The Scarlet Letter
Nathaniel Hawthorne
Name: _________________________
Honor Pledge:
Second Scaffold Scene Analysis
1. How much time has passed since the first scaffold scene?
2. Over the years, the scaffold has become “black and weather-stained” and “footworn with
the tread of many culprits who had since ascended it.” What does this description tell us
about the frequency of Puritan punishment?
3. Name two characters who appear when Dimmesdale shrieks aloud, “an outcry that
pealing through the night.”
4. Why is Mr. Wilson out at such an hour?
5. How does Wilson respond when Dimmesdale says, “A good evening to you, venerable
Father Wilson! Come up hither, I pray you, and pass a pleasant hour with me!”?
6. After Wilson passes, what fear overcomes Dimmesdale? (Briefly the scenario he
envisions.)
7. Why are Hester and Pearl out at such an hour?
8. What does Pearl repeatedly ask Dimmesdale as she and her mother stand with him on the
scaffold?
9. How does Dimmesdale respond to Pearl’s request?
10. How does Dimmesdale interpret what he sees in the sky?
11. When little Pearl points across the street, Dimmesdale clasps his heart with both hands.
Whom or what does he see?
12. Why does Dimmesdale go home with Chillingworth?
13. Describe Dimmesdale’s sermon following his night on the scaffold.
14. What does the sexton find at the scaffold?
15. How does the sexton interpret what appeared in the sky the night before?
16. Which character in this scene do you think represents
a. Puritan government/ law?
b. The church?
c. Evil?