Hawthorne shows this by the harsh language the women used to talk about Hester's punishment. ... The second element of this theme is punishment. Hester's punishment for her crime was standing in a scaffold in front of the town and then she was forced to wear the letter "A" embroidered on her chest for the rest of her life. ... Another aspect of her punishment was Pearl. ... Eventually, even her punishment, the letter received a positive meaning. ...

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• Grade Level: High School

However, the severity of a punishment is very difficult to agree on. ... Others feel that a person's punishment should be based upon the severity of their crime. ... Upon this basis, young Hester committed a crime of adultery with her fellow Minister Arthur Dimmesdale. ... Secondly, Hester's crime was one out of passion, not pre-meditated. ... Dimmesdale was the first man Hester really loved, and he feels that because of these circumstances, her punishment far outweighed her crime. ...

• Word Count: 802
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• Grade Level: High School

Guilt in Puritan Society The Scarlet Letter, written by Nathaniel Hawthorne, deals with crime, punishment, and guilt in Puritan society. ... All of the characters undergo a certain degree of crime, guilt, and punishment. ... Unlike Hester, his crime does not reach the public's knowledge until the very end of the story. ... In this speech Dimmesdale says that he wants Hester to give his name up, so that he can receive his punishment for his sin. ... The main characters in The Scarlet Letter are bound into feeling guilt by their own crimes and punishment. ...

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• Grade Level: High School

He allowed Hester to suffer the consequences of the crime that he also took part in. Hester was sentenced to wear the letter A and had to stand on the scaffold while he took not a single ounce of punishment for his crime. ... Dimmesdale at this point should have admitted to his crime. Hester had shown how loyal she was and how she was willing to take the punishments alone, but the right thing for Dimmesdale to have done was to tell everyone that he was her partner in crime so that Hester didn't have to accept the punishments alone. ... This is a very big sin because one who knows that he/...

• Word Count: 869
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• Grade Level: High School

These differences are apparent in the type of punishment used then and now. The many of the symbols in this book deal with sin, punishment and redemption. ... The prison symbolizes the evil of society and the rusted iron door tells the readers that crime is an ancient aspect of human life. ... As we compare this punishment to the punishment used today, it seems quite harsh. ... The punishment of the 1600's in Salem was too harsh, and did not accomplish justice, but it intermittently ruined many lives of random people while others who got away with the same crimes were respected citizens o...

• Word Count: 843
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• Grade Level: High School

Then, they explore the sin and according punishment for the Puritan Community. ... "Punishment was a tool to create a civilized society in a savage world,"" stated Williams, "there severe punishment reflected the harsh environment that surrounded them."" ... There were five crimes that were punishable by death in Plymouth Colony.  ... Crime Punishment Adultery Severely whipped on two separate occasions, one in public, and to wear the capital letters AD sewn on back of the upper garment  or sleeve. ... From the vantage point of scripture, all crimes are sin, but not every sin is a cr...

• Word Count: 1751
• Approx Pages: 7
• Grade Level: High School

As a punishment for her sin, she must stand on a scaffold and receive the insults of the people for three hours and she must wear a scarlet "A" on her bosom for the rest of her life as a symbol for her sin. ... However, he still refused to admit his crime in front of the town. Finally, when the book reaches its climax, Arthur succeeds in winning back the spirit that he had lost years before, and he prepares to tell his congregation of his horrible crime. ... It is intended to serve as a form of punishment for Hester Prynne's forbidden act of passion. ... At the beginning, the scaffo...

• Word Count: 2338
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• Grade Level: High School

In a "utopia" like the puritan's society, one can never get away after committing crime, in the end they get punished and pays for what they did and regrets it. ... Nobody was aware of Dimmsdale's crime in this chapter. ... Nathaniel Hawthorne's message from these two scenes are punishment, shame, guilt, and regret. ... This two scenes show, you can't get away after committing a crime, you must get punished and that's how the puritan society is in this book.... " The two scaffold scenes emphasize on punishment of Hester and Dimmsdale. ...

