How Does Hester Prynne Use Punishment In The Scarlet Letter

“One word can aptly describe the punishment imposed on perpetrators in the first half of that century — cruel” (Curland). Crime and punishment in the 1800s was very severe and often was amusing to the public. Some techniques of punishment included branding, whipping, and ear nailing. The English-American colonies used a patriarchal method to their punishment. The men, typically civil officers, or religious leaders, made the laws. The less fortunate, including children, servants, slaves, soldiers, farmers, and tradesmen had to obey the harsh rules put in place. On Sundays, Virginian ministers had to read the Articles, Lawes and Orders. Failure to go to church two times each day would result in the loss of a day’s worth of food. The second

Although there were different extents to the punishment, there were penalties nonetheless. As for the Puritans reprimanding there people, it was to an unspeakable note. Not only was the individual often times physically hurt, but emotionally and mentally embarrassed, often times in public on a scaffold. In the case of Hester, Hawthorne makes the reader feel for her immensely. At the same time though, Hawthorne presents that her mistake will cost her the rest of her life in Boston. Hester will have to live with the remembrance of cheating on Chillingworth with Dimmesdale. The letter “A” is a constant recap of the slipup. Hawthorne says “the separation of the intellect from the heart is a truly unpardonable sin.” Christian’s today are disgusted by the act of adultery, but they still accept the person in society. There is no old fashion shunning going on after a person is found with adultery, but the Christian’s still make it clear that committing adultery is blasphemy in two parts. The Christians that the first sacrilege committed when with adultery is breaking the covenant of the couple made with God. The other is taking your own thoughtless needs above

Hawthorne’s message about obtaining salvation through the means of being open and true to yourself, is shaped by the contrasts of consequences the characters Hester Prynne, who publicly acknowledges her sin, and Arthur Dimmesdale, who hides his sin, face. In Hester’s case, she was publicly shamed for her sin from the beginning and was forced to wear the symbol of her sin, the scarlet letter “A” representing adultery, to isolate her from the rest of society. She had the opportunity to leave the town and begin a new life free from the scarlet letter, but she decides to stay as, if she were to run away or remove the scarlet letter, she would be admitting to the shame of her sins. Her staying, shows she wants to change the scarlet letter to not represent her sin, but her as a character.

English Protestants created a large group of people in the 16th and 17th centuries called the Puritans. These people advocated strict religious discipline along with a strong beliefs and worshipping. The Scarlet Letter reflected on Puritan Society in several ways, from religion to discipline and punishment. Religion seemed to control everyone, the reverend was the person that everyone looked up to, and the community, as a whole, believed in fate and destiny. Puritan relationships were very restricted, therefore making adultery a terrible sin in the eyes of the community. In the 17th century, Boston was extremely strict and the laws were strongly enforced, making Hester’s sin a great

(Hawthorne 116). Due to the elegance of her “A”, many onlookers believe that she is mocking her punishment. They say, “What is it but to laugh in the faces of our godly magistrates, and make a pride out of what they, worthy gentlemen, meant for a punishment?” (56).

During the early colonial era, punishments were often determined by the crime, as well a fine to the court. Many of these crimes were merely "complaints" such as "singing and fiddling at midnight" and were merely punished with a fine to both the court, and to the people affected (Document 4-3, Pg. 4). Punishments are determined by what the crime was, the severity, the offender's race, religion, and the number of times that this person as committed any crime. Punishments often reflected the crime, for example, a man convicted of beating an individual would be sentenced to being whipped, and a man convicted of theft would have to pay large fines to the court as well as to the person that they stole from. Overall, the methods of punishment and

Many years ago a woman named Hester Prynne was sent by her husband to move to Boston while he settled his affairs. After two years of waiting for him to arrive she lost hope and did something that she would regret for a long time after. As a result of what she did the people of Boston ridiculed and mocked Hester Prynne, but soon came to change their minds about her since she turned out to be a genuine, Godly woman who did not seem to deserve any punishment at all.

