The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne expresses the aspects of
relationships, religion, community, discipline and punishment in the puritan
community of 17th century Boston. Relationships between men and women were very
constrained and that is what made adultery such a bad sin in the eyes of
everyone in the community. Religion seemed to govern over all, people would look
up to reverends and the community believed that fate was their destiny. Public
discipline and punishment were used to discourage everyone else from committing
the same crime or sin as the offending criminal did. The community was to follow
the beliefs of god and to do their duties the best they could, yet were there to
criticize and punish all who disobeyed the religion or laws. In 17th century
Boston every thing was very strict and everyone was expected to follow the laws,
which makes Hester's sin such an excellent example of the beliefs of that time
period. The first scaffold scene is very important because the scene sums up the
beliefs of the general public at that time, and gives a prospective of what
Hester Prynne must deal with. In the beginning of chapter two the scene is
described as it could have betokened nothing short of the anticipated execution
of some noted culprit,
(47) showing that the whole town was there for a ruthless public punishment.
The crowd was not there for an execution though, but there for a public
punishment of Hester Prynne who had committed adultery. A townsman describes
Hester's punishment to a stranger as, they have doomed Mistress Prynne to stand
only a space of three hours on the platform of the pillory, and then thereafter,
for the remainder of her natural life, to wear a mark of shame upon her
bosom.(58) This scene shows the weight of values and morals upon society in the
17th century and how public punishment was not only used as punishment but as a
way to discourage others from committing the same crime. The community was key
in this punishment because it helped alienate Hester and further her pain. The
punishment brings forth Hester's underlying pain, [Hester] sent forth a cry she
turned her eyes downward at the scarlet letter, and even touched it with her
finger, to assure herself that the infant and the shame were real.(55) This pain
only breaks surface once, yet throughout the whole story Hester must deal with
the shame and emotional pain of the scarlet letter. The stranger sums it up best
with the quotation, Thus she will be a living sermon against sin, until the
ignominious letter be engraved upon her tombstone. Since religion was such a key
part of their lives, anyone who did disobey their god was looked down upon. What
made religion ironic in this story was how everyone looked up to a reverend that
had committed the same sin as someone they looked down upon severely. Dimmesdale
says, before the judgment-seat, thy mother, and thou, and I, must stand
together! But daylight of this world shall not see our meeting!(134) The
reverend knows his sin and wants be punished with Hester and Pearl, yet not
until what he calls judgement day.
