That Nathaniel Hawthorne to chose such a controversial topic as adultery for The Scarlet Letter, his nineteenth century novel of "seventeenth century sexual repression and hypocrisy" (Zabarenko PG), demonstrates a delicate yet changing climate with regard to infidelity.
Historically, carrying on an adulterous affair back in such an era of Puritanism and traditional values was not taken lightly; in fact, by today's standards, such horrific treatment for what is now considered an everyday occurrence was more harsh than murders suffer by current standards.
Those who acted out of the vows of matrimony centuries ago, as Hester Prynne did in The Scarlet Letter, paid a high price for their momentary pleasures of the flesh. In those days, the Puritans saw to it that such a crime was "punishable by death" (Zabarenko PG); behavior so unbecoming of a religious devotee deserved no less.
However, Prynne escaped such a fate when she did the unthinkable: she chose to sleep with a "self-righteous" (Zabarenko PG) priest who ultimately fathered her child. After her adulterous affair was discovered, Prynne's punishment of wearing a red A on her bodice acted as a vivid reminder to all who saw her.
Yet human beings were still human beings even back then -- it is just that extramarital affairs were not looked upon as an acceptable activity. While they are not exactly condoned within today's society, there has been a remarkable change in attitude toward the punishment of such sexual indiscretions compared to those of Hawthorne's time period.
"What people are saying is that this is wrong but the temptation is great and it's part of being human that we fall into temptation. The extra thing about adultery is that if a person admits they were wron...
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...oes nothing more than eat away at his heart and soul. Had they known of his participation, the townspeople would have relished the thought of such suffering.
Clearly, tolerance towards such acts of the flesh was not welcome in the time of The Scarlet Letter. In an oppressed, emotionally smothered community as theirs, it is no surprise they were unable to see past the adultery and into the true love that had captured the characters.
WORKS CITED
Barna, Mark Richard. "Nathaniel Hawthorne And The Unpardonable Sin.," The World & I, (1998) : vol. 13, pp. 324.
Grenier, Richard. "The Scarlet Letter Takes Liberties With History, Sin.," The Washington Times, (1995) : pp. PG.
Hawthorne, Nathaniel. "The Scarlet Letter." (New York: Bantam Books, 1986).
Zabarenko, Deborah. "U.S. Obsession With Adultery Harks Back To Puritans.," Reuters, (1997) : pp. PG.
Hester Prynne, the protagonist in the book The Scarlet Letter, has committed the sin of adultery, but learned to use that mistake as a form of strength. Hester’s husband, Roger Chillingworth, sent her to America and was supposed to follow her, but never arrived in Boston. While Hester was waiting on Chillingworth, she had an affair with the town minister, Dimmesdale. As a result, Hester gave birth to a beautiful daughter and was forced to wear the scarlet
“And be the stern and sad truth spoken, that the breach which guilt has once made into the human soul is never, in this mortal state, repaired” (158). Arthur Dimmesdale confesses his sin, but it makes such a big impact on him that he will always be reminded of it. The sin leaves a “breach,” or a hole, in him which cannot be fixed. Living in a Puritan community also makes it that much harder for Dimmesdale to keep his secret. Since the religion is completely strict and absolutely prohibits sins like adultery, he has no choice but to feel guilt and regret. The Scarlet Letter, written by Nathaniel Hawthorne, is a novel of gothic romanticism. It was written in the 1800s, but takes place in the 17th century. Hester Prynne lives in Boston, Massachusetts and commits adultery with Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale. She is punished by the town and has to wear a beautifully embroidered scarlet “A” on all of her clothes, which stands for “Adulterer.” The Reverend keeps his secret for many years while Hester’s husband, Roger Chillngworth, comes back to town and seeks revenge. Reverend Dimmesdale confesses his sin and ends up dying. The character Arthur Dimmesdale in The Scarlet Letter is a dynamic character because in the beginning of the novel he is a healthy and intelligent minister, but towards the end, he becomes very guilty and emaciated.
Every action reaps its consequences. This veracity is revealed in Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter, published by Ticknor, Reed, and Fields in 1850. Categorized into the genre of romance, The Scarlet Letter has a solemn, dark, mysterious, and almost eerie mood. The historical novel is set in the strict Puritan society of seventeenth century Boston, Massachusetts. When the book begins, the past action of adultery has already been committed. The story then follows the characters involved in the dirty deed and skillfully details their responses to the consequences.
In the Hebrew Bible, adultery is considered a capital crime, punishable by the population stoning the adulterous wife and her lover to death. Deut. 22:20 commands this communal punishment in order to “sweep away evil from Israel.” The question remains as to why this crime was considered to be such a transgression. Several explanations exist to account for the seriousness of the crime.
