Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter depicts two different attitudes regarding the sin of adultery. One of the two attitudes hits on the morals of Hester and Dimmesdale. This attitude shows that they are sinners and need to repent for what they have done. The second attitude expresses that their actions are acceptable due to the circumstances. It is easy to understand that the sin they committed was an accident based on the given facts. Puritans were strongly religious and took the Ten Commandments very seriously. The people of the town thought that if one disobeyed these rules you should be killed. Instead of killing her they gave her the small punishment of standing on the scaffold for three hours and wearing a scarlet letter A on her chest. “Thus the young and pure would be taught to look at her, with the scarlet letter flaming on her breast…”(Hawthorne 161). The people of Boston were very mad with this punishment. Many believed that Pearl should be taken away from Hester. They thought that a woman that committed such a sin should not be able to take care of a child. …show more content…
Hester was told that Roger’s ship had sunk during its voyage to America. Therefore, Hester did not know he was alive so to her she was not committing adultery. Although they knew that what they did was wrong Dimmesdale, a minister, was in love. Why else would he sleep with Hester? Dimmesdale still felt very guilty despite his love. He begged God to forgive them for what they had done. "I freely forgive you now. May God forgive us both!" (Hawthorne 398). Roger sinned as well. Roger married an Indian Princess, which was also a sin. He should have also been punished but he changed his name to Chillingworth to hide his identity. Hester and Roger were married but she. Told him in the beginning that she was not in love, which is another reason Hester should not have been