Justice on the Scaffold in The Scarlet LetterRichard Harter Fogle recognizes the aspect of the superhuman as "the sphere of absolute insight, justice and mercy : some of Hawthorne's tales and romances may be adequately considered without regard to them” (“Realms of Being and Dramatic Irony” 309). This superhuman aspect surfaces through Divine Justice in The Scarlet Letter. On the other hand, the purely human application of justice emerges through Puritan laws, or earthly justice. The struggle for supremacy in the novel between earthly justice and divine justice becomes a central theme, reflected in multiple aspects of the plot. However, the central point of this struggle manifests itself on the scaffold of Boston, where divine justice materializes and ultimately triumphs over earthly justice. The thematic struggle on the scaffold battlefield unfolds and develops through Hawthorne's three scaffold scenes. Earthly justice dominates the first scene, where the Puritans force the stoic Hester Prynne, wearing the scarlet "A" on her breast, to stand on the scaffold before the sneering and condemning Puritan crowd. Hawthorne explains that “shame…was the essence of this punishment” (41). Furthermore, Ernest Sandeen verifies that a sinner “feels shame before his neighbor and fear before his God” (“The Scarlet Letter as a Love Story” 360), which means that earthly justice induces shame while divine justice creates fear. Therefore, since Hester's punishment reduced her to shame on the scaffold, earthly justice dispensed its punishment, asserting its authority, in this first scaffold scene. Furthermore, Dimmesdale's reluctance in this scene to admit his guilt diminishes the hope of divine justice, which is fo...... middle of paper ...... Divine justice both powerful and merciful who tirelessly watched over them. Works Cited Abel, Darrel. “Hester of Hawthorne.” The scarlet letter. 3rd ed. Ed. Seymour Gross, Sculley Bradley, Richard Croom Beatty and E. Hudson Long. New York: Norton, 1988. 300-308. Feidelson, Charles, Jr. “The People of Boston.” The scarlet letter. 3rd ed. Ed. Seymour Gross, Sculley Bradley, Richard Croom Beatty and E. Hudson Long. New York: Norton, 1988. 371-375. Fogle, Richard Harter. “Kingdoms of Being and Dramatic Irony.” The scarlet letter. 3rd ed. Ed. Seymour Gross, Sculley Bradley, Richard Croom Beatty and E. Hudson Long. New York: Norton, 1988. 308-315. Sandeen, Ernest. “The Scarlet Letter as a love story.” The scarlet letter. 3rd ed. Ed. Seymour Gross, Sculley Bradley, Richard Croom Beatty and E. Hudson Long. New York: Norton, 1988. 350-361.