However, religion is a rather minor reason for her rightful punishment. The feelings and morals of the time dictate right and wrong. Presently we have values and views quite different than those of Hesters period, but the wrongness of her act of adultery remain universal. Even to this day, with views much lax of those Puritans in question, her wrong remains quite acute.
Clearly, this essay has shown that the main factors which impact upon adultery being acceptable is being loyal, loving, and forgiveness. Adultery in all reality is actually a terrible thing and is frowned upon, but The Crucible and The Scarlet Letter prove adultery is acceptable in many ways. Life is like a pen, so any mistake made will never be able to be erased or taken back.
The Scarlet Letter, a novel written by Nathaniel Hawthorne, shows the adverse consequences caused by adultery between Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale and Hester Prynne. Dimmesdale and Hester committed the supreme sin of the Puritan society they belong. They must both deal with the effects of the scarlet letter. Pearl, the daughter of the two lovers, continuously punishes Hester for what she has done. Dimmesdale can only see Hester and Pearl when others will not find out or see. Hester finds a way to support herself and daughter, and at the same time, puts a mark on the possessions of some who are a part of society. The sin of adultery created repercussions that were shared and individually experienced by Reverend Dimmesdale and Hester Prynne.
“You shall not commit adultery” (Exodus 20:14). In Nathaniel Hawthorne’s, The Scarlet Letter, a woman named Hester, who is abandoned by her husband for two years, is having an affair with the pastor, Reverend Dimmesdale. Hester gives birth to a daughter while her husband is away which leads people to believe that she is having an affair. The Puritans’s view of sin is very strict, so they believe Hester deserves a terrible punishment.Hester keeps the father hidden from the knowledge of the townspeople, so she receives the brutal punishment by herself. Throughout the novel, Hester and Dimmesdale react and cope with their sin differently. This leads to different consequences and end results. In the novel, Hawthorne expresses the two characters’
The first century morality was not unlike our twenty-first century morality. Premarital and extra-marital affairs exist in both. Prostitution is common in both centuries. The speed in which sexual perverseness can occur in today’s society can occur at a much more rapid rate due to the Internet, however, with the same outcome as it was then, the defiling of one’s body, a body that belongs to God. God forgives us as Christians, as King David wa...
In the novel The Scarlet Letter and the short story “The Minister’s Black Veil”, Nathaniel Hawthorne incorporates romantic elements, such as beauty, truth, innocence, and sin, in his criticism of Puritan societies. In both texts, Hawthorne argues that all people, even those in strictly religious societies with corrupted standards, are capable of sin. Hawthorne uses symbolism and light and dark imagery to convey his argument.
Through Hester and the symbol of the scarlet letter, Hawthorne reveals how sin can be utilized to change a person for the better, in allowing for responsibility, forgiveness, and a renewed sense of pride. In a Puritan society that strongly condemns adultery one would expect Hester to leave society and never to return again, but that does not happen. Instead, Hester says, “Here…had been the scene of her guilt, and here should be the scene of her earthly punishment; and so, perchance, the torture of her daily shame would at length purge her soul, and work out another purity than that which she had lost; more saint-like, because the result of martyrdom.” Hes...
Great thesis statement ! “The Scarlet Letter demonstrates that a secret or feeling kept within slowly engulfs and destroys the soul such as Dimmesdale’s sin of hypocrisy and Chillingworth’s sin of vengeance, while a secret made public, such as Prynne’s adultery, can allow a soul to recover and even strengthen.”
In today’s society, adultery is not viewed as it would have been viewed back in the 1600’s. Adultery is defined as a voluntary sexual intercourse between a married person and a person who is not his or her spouse. In society today, people understand that it is not right to commit adultery, despite knowing that it is often done more. Adultery is committed more now, in the view of its not a punishable act, as it was in the 1600’s. Committing adultery in the 1600’s was considered committing one of the sins that can not be forgiven. Many people were killed for this type of act, however as generations past people begin to view adultery differently.
Adultery has existed since the beginning of mankind. Being independent has become irrelevant while staying loyal to a partner has almost been distinguished, in which defeats the purpose of Puritan beliefs during the Puritan society time. In the 1850ś a book takes the sin of Adultery and turns it into something relatively heavenly. In the novel, ¨Scarlet Letter”, Nathaniel Hawthorne illustrates how the actions of a single character, Hester Prynne, can change the symbol ¨A” to adultery, ability, angel, and pearl being the living ¨A¨ due to her actions.
Bensick, Carol. “His Folly, Her Weakness: Demystified Adultery in The Scarlet Letter.” New Essays on The Scarlet Letter. Ed. Michael J. Colacurcio. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1985. 137-159. Print.