The second scaffold scene again provides a view of all the principal characters, a dramatic vision of the scarlet A, and one of the most memorable tableaus in American literature. In the covering of darkness, Dimmesdale has made his way to the scaffold to perform a silent vigil of his own. So far we have seen Dimmesdale’s conscious attempt to deal with his guilt, but now we go deep into his subconscious. In his spiritual torture, he cries out with a shriek of agony that is heard by Hester and Pearl as they journey to their home from the bed of the dying Governor Winthrop. This cry is also heard by Mr. Wilson.
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. He replies that their meeting will be instead at the great judgement day rather than here in the daylight. As though to taunt him, a great meteor burns through the dark sky, illuminating the scaffold, the street, and the houses. Hawthorne describes the scene as “an electric chain,” the minister and his lover holding hands with their child between them. Also illuminated in the darkness is the fiendish face of Roger Chillingworth. This time, although the townspeople are not present, they talk about the scarlet A in the sky throughout the next day.
The chapter abounds in symbols: the scaffold itself; Dimmesdale’s standing on it; the three potential observers representing Church, State, and the World of Evil; the “electric chain” of Hester, Pearl, and Dimmesdale; Pearl’s appeal to Dimmesdale to stand with them; the revealing light from the heavens; and the variation on the letter A.
