Entry 2

Entry 2

"'At the very least, they should have put the brand of a hot iron on Hester Prynne's forehead. Madame Hester would have winced at that, I warrant me. But she--the naughty baggage--little will she care what they put upon the bodice of of her gown!'

'This woman has brought shame upon us all, and ought to die; is there not a law for it?'" (Hawthorne, Chapter 2).

These quotes show how much Hester's adultery has impacted the town. All of the women feel that she should have gotten a worse punishment than the A on her chest. It gives you a lot of insight to just how much adultery is condemned in the Puritan society, how it is seen as a crime worthy of death. Not even public shaming is enough in the townspeople's minds. They believe that Hester should be branded or even killed for her sin. This portion also foreshadows the terrible shame that will be inflicted upon Hester by her fellow people and how she will be treated by others.

Image Source:
The Scarlet Letter (1926). IMDb. Web. 20 Oct. 2014. <http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0017350/>.