What positive significance does the forest begin to take on? In Chapter 16.

The forest is not subject to the Puritan rules and hypocrisy. The irony is that the puritans fear the forest but in fact it is a place where Hester, Dimmesdale and even Pearl can confess the truth, be with each other and be honest. The forest is a wild place of honesty compared to the very ordered hypocrisy of the town.