Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter offers the reader an inside look at public shaming as a punishment. Throughout the book, Hester Prynne’s punishment requires her to wear a scarlet “A” on her bosom because she committed adultery and ultimately got caught. Similar to Hester Prynne and her community, judges today sentence criminals to public shaming as a reprimand for committing crimes. However, public shaming is unfair and should not be used in the United States court system.
Public shaming penalties cannot guarantee consistency between each punishment; therefore, public shaming is unconstitutional and unethical to use within the United States court system. Every year, millions of people pass through courtroom doors, and every year, millions
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Somebody who constantly endures ridicule from the public suffers greatly from decreased mental stability. Furthermore, bullying is a form of public abashment, and research has shown that both bullying and public shaming affect the victim’s mental health more than other major problems in the world. For example, recent studies conducted in the United States and Great Britain prove that “[a] victim of bullying [is] nearly four times more likely to suffer from mental health problems than a victim of child abuse” (Lewinsky 293). Victims of bullying often undergo persistent humiliation, much like a criminal who is sentenced to public shaming would; consequently, public humiliation is unacceptable in all areas of society, especially when research indicates that it affects a multitude of people. Also, if people consistently remind a person of their mistakes, the victim could always live in regret and remorse for their actions and they might be unable to overcome the amount of disgrace they experience. Public shaming not only affects the criminal, but also it can affect a faultless third-party. Humiliation affects innocent third-parties, such as family members, because the public mortification will promote the criminal to everybody in the community and possibly everyone on social media; therefore, guilt by association can accompany the family members. The extent of the punishment has the potential to be so significant that “[i]f a sign reading ‘A violent felon lives here’ [i]s posted in front of a man 's house, the felon 's blameless child ‘might get bullied because of the exposure and humiliation of the father’” (Morrison 3). Unfortunately, a simple sign that reads “a criminal lives here” can alter the life of an innocent third-party. Companies are also affected because public reprimanding would expose an employee who
“Woman, it is thy badge of shame!" (107). Governor Bellingham was describing the scarlet letter to Hester while they were discussing if the punishments that Hester had to go through were adequate enough for the crime. Hester was living in the outskirts of the city in a small abandoned cottage for several years with the only thing that had any monetary value in her life, her child and the product of committing adultery, Pearl. She and her little Pearl were shunned from the community for her acts. In the Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne, Hester is punished in more than one way, and she is able to deal with it openly so the community will, over time, forgive her.
A big theme in "The Scarlet Letter" is the importance of reputations. Throughout the novel, Hester must learn to rebuild her reputation despite everyone knowing about her sin and making their own judgements. This theme is relevant in today's society as well. A persons reputation will play a big role in their future, even decades later. As much as we want to believe it, there are things about people that won't be forgotten. This is also why it's so important to be cautious about actions and accepting consequences. Yes, what someone does will effect their reputation but how we react and accept consequences will also effect their reputation. For example, the "A" originally stood for adulterer, a big sin but because of how well Hester owned up
In ‘The Scarlet Letter’ Nathaniel Hawthorne has created a society in which “religion and law were almost identical” (Hawthorne 57). Just as in any other society, all the members within the limits must obey the law. Disobeying these laws result in punishment. One such character is Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale. After Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale’s affair with Hester Prynne, Hester is forced into a permanent state of shame when she is forced to wear a scarlet letter “A” on her chest. Be that as it may, something isn't right about the Reverend’s retribution. Instead of being shamed publicly, Reverend Dimmesdale’s punishment is much different. Instead of living with the torments of others, Reverend
Hester Prynne, an adulteress, is imprisoned by the laws of Puritan society and instead of running away, struggles to accept her badge of shame as a very real part of who she is. When she is first commanded to wear a scarlet letter A, she sees it as a curse. For the first few years she tries to ignore the ignominy under a mask of indifference. “Hester Prynne, meanwhile, kept her place upon the pedestal of shame, with glazed eyes, and an air or weary indifference,” Hawthorne writes. (page 48) Even so, she cannot hide from what her sin has produced. Every day her daughter Pearl reminds her of her sin. The only way to freedom is to avoid being defined by the society in which she finds herself. It is a gradual process but slowly, due to her compassion for the poor and sick, people start to view Hester's badge as meaning “Able” rather than “Adulteress”. Eventually her badge becomes a blessing as other women come to her for advice and counseling in that,
Hawthorne describes Hester Prynne’s life desolate in The Scarlet Letter due to public shaming. Hester Prynne indeed commit a crime and sinned, however, she should not have to have her life ruined because of it. There are many more options to punish a criminal than by publicly shaming them. For example, the culprit can be put in prison, spend a certain amount of time doing community service, pay a fine, or anything else that fits the wrongdoers actions. Comprehensively, public shaming can cost someone’s happiness in their life all because of one mistake they made in the past.
