Setting includes more than just time and place. It also concerns social conditions and customs of a given location and time period. Discuss the setting of The Scarlet Letter and how it contributes to your understanding of the book so far.
The setting in The Scarlett Letter is in early New England, specifically in Massachusetts, where the people are very traditional in their morals and beliefs. Their religion was very important to them and closely connected with the law. The Puritan religion is closely regulated and followed, leaving society with strict social stigmas. It is quite a shock to find out that some crimes in the the Puritan beliefs can be punishable by death, when today there are only some places where the death penalty even exists. It was said in. The Scarlett Letter that, "religion and law were almost identical," which explains most of the society's actions. After hearing about what Hester Prynne had done, one man said, "This woman has brought shame upon us all, and ought to die. Is there not law for it? Truly there is, both in the Scripture and in the statute-book." This shows how closely intertwined the Puritan religion is with the law, they basically rely on it for some of their sentences and how to go about punishing wrongdoers. Today, religion is such a big issue, the fact being that there are so many different religions and beliefs that not one can be used to solve huge social issues. In this time however, it was easy for this to be used since most of New England was of the Puritan faith and had the acme beliefs. Nowadays, is is very rare to find a street sharing a common religion, let alone a town or state.
As strict and brutal as the legal system was at that time, there was a surprising amount of leeway and give to the court. In Hester's court ruling, one of the magistrates said, "Now, good sir, our Massachusetts magistry bethinking themselves that this woman is youthful and fair, and doubtless was strongly tempted to her fall, and that, moreover, as is most likely, her husband may be at the bottom of the sea, they have not been bold to force the extremity of our righteous law against her. The penalty thereof is death. But in their great mercy and tenderness if heart they have doomed Mistress Prynne to stand only a space of three hours on the platform of the pillory and then thereafter, for the remainder of her natural life, to wear a mark of shame upon her bosom." Coming from a time where they burns witches at the gallows, like old Mistress Hibbins, this is showing that the rigid and strict laws have slowly began to slip. Giving Hester a softer sentence was showing that what law and religion says does not get the final word, but the actual people do. This is more similar to what we have today in our legal system, the jury being the ones who give the verdict of guilty or innocent. The jury however does not make the sentence as the judge does. All of that aside, this part of the book is showing that the strict social conduct is slowly loosening, bringing about a new outlook in society. This outlook is later seen as Hester's needlework becomes popularly amoungst the people. As is showed up all thoughout society, from babies to the Governor, "her handiwork became what would now be termed the fashion." From being a social outcast to a fashion icon, Hester is the poster child for changing times and beliefs. Eventhough what she did wasn't accepted, and still not accepted, the idea that she was able to work her way back into society without the penalty of death for what she did shows improvement in society. This improvement, I believe will keep working its way through the book and have some profound effects on the characters and what the outcomes of their lives are.
Note: I am reading The Scarlett Letter on my kindle, so I have not been putting page numbers on my quotes as the page numbers are weird and messed up. I can add in the page numbers if they are necessary. Also I was on the Greece trip, which is why this entry is turned in post due date.
