The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne

People do things they regret, mistakes are a natural human element. In The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne, Hester Prynne lives in a conservative Puritan town in Boston where she’s convicted of adultery. As punishment for her misstep, in addition to single handily raising the child of this affair, Hester is made to wear a scarlet letter A at all times. As she raises this child, Hester grows to accept the letter and even wear it with pride. This book helps to illustrate some clear differences and similarities between how adultery is treated today and was treated in towns like this long ago.

There are many common elements of the treatment of disloyal wives in 19th century Boston and our current culture. One clear example of this is the law’s involvement in the sentencing of Hester Prynne. In The Scarlet Letter, Hester Prynne is punished by the law for her mistake. Hawthorne writes, "The magistrates are God-fearing gentlemen, but merciful overmuch,—that is a truth," added a third autumnal matron. "At the very least, they should have put the brand of a hot iron on Hester Prynne's forehead. Madame Hester would have winced at that, I warrant me. But she,—the naughty baggage,—little will she care what they put upon the bodice of her gown! Why, look you, she may cover it with a brooch, or such like heathenish adornment, and so walk the streets as brave as ever!" This clearly illustrates that the punishment of the scarlet letter was placed on Hester by the law. It references merciful magistrates, that being a civil officer or judge that administers the law. Obviously then, if a civil officer is punishing Hester for her crime, it is treated within her town as a violation of law. This is a link between the punishment of adulterous women today and in the time of the setting in which Hester Prynne resides. According to usatoday.com, 21 states in the U.S. list cheating on your spouse as being punishable by a fine or jail time. Despite being categorized as a misdemeanor crime in most states, some, like Wisconsin and Michigan, categorize adultery as a felony. In Massachusetts, the place in which Hester’s town is set, adultery is punishable with up to three years in jail. Massachusetts today and Massachusetts in the 19th century both see adultery as a crime in the eyes of the law. While a modern government would not submit an adulterer to such an obscure punishment as wearing a scarlet letter on your chest, it still considers the personal affairs of married couples the law’s business. Today, however, these local governments are acting on morals not mainly driven by religion, as opposed to the Puritan magistrate in The Scarlet Letter.  Hester Prynne, had she lived in today’s Boston, would have still faced punishment from the law. This is an example of a similarity between modern and 19th century adultery in America.

While there are similarities between modern and historical adultery, there are also many things that set them apart. One of these distinguishing differences is who the adulturer has betrayed in the act. In the text, Hawthorne writes “Ah, but let her cover the mark as she will, the pang of it will be always in her heart.” This quote is referring to the constant shame the magistrate is hoping Hester will endure as a result of her scarlet letter. After all, the idea behind the punishment is to make her feel humiliated by the rest of her neighbors. But why is the idea of the shame of Hester’s neighbors such an intimidating and worthy punishment in this town? Because of the strict Puritan ideas in this community, a sin one member commits is made to be something that the whole town should look down upon. In chapter two, five “goodwives” come upon Hester in the marketplace, heckling and harassing her, “If the hussy stood up for judgment before us five, that are now here in a knot together, would she come off with such a sentence as the worshipful magistrates have awarded? Marry, I trow not!” One of the many reasons these women, and the rest of the town, care so much is that Hester, in the eyes of her townsmen, has not only betrayed her husband but in turn betrayed the town as well. Whereas today a lack of faithfulness would normally be something private between you and the people directly involved, the way religion links the people of this town and their ideals together has made it so that the betrayal is not isolated. This is also one of the numerous reasons as to why the shame of Prynne’s neighbors was thought to be a worthy enough punishment, it would be comparable to the shame of your spouse and family today. Therefore one example of the differences between modern day punishment for adultery and that of 19th century Puritanical Bostoners is the placement of betrayal on only those directly involved in the incident versus the entire community.

Hester Prynne's journey is that of a woman trying to accept her mistakes in a society that never forgives and never forgets. In examining this text it was a natural thing to do, as someone from a different time, to compare her journey then to those similar to hers today. While, at least in America, religion’s hold is perhaps not so firm on the way our government prosecutes, we do have a similar set of morals that determine what is acceptable behavior. There is a universal understanding of what is right and what is wrong, what we should and shouldn’t do. It’s those standards that determine what we view as a mistake that can be forgiven or an unjustifiable crime. Humans will always have morals, just as humans will always make mistakes, but it is clear in reading The Scarlet Letter that we have progressed at least as far as to say that some mistakes are personal and forgivable. Perhaps behaviors or deeds that are treated one way now will be treated much differently in the years to come.