In today 's modernised world people are often times criticised for the way they dress, act and portray themselves. Similarly, this judgement has been going on since the early days of the Puritan Era. During this era, a popular novel called The Scarlet Letter takes place. In this novel, the main character, Hester Prynne, commits an act of adultery and is forced to wear the letter “A” upon her bosom. Like Hester Prynne, I was expected to wear a letter upon my chest for the purposes of this essay. I wore the letter “P” for the vice of procrastinator, which I felt like I was guilty of. By wearing this letter for an entire school day, I was able to feel the way Prynne felt on a much smaller scale. I was constantly looked down upon and questioned
The proposed theoretical framework that works best with drinking under the influence is the Reintegrative Shaming Theory. At the core of the Reintegrative Shaming Theory is the need to shame individuals engaged in criminal activities. However, the shaming has to function within the context of a criminal justice system. The theory premises that tolerance of crime is a pre-requisite for the worsening of illegal activities (Hay, 2001). Secondly, the theory connotes that stigmatization inherent to the shaming of crime is disrespectful because it tends to outcast individuals from the general community, which is a pre-requisite for further rebellion. Additionally, the best theory of re-integrative shaming is the “disapproval of an act within a continuum of respect for the offender, disapproval terminated by the ritual of forgiveness [leading to] crime prevention” (Dansie, 2011, pp. 71). The proposed Re-integrative Shaming Theoretical approach identifies that shaming (or social disapproval) creates emotional distress on the offender. The scope and extent of the shame are bound to vary because different people respond differently to shaming. However, standardization of the structured shaming may
One of themes that Hawthorne conveys in The Scarlet Letter is that society is more willing to forgive people who ask for forgiveness with humility and generosity than those who demanded it as a right. This theme was conveys using Hester Prynne, a young women who committed adultery. This was considered to be one of the worst crime someone could commit in the Puritan society during the eighteen hundreds, where she resides in. As punishment, Hester was required to wear a scarlet letter "A" upon her garment in order for everyone to recognize her crime. Her society had condemn her, they believed that she "has brought shame upon all of us, and ought to die..."(59) Yet, as time went by, because of the way in which Hester carried herself wearing the scarlet letter, the symbol had taken a new meaning. Although, when the scarlet letter was first place on her bosom it was a symbol of Hester's crime, burden, seclusion, and shame. However, as a result of Hester's generosity and humility the scarlet letter had come to symbolize Hester's strength, philanthropy, and gained her very high respectability in her society.
