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Vania Caruajulca

Miss Stark

English Literature 11

05 March 2024

Crime and Punishment in Puritan Society

The Scarlet Letter is a novel written by Nathaniel Hawthorne published in 1850 this

novel talks about a story of forbidden love and the consequences of this love. The Puritans were

a Protestant group that tried to “purify” the Church of England dissatisfied with the Anglican

Church. Their efforts to transform the nation contributed both to the Civil War in England and to

the founding of colonies in the United States as working models of the Puritan way of life

(“Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica”). They advocated discipline, prudence, and devotion to

their faith, but also the appearance of the perfection of their life (which caused them to be

accused of hypocrisy). Another characteristic inherited through the Puritans is the tendency to

scandal because of the indiscretions of the flesh of people. Punishments were an important part

of puritan society because they penalized sin, they saw it as a way to restore their relationship

with God, and created fear of sin, but more than fear of punishments they feared the devil and

attributed to him all the bad things they could not explain.

Some of the sins they punished someone committed were adultery, sorcery, and all the

sins that are mentioned in the Bible. Those who committed crimes or were seen as dissenters

were punished severely and publicly. Punishments centered mostly on public humiliation and the

idea of vengeance. Most punishments were settled with an “eye for an eye,” so if a person stole a

loaf of bread, he might be branded with the letter T for “thief” on his hand. (“Crime and

Punishment in Puritan Society”, Standards Focus: Historical Context, page 2) The scarlet letter is
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a clear example of these severe punishments and how “perfect” society was. Women thought that

they did not punish Prynne enough, they criticized her and judged her even though after sinning

she tried to live well and help the people who needed it. “At the very least, they should have put

the brand of a hot iron on Hester Prynne's forehead. Madam Hester would have winced at that, I

warrant me...” (“The Market-place” 44-45). Puritan life was full of laws and exaggerated

punishments that made people fear being discovered, therefore they could appear to be “perfect”

to the point of thinking that they were and therefore they criticized and judged those who

managed to discover when they sinned.

Puritans saw punishments as a means to cleanse sins and restore their relationship with

God. Persons who were not given the maximum punishment for their crime might be forced to

stand in front of the community and confess their sins, or to wear a sign specifying their

transgression, as seen in The Scarlet Letter. (“Crime and Punishment in Puritan Society”,

Standards Focus: Historical Context, page 2) This is an example: “Woman, transgress not beyond

the limits of Heaven's mercy!” cried the Reverend Mr. Wilson, more harshly than before… may

avail to take the scarlet letter off thy breast.” “Never!” replied Hester Prynne, looking, not at Mr.

Wilson… “Speak, woman!” said another voice… proceeding from the crowd about the scaffold.

“Speak; and give your child a father!” “I will not speak!” answered Hester, turning pale as death,

but responding to this voice… “And my child must seek a heavenly Father; she shall never know

an earthly one!” (Hawthorne, page 58).

There was only one way in which a person could be saved from a punishment: to declare

the ‘benefit of the clergy’ which simply meant that the accused would have to read a passage of

the Bible, without errors, in front of the magistrates and the congregation. But since the passage

of the Bible was almost always the same, people began to learn the passage by heart so that they
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would reduce their punishment or forgive them completely. They believed that at the time of

putting them on the scaffold and confessing their sins it was a way for God to forgive them but

we know that this is not completely like that but that we must also repent and not constantly

commit sin in our lives again.

The Puritans more than fear punishment, they feared something much worse… Much

worse than the fear of any punishment they might have for sin was the fear of the devil. “As

society was fragile and small, citizens were vulnerable and felt that they needed to take serious

measures to defend themselves and keep their society in a straight and narrow line. His survival

was largely based on the goodness of God, and the Puritans believed that anything that could not

be explained or resolved with their commonly used tools and cures was certainly the work of the

devil.” (“Crime and Punishment in Puritan Society”, Standards Focus: Historical Context, page

2). The Puritans believed that the problems they had could be 2 things: Punishment of God or the

devil's jobs. When some people tried to look for an answer or solutions to problems they were

accused of witchcraft and conspiring with the devil and were condemned to death. “In Salem,

hysteria and fear of the devil became so out of control that Salem's witch trials took place and

resulted in the death of many innocent people.” (“Crime and Punishment in Puritan Society”,

Standards Focus: Historical Context, page 3).

Punishments were an important part of puritan society because they penalized sin, they

saw it as a way to restore their relationship with God, and created fear of sin, but more than fear

of punishments they feared the devil and attributed to him all the bad things they could not

explain. Some of the sins punished by the Puritans were the sins mentioned in the Bible, they

cared very much about the behavior and people's attitudes, they saw punishments as a means to

cleanse sins and restore their relationship with God, as a means to obtain their forgiveness. The
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Puritans, more than afraid of the punishment they might have as a result of their sins, were afraid

of something much worse for them, the devil. If something could not be explained so easily, they

blamed the devil because their society was just beginning to take shape. The laws and the

punishment for disobeying them are correct and help to have order in society but the abuse and

exaggeration of both the laws and the punishments can lead us to commit imprudence as well as

get to condemn and judge innocent people so it is better to leave this task to the right judge who

is God.
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Works Cited

Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica. "Puritanism | Definition, History, Beliefs, & Facts".

Encyclopedia Britannica, 20 de julio de 1998, www.britannica.com/topic/Puritanism.

Accessed on February 26, 2024.

Stassi, Rose Mary. “Standards Focus: Historical Context.” Simply Novel Secondary Solutions,

2008.

"The Market-place". The Scarlet Letter, Barnes & Noble Books, 2005, pages. 44-45.

"The Recognition". The Scarlet Letter, Barnes & Noble Classics, 2005, page. 58.