Social Consequences Of Adultery In Nathaniel Hawthorne's Scarlet Letter

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

Guilt and shame, we all know these emotions, they put your stomach in knots, a burning feeling in your face, and make your hands shake as you shrink deep into yourself. Guilt and shame influence your decisions, perspective, and even your physical state after a prolonged period of time. Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter excellently represents the effect these emotions have on a person. The Scarlet Letter, which is set in 1644 Puritan Boston, dabbles with sin, guilt, and redemption through the characters, Hester Prynne and Arthur Dimmesdale, who commit adultery and face the consequences of their actions from society and themselves. While both Hester and Arthur committed the same crime together they experience different side effects of

In both The Scarlet Letter and Ethan Frome, adultery is portrayed as greatly immoral. For example, in The Scarlet Letter, Pearl is seen as “[a]n imp of evil, emblem and product of sin” (Hawthorne 139) due to the fact that she was born out of the sin of adultery. The Puritans of the Massachusetts Bay Colony see Pearl as permanently tainted as a disgrace because she is a physical representation of Hester’s sin. Additionally, the other women of the town believe that Hester “has brought shame upon [them] all, and

In The Scarlet Letter Hester Prynne committed adultery which led people to shame her. In the 1850’s adultery was a big sin and it wasn’t something done often. As well as in Chicago, Roxie Hart committed adultery during the roaring twenties and she even killed her lover, Fred Casely, because she didn’t get what she wanted from him. Both the novel and film are similar in the way that adultery is the big factor in the stories. Hester and Roxie were the adulterous but both husbands reacted in different ways. Hester and Roxie both committed sins.

In The Scarlet Letter, an adulterer named Hester was shunned by the church and society. This book also has the church as the main group. The main unspoken rule dealt with was adultery. Hester’s husband had sent her ahead to America. She had an affair with a priest and this was just something that you did not do, and it was a logical unspoken rule that was broken, and, therefore, she was unable to really belong in this town for a very long time. The girl was so shunned, they put an “A” on her clothes. This was the epitome of humiliation. At this time, no one would associate with a girl like Hester. There was never a feel of belonging after that “A” was placed on her clothes. Hester’s actual husband who disguised himself as Roger Chillingworth to avoid the humiliation. Dimmesdale was the man she had an affair with, and he was a minister.

The Scarlet Letter is a novel about a Puritan woman who has committed adultery and must pay for her sin by wearing a scarlet “A'; on her bosom. The woman, Hester Prynne, must struggle through everyday life with the guilt of her sin. The novel is also about the suffering that is endured by not admitting to one’s wrongs. Reverend Mister Dimmesdale learns that secrecy only makes the guilt increase. Nathaniel Hawthorne is trying to display how guilt is the everlasting payment for sinful actions. The theme of guilt as reparation for sin in The Scarlet Letter is revealed through Nathaniel Hawthorne’s use of northeastern, colonial settings, various conflicts, and

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

Today adultery “in most states is a misdemeanor” (Source B) this shows that it is not viewed nearly as bad today as it was in colonial Puritan society. Even important public figure such as the director of the C.I.A. just gets pressured to resign. According to the Supreme Court adultery is “When one spouse rejects the other” if even the sup ream court says something then that is the law. This shows that adultery is not viewed as bad inn today’s society as it is in Scarlet letter. When Hester was on the scaffold for the first time in the beginning of the book a few women wanted a far worse punishment for Hester. “We talk of marks and brands, whether on bodice of her gown, or the flesh of her forehead” (Source A)some of these women want to brand the letter A on her forehead instead of making her wear it on her cloths for the rest of her life which is a far worse punishment than wearing it. What would you prefer to wear a letter A on your shirt for the rest of your life or have it branded on your forehead, which sounds a lot more painful than just wearing it? It is not only America that does not follow Puritan history, “the entire rest of the industrialized world, adultery is not covered by the criminal code.” (Source B) this proves that many countries do not follow puritan

It focused on the fact that a person shall not commit adultery, and if they do, they will be punished and shamed by society. Unlike humanistic ethics, where we base our life on morals, the colonies based their life on God. If one would break one of the ten commandments, there would be a punishment. Theological ethics is strongly represented in The Scarlet Letter as Hester Prynne,the main character, was sent to prison based on failure to meet society’s religious expectations. An unmarried women having a child was unacceptable in the eyes of God and had to result in

Adultery was a crime that did not go without punishment. Sins involving sexuality and morality were taken very seriously by the puritans. “It was because so much value was placed on the institution of marriage and the family” (Roth 71). In many instances, if a woman was accused of adultery, the woman was punished by being whipped. It was also common for the woman to be fined. In Plymouth, specifically, the women were whipped and had to wear the letters “AD” on their clothing. Adultery was considered to be a capital crime, which in some situations was punished by death.

Arthur Dimmesdale and Hester Prynne committed the sin of adultery. Hester couldn’t hide this sin because she had Pearl, and she couldn’t get rid of her. Dimmesdale on the other hand was capable of hiding this sin because he wasn’t the one that got pregnant, and Hester wasn’t going to tell everyone what he did. So Dimmesdale hid his sin until the end of the book. The result of this however wasn’t a good one.

From adultery to satanic children The Scarlet Letter has about every horrid possible outcome known to man. With all of the hate, discontent, trouble, toil, and strife someone says that once you go deeper into the readying there are several good thing. So among the hate for Hester and her child, among the doctor who was only keeping the priest alive for his own personal gain, among the priest living a lie for his own sake there is supposed good. I will find some but, I am telling you know that I personally do not agree. I believe that this book it meant to give of what happens when you do something you know is wrong, but I will not justify it for you, no sir, I will not believe most of what I wright.

In Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter, the topic of guilt is a reoccurring. Guilt is portrayed throughout the novel as causing immense amounts suffering. In The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne, symbols throughout the novel examine how guilt is an everlasting punishment.

During the late 1600’s in Boston, it is an ideal thing to follow the Puritan ways of life. If one interferes with a Puritan value, it is common that puritan people will publicly shame one for sinning. In the novel, The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne, Hester Prynne commits adultery in Puritan society. She becomes the town adulteress and is constantly humiliated by her peers. No one has the knowledge of who she commits her sin with. Behind the shadows of all this shaming hides Arthur Dimmesdale, the town minister. Hester and Dimmesdale both commit adultery, yet Hester takes the blame. Throughout the novel, Dimmesdale keeps his secret of sin, causing him to feel great remorse, each scaffold

Nathaniel Hawthorne, the author of The Scarlet Letter, focuses the majority of the book on sin and the effects of sin on the protagonist's daily lives throughout the book. This standard essentially goes with the Puritan ideals with punishment. The main protagonist, Hester Prynne, is the primary target for these harsh effects. Nathaniel Hawthorne uses the novel The Scarlet Letter to appeal to the Puritanical ideals of this era, mainly the idea of sin because of Hester Prynne, Reverend Dimmesdale, and Roger Chillingworth, the other two main protagonists of the novel, and their encounters with the punishments they endured.