Forest and Scaffold

The forest is where Dimmesdale and Hester can shed their pretences. It is a place Puritans believe is full of witchery but it's actually the opposite. The forest is a place of freedom where the truth comes out, it is where Hester and Dimmesdale bear their souls and heal themselves. The Scaffold ends up being a public confessional. It is the place where secrets once kept are finally shed and the truth is finally revealed and guilt is purged.