The Scarlet Letter: Reputation (CH 1-3)

Reputation was, and still is, very important to most people in society. The Scarlet Letter shows this through the Puritan time period and how strict they were. Hester Prynne's reputation goes down the drain when she has her baby, the problem with this was that her husband has been missing for two years so there is no way that was his baby. People accused her of adultery and wanted to burn an A onto her forehead or to kill her in order to ruin her reputation completely. Her punishment ended up being she had to sew an A onto all of her cloths and would have to walk around in shame for the rest of her life. The society looked down on her and shunned her for this act. Now she will be looked upon as a sinner in the society and be will be treated as so, "But the point which drew all eyes, and, as it were, transfigured the wearer,-so that both men and women, who had been familiarly acquainted with Hester Prynne, -was that scarlet letter, so fantastically embroidered and illuminated upon her bossom." (The Scarlet Letter, pg. 51). This quote shows how bold the letter stands out to everybody and how everybody knows what the embroidered letter belongs to Hester. She stands out among everybody in this society and this puts her down. Her reputation can never be restored to what it was and this punishment is extreme during the time period.