• Word Count: 560
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• Grade Level: High School

The prison represents the crime and punishment that was incorporated in the early Puritan life. He also contrasts the prison with the tombstone at the end of the novel by suggesting that crime and punishment bring about the end of civilized life. ... The Puritan community considers the letter a mark of just punishment. ...

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• Grade Level: High School

He says that the punishment given to Hester Prynne by the Puritan people was not the punishment of God, that it was not the responsibility of Chillingworth and those who punished Hester to give punishment to a sinner, and that Hester saved herself from internal torture by publicly acknowledging her wrongdoing. ... When Wagenknecht expresses that the punishment given to Hester Prynne by the Puritans was not the punishment of God, he is right. He stated that in this novel written by Nathaniel Hawthorne, there is no distinction made between crimes and sins. ... Both Hester and Dimmesdale commi...

• Word Count: 942
• Approx Pages: 4
• Grade Level: High School

The severity of the punishment is very difficult to agree on though. ... Many other people feel that a person's punishment should be based on how severe the sin was. ... Upon this assumption, Hester committed a crime of adultery with her fellow minister, Arthur Dimmesdale. ... It depends on personal opinion who had the greater sin and how harsh their punishment should have been. ... His harsher punishment may have been dying as a result of it. ...

• Word Count: 512
• Approx Pages: 2
• Grade Level: High School

In The Scarlet Letter Hester is convicted for a crime she never committed. The only "crime" she commits is one that is based on the laws and morals of the Puritan society. Although adultery, in the eyes of Puritans, is seen as a horrendous crime, if it is out of love it contradicts the actual crime, which is to go against one's spouse as an act of spite. ... "Why, gossips, what is it but to laugh in the faces of our godly magistrates, and make pride out of what they, worthy gentlemen, meant for punishment?" ... She has her wear red, the very color that represents her punishment, because s...

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• Grade Level: High School

English 11 November 2, 1999 The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorn begins by dealing with Hester Prynne's crime and sentence. ... The cruelty of it was terrible, but it accomplished his goal of torturing him while he should have taken his rightful punishment for the crime he committed from the beginning. ... At first I thought that he was a cold heartless, cowardly man for not taking his part of the blame in the two-sided crime of adultery. ... The townspeople looked at her as though she had committed the crime all by herself. ... Like the disgrace she encountered whenever someone saw h...

• Word Count: 1043
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• Grade Level: High School

At first it is the symbol of Hester's crime and shame of adultery. Her punishment was to "wear a mark of shame upon her bosom. ... Pearl was born in the old prison and she became the symbol of Hester's crime of adultery. ...

• Word Count: 420
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• Grade Level: High School

Even though it wasn't only Hester's fault, she was the one who had to get a punishment. Her punishment for her crime was to spend a few hours on the scaffold to face public humiliation, and she was forced to wear the letter "A" on her clothes for the rest of her life. Hester's punishment for her sin was distinguished in that the results of her actions were for the most part external. ... In the novel The Scarlet Letter, Dimmesdale was not publicly punished for his crime while Hester was. ... It was the town's people's wrongdoing to only give punishment to a woman. ...

• Word Count: 1717
• Approx Pages: 7
• Grade Level: High School

As you can see examples of shunning are directly expressed through the fact that TMZ released a video on the actions of Ray rice and the fact that people described his punishment as mild. ... This was Hester's punishment for committing her "crime." it was described as humiliating to Hester and was considered immorall to the citizens and shunned upon as a "sin". ... As you can see, both victims of such crimes are seen differently and were once normal human beings before the news broke out of their "sins." ... Another comparison between Ray Rice and Hester is that their punishments were co...

