The Scarlet Letter and the Fundamentalist System of the Time
The Scarlet Letter written by Nathaniel Hawthorne, is a American Literature classic. The story of Hester Prynne's adulterous affair with Mr. Dimmesdale, and the twisted tale that follows, however entertaining and is the bulk of written work, is not the main theme of the book. The Scarlet Letter is a novel based upon the unjust mindset of hypocritical Puritans, as they governed Boston with a fundamentalist regime, possessed an eagerness to exact sadistic punishment on it's rule breakers. The adultery is just an instrument used to educate subsequent generations of the once masochistic settlers that have seeded the population of America.
In the beginning of the novel, all of the residents from the Colony of Boston are gathered and compacted together in the Town Square. This mob of sad-colored and gray dressed people are congregating to witness the public ridicule and sentencing of a young lady named Hester Prynne, who has been found guilty of adultery. The majority of women present, being thick and unattractive; "...The man-like Elizabeth had been the not altogether a suitable representative of the sex. They were her country woman; and the beef and ale of their native land, with a moral diet and not a whit refined, entered largely into their composition. The bright morning sun, therefore, shone on broad shoulders and well developed busts, and on round ruddy cheeks" (pg. 48), have a jealousy of Hester's beauty. To compensate for their self-dignity, the women begin to envisage various significantly more painful punishments; "At the very least they should have put the brand of a hot iron on Hester Prynne's forehead.... "What do we talk of marks and brands, whether on the bodice of her gown, or the flesh of her forehead?" cried another female, the ugliest of these self constituted judges. "This woman has brought shame upon us all and ought to die. Is there not a law for it? Truly, there is, both in Scripture and Statebook." (pg. 48). However much the woman scold Hester for breaking a commandment, these women have broken one also, and one more serious then adultery: Thou shalt not use the Lord's name in vain. They are using Scriptures as an excuse to attempt to put a woman to death for their own self satisfaction.
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