Public Guilt vs. Personal Guilt Twenty two percent of married men and fourteen percent of married women have committed adultery (Latest). Today there is virtually no punishment for adulterers, it is still wrong, but is is very common. That being said, the punishment for adultery in The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne, was much worse. Hester and Dimmesdale committed the same sin, adultery, but they dealt with the guilt and were punished in different ways. Hester’s sin was known by the public, as she had to stand on the scaffold. Dimmesdale’s sin wasn’t known by the public for the majority of the book. Hawthorne depicts the private guilt as more damaging. Hester’s sin is known by everyone in town. She had to stand on the