Punishment In The Scarlet Letter By Nathaniel Hawthorne

The idea of public humiliation as a method of punishment has been approached many times, but it is guaranteed to cut deep and last long. Written in 1850 by Nathaniel Hawthorne, The Scarlet Letter, has been considered a classic since its first publishing. The Scarlet Letter centers around a young woman, Hester Prynne, who committed adultery with an unknown man while her husband was in England, his vitality unknown. Hester now has a child, Pearl, who she will have to raise alone. As punishment for her adultery, Hester is sentenced to wear a scarlet letter hanging from her breast for the rest of her life. When he returns, Hester’s husband, Roger Chillingworth, plots revenge on Arthur Dimmesdale, the town minister, because he is the father of Pearl. Hester becomes an outcast in this Puritan society. The scarlet letter Hester wears has many meanings including adulterer, able, and angel; however, Hester perceives this

When Hester meets with Roger Chillingworth by the sea, she aims to tell him that she will keep his identity a secret no longer. But before she can speak, Chillingworth mentions that the town rulers have discussed allowing Hester to remove the scarlet letter. But Hester responds, saying, “It lies not in the pleasure of the magistrates to take off this badge…Were I worthy to be quit of it, it would fall away of its own nature or be transformed into something that should speak a different purport” (153). Hester must atone to God for the adultery she committed until she sees a sign that it must be removed. She won’t dare discard the scarlet letter because she believes that there is still something for her to pay in return for her sin. If Hester felt that there was no debt to atone for, she would have taken off the scarlet letter of her own accord. Hester’s perspective that she has an obligation causes her to keep the scarlet letter and try to pay off the debt she has