• Word Count: 1654
• Approx Pages: 7
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

Dimmesdale, is a young clergy man who is well respected in his harsh community of strict Puritans is to condemn the punishment of wearing a scarlet A on her breast to who ever committed such a crime as adultery. As he gives such a punishment to Hester Prynne, the adulterer, the town applauds him that much more for doing what is right and punishing the wrong. ... It is very ironic that Dimmesdale guilty of the sin himself has put a punishment upon Hester, and letting her take all the blame for it. Hester accepts her punishment freely, and tells not a soul that it was Dimmesdale who was her sil...

• Word Count: 798
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: High School

The scaffold is a place in the Scarlet Letter in which Puritan punishment takes its course, through the scorn that the townspeople provide to the victim on the pillory. ... The word "penalty" indicates that the punishment that Hester received was equal to the crime that she committed, as degree of a penalty is normally assessed in relation to the level of illegality of the infraction. ... This quote emphasizes a harsh and unforgiving punishment of the scaffold and Puritan punishment in society. ... "Heathen" indicates an irreligious area that is not under the strict confi...

• Word Count: 1003
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• Grade Level: Undergraduate

While society might believe that a punishment like the one Hester received will help prevent related crimes in the future, the truth of the situation here is that Hester emerged looking better than society. ... Society suffered as Hester suffered for their hypocritical and ruthless punishment, even if they were conscious of it or not. ...

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• Grade Level: High School

The difference between Dimmesdale and Hester is that Dimmesdale was not publicly punished for his crime. ... Her punishment for her crime is to spend a few hours on the scaffold to face public humiliation and wear the letter "A" on her clothes for the rest of her life. ... This proved to be much less harsh then the internal punishment that Dimmesdale faced. ... All of the internal suffering that he endures proves to be much worse then Hester's public punishment. ...

• Word Count: 1044
• Approx Pages: 4
• Grade Level: High School

Hawthorne's point is beautifully illustrated by Dimmesdale, because if he was not such a highly religious man, then he would not care about his crime. ... Deluding himself by pretending that his private punishment is adequate. ... Proving, once again, that no good came out of his self-inflicted punishment. ... After he sees himself transformed into a man that wants to teach children blasphemous words, and to sing and get drunk with visiting sailors, or to violate a new bride; he realizes that the only way to happiness was not through self-punishment, but through honesty. ...

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• Grade Level: High School

Hester Prynne is charged with the crime and sin of adultery, bears an illegitimate child, is made to stand on a scaffold to be publicly ostracized, and made to wear a scarlet A on her chest for the rest of her existence. Through this punishment Hester continually gives the impression that she is dispassionate, shameless, and even haughty. ... The young Hester Prynne had committed the act of adultery and received her punishment with defiance and haughty pride. ... She supported him and gave him strength when he finally decided to announce his sin and accept his pubic punishment. ...

• Word Count: 785
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: High School

The first few chapters introduce the theme of sin, when they tell the reader about the prison, the scaffold, and how Hester is being publicly condemned for adultery. These chapters also show the reader that the society is depicting the political reality of Hester's World, the Puritan society. The...

• Word Count: 295
• Approx Pages: 1
• Grade Level: High School

This item was worn by Hester Prynne, as punishment for her crime of adultery for the rest of her life. ... The scarlet letter is imposed on Hester as an act of punishment. ... Dimmesdale stands on the scaffold during the darkness of midnight, thus concealing his crime. ... When Hester steps out of the dark jail into the blinding sunlight at the beginning of the novel, her crime and her shame become public for all to see. ...

• Word Count: 1015
• Approx Pages: 4
• Grade Level: High School

Hester Prynne's scarlet letter undoubtedly represents the sin of adultery and she must wear this 'A' as a symbol of punishment. ... The punishment that went along with Hester wearing the scarlet letter was for her to embroider it herself. ... She owned up to her crime with "dignity" which no other puritan would have done. Once a symbol of suffrage and punishment now a symbol of redemption. ... When Pearl sees Hester without the scarlet letter she tells her mother to pick it up, it's like she's saying her punishment is not over yet she still have a long way to go. ...

• Word Count: 1185
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• Grade Level: High School