Dimmesdale's Midnight Vigil

Driven by remorse, Dimmesdale goes to the scaffold where Hester was shamed and stands alone in the darkness. He cries out in agony, but no one hears except for a few who mistake it for a witch's cry. Hester and Pearl, returning from a deathbed, join him on the scaffold. They hold hands, forming an electric chain, and Pearl asks Dimmesdale to stand with them in daylight, but he refuses.