Hester Prynne’s sin was adultery. This sin was regarded very seriously by the Puritans, and was often punished by death. Hester’s punishment was to endure a public shaming on a scaffold for three hours and wear a scarlet letter "A" on her chest for the rest of her life in the town. Although Hawthorne does not pardon Hester’s sin, he considers it

Punishments for these crimes also got people into really nasty binds. Murder of a political figure got you publicly drawn and quartered. This got people a nasty, torturas death (“Crime and Punishment in the Elizabethan Era.” Eyewitness). Treason got a nasty lashing and a banishment.

In the book the Scarlet Letter, Hester committed adultery while she was married, she lived in a puritan society. It was common that the punishment for committing this act is execution. “Here, she said to herself, had been the scene of her guilt, and here should be the scene of her earthly punishment; and so, perchance, the torture of her daily shame would at length purge her soul, and work out another purity than that which she had lost; more saint-like, because the result of martyrdom.” (5.3) Instead of being executed, Hester had to wear the scarlet

Every common crime in Elizabethan England had a punishment that was specific to the crime.The most common crimes were theft,cut purses,begging,poaching,adultery,debtors,forgers,fraud,and dice coggers.Begging for money was considered a minor crime and the consequence for it was being hanged.If you committed a capital offense you would be quartered, which is when they were hung and then cut into four pieces.The most common crimes were high treason, alchemy, sedition, witchcraft, spying, rebellion, blasphemy, and murder.The punishment that you got from committing the crime you did was very affected by what class you were in.The upper class did not get punished as much as the peasants did.For example an upper class person would not get caught begging for money how a peasant would because they are not in need of money how a

To try to prevent crime from occurring some believed that making the punishments severe would slow the growth of crime. The punishments you would receive, varied on how bad the crime was that you committed. If you were accused for adultery or manslaughter, you were more than likely punished with a whipping or branding. When punished with a whipping the number of hits usually varied between 10 to 30. When committing adultery, you usually were required 30 hits with the whip and a hot iron brand to the forehead. You were also made to wear something around your neck showing the crime you committed. These punishments were usually for men, women were normally sent to workhouses. Hanging was also a big punishment in the 1800s. Hangings were found to be entertainment and multiple people received a job during a hanging. (Source 2, Page 101) When hanging got out of hand, they began to send the criminals to other colonies to serve their sentences. They found that it was much cheaper than holding them in the English prisons where they were overcrowded and the traveling had to be paid for. The 1800s is known to be the worst of crime because of the increase of population and the issues with wealth. Escapes were very common because the jails were overflowing and it was too much for the people to keep up with. Not only were adults at risk but children of any age were too because society was so bad. As time moved along some of the

During the Elizabethan Era, crime and punishment was a brutal source of punishments towards criminals. The term “crime and punishment” was a series of punishments and penalties the government gave towards the people who broke the laws. In William Harrison’s article “Crime and Punishment in Elizabethan England”, says that “the concept of incarcerating a person as punishment for a crime was a relatively novel at the time” (1). This seemed reasonable at the time, because back then they didn’t sentence life in prison to criminals, so the only way for the government to issue out punishments for criminals was abuse, or murder. During the renaissance, the most common punishable crimes were “theft, cut purses, begging, poaching, adultery, debtors,

Tennessee Williams wrote a play called The Glass Menagerie (rpt. in Greg Johnson and Thomas R. Arp, Perrine’s Literature: Structure, Sound, and Sense, 12th ed. [Boston: Wadsworth, 2015] 1136-1185) that is a very interesting and enjoyable. I would enjoy seeing this play in real life. The Glass Menagerie is about Tom Wingfield remembering his mom, Amanda, and his sister, Laura. They lived in an apartment that was in an ally. There is multiple items that is seen in this play that means something to the characters. Another word for them is symbols. Symbol is The Glass Menagerie are the glass menagerie, a unicorn in the glass menagerie, Blue roses and the fire escape that is attached to the apartment.

Hester Prynne, a character within The Scarlet Letter, is a prime example of Hawthorne's common transformation of individuals within his books. These mutations involve the qualities and attributes of her physical appearance, feminine emotions, and reputation among the townspeople. Throughout the novel, the mentioned elements of Hester's character develop and change several times, providing the reader with better understanding of the influence that the scarlet letter and other characters have on her.