In the center of a town, a scaffold sits for sinners to undergo public humiliation, but in the end, it serves as a step towards an Emersonian self-reliance. The ideological view of the old Puritan society was replaced by transcendentalism in America. People such as Emerson and Thoreau changed the views of the public, with words and actions. The scaffold similarly served as a link for the characters in the Scarlet Letter to separate their ideals from the ideological society in which they lived. Though the role of the scaffold was different, some sort of absolution was always the outcome. As the story begins the scaffold is meant to be a punishment for Hester in front of the entire town, but rather this is where Hester changes her position in society. Next Dimmesdale tortures himself physically and mentally but when he steps onto the scaffold, seeking absolution, with Hester and Pearl he realizes that he must confess in public to absolve himself. The final scaffold scene resolves all of the unsettled matters, and Dimmesdale allows his own death and shows that all people have a potential for evil. The scaffold in The Scarlet Letter serves as an important symbol with many different purposes throughout the novel. .
The first scaffold scene occurs in chapter two where Hester has just exited the prison and is escorted to the scaffold, which is in the center of the town. The scaffold is placed in the center of the town and the marketplace in public view so that all can see the person who has sinned. The major role of the scaffold is to humiliate and punish the person who stands on it. This was the Puritan ideology and this is where Hester separates herself from it. From this point Hester is not a part of the community. In this first scaffold scene, the scaffold has done two things: first, it has punished Hester through humiliation, and second it has changed her views and beliefs. .
In Chapter twelve Dimmesdale attempts to absolve himself at night on the scaffold with no one watching.