When Hester throws down her scarlet letter, the transfiguration that was foreshadowed occurs, and Hester's beauty returns.

To be
sure,had never really lost her beauty; it was simply that she was forced to obscure it after her
public branding as an adulteress. However, in the woods, far away from the prying eyes of the
Puritan townsfolk, she can revel in her beauty in a way that would be unthinkable in the town.
Here at least she can be free, free to be herself in all her glory.

What this
episode illustrates is the sharp distinction between nature and civilization. Hester, no less
than , is a child of nature, a free spirit who cannot be contained by society and all its
customs, rules, and conventions. Throwing off the scarlet letter symbolizes Hester's rejection
of that society and the reestablishing of a connection with her true self.