In this passage of the Scarlet Letter, Nathaniel Hawthorne mentions a girl who’s going to be shamed for a crime she has committed, she will be a our focal point, our main person throughout the book. The purpose of the passage is to prepare you for the story your about to hear. It sets up the plot for you and as it unfolds you will know the background information scene by scene. The audience would probably be anyone who knows anything about Puritan life, or someone who would actually sit down and read this book. The author appeals to appeals to ethos when saying, “In either case, there was very much the same solemnity of demeanor on the part of the spectators; as befitted people amongst whom religion and law were almost identical,