In the beginning of The Scarlet Letter, the letter is understood as a label of punishment and sin being publicized. Hester Prynne bears the label of “A” signifining adulterer upon her chest. Because of this scorching red color label she becomes the outcast of her society. She wears this symbol of punishment and it become a burden throughout her life. The letter “produces only a reflection of her scarlet letter; likewise, the townspeople's image of Hester revolves around her sin. The evil associated with Hester's actions and the letter on her chest consume all aspects of her life, concealing her true beauty, mind, and soul” (R. Warfel 421-425). Society pushed blame upon Hester Prynne, and these events lead to the change of her life. The Puritans whom Prynne is surround by view the letter as a symbol from the devil, controversially some individuals look upon the letter, sigh and fell sympathy towards her because they have or are involved in this same situation. Nonetheless the haunting torture Hester Prynne battles daily drags on, Nathaniel Hawthorne shows this torture “of an impulse and passionate nature. She had fortified herself to encounter the stings and venomous stabs of public contumely wreaking itself in every variety of insult but...
People all over the world continuously commit sins some are bigger than others and some do more damage. In the book, The Scarlet Letter, by Nathaniel Hawthorne, a woman, Hester Prynne, is publicly shamed and force to wear a scarlet A upon her bosom for committing adultery. Throughout the book, Hester and her daughter, Pearl, try to adapt to life as an outsider. The two are continuously judged for Hester’s sin, and humiliated, however, they overcome this judgment and are seen in a different way. Hester and Pearl have been publicly shamed, Pearl has been considered an elfish devil like child, and after all the humiliation they were able to turn their lives around.
“She is condemned to wear the scarlet letter "A" on her chest as a permanent sign of her sin.” (The Scarlet Letter). This punishment dealt out by the Puritan society in which the main character, Hester Prynne, lives is hard to classify as right or wrong. Hawthorne writes “On the breast of her gown, in fine red cloth, surrounded with an elaborate
In The Scarlet Letter Hester Prynne's punishment was assigned to her by a highly prestigious panel of men from the Churches and Courts of the Massachusetts Bay Colony. All of the townspeople came to see Hester Prynne's punishment because of their loyalty to the court. They had to see what was going on with the court, because that is what they held in highest regard.
Public humiliation supposedly enforces people’s behaviors to change but does shame really influence people to change? Most people have their different opinions on public humiliation but either way Hester is a victim of this cruel well-known Puritan punishment. On the other hand, as a result of Reverend Dimmesdale withholding his sin, a hard-hitting sickness secretly hits the reverend. The scarlet letter located on Hester’s chest is a constant reminder of her wrong decision. In the novel The Scarlet Letter, author Nathaniel Hawthorne expresses the effects of sin in many ways, including public humiliation, Hester and the scarlet letter and Dimmesdale’s sickness. Maria Stromberg, who wrote the article “Hawthorne’s Black Man: Image of Social Evil” expresses the danger of breaking laws through her writings about The Scarlet Letter. Olivia Taylor’s article “Cultural Confessions: Penance and Penitence in Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter and The Marble Faun” indicates that with every sin one commits there are consequences.
As we read the novel, “The Scarlet Letter,” we were acquainted with the manner the Puritan society branded their sinners contingent on the immoralities they have committed. They believed that punishing these sinners by humiliation was the prominent way for them to bear the cost of their debauchery. Resembling this past our present has been subject to this same form of branding and labeling. We judge the way the Puritan society strictly punished its citizens by putting them on scaffolds where they were publicly humiliated. We hypocritically judge this form of punishment when we are practicing these same immoral acts. Although we are not putting them on scaffolds or literally branding people we are causing them the same kind of degradation and bestowing on them labels that will hurt them the same way.
...attery. Far away from the days of the stockade and the whipping post, now signs in front yards, cleansing of public roads, and other modern forms of shaming have now been implemented in modern day probation. Along with the change in eras, comes a whole new course of legal issues that have been raised by offenders. Does shaming violate an offender's constitutional right and does shaming serve its intended purpose? There are many individuals that feel shaming violates a persons 1st and 8th amendments in the United States Constitution and this same question has been brought up in the courts. But every time, the courts have ruled that there is no violation of constitutional rights and the idea of shaming offenders has been upheld. Until there has been the implementation of a better plan or concept, I for one feel that the concept of shaming is a warranted and just act.