediately grows within his heart, as shown by the imagery of the "writhing," snake-like horror that moves from his face into the "depths of his nature."
