I Love Nathaniel Hawthorne

Okay, now that that is out of the way...

My favorite works also happen to be his most read, The House Of Seven Gables, and The Scarlet Letter.

I want to talk about The Scarlet Letter a little. I just re-read it, for the umpteenth time, and was really putting a lot of thought into the major theme of the book.

For those of you who have never read The Scarlet Letter, shame on you, go to the library and read the damn thing, or if you trust me, go buy a copy, it is amazing! Hawthorn's words melt in you mind like butter on a hot biscuit.

The book is about a woman Hester Prynne who is punished for the crime of adultery by being made to wear... you guessed it, a scarlet letter A on her clothing. He much older is husband is assumed dead and she gives birth to a daughter. She refuses to name the father, but come to find out, he is the town minister.

So, what I really want to talk about, is this; How in just a few centuries has the crime of adultery gone from being a crime punishable by forced lifelong ridicule, or even death, to just another side note in every tabloid?

I do think that such severe punishment by our forefathers was absolutely ridiculous, but why does nobody care anymore?

I have been cheated on, and let me tell you, I would rather die then go through that pain again. What though may I ask happens to the adulterer? What they lose your trust? Well, obviously it wasn't that important to them in the first place.

I am not saying that we should re-criminalize adultery, but I also don't think it should be looked upon the same as any other day to day petty incident.

I also, do not agree that Hester was an adulteress. I believe, she truly believed her husband dead, and fell in love with another. She did the right thing, and admitted what she had done, and, raised the child with no help, while still carrying the burden of her "crime" daily.

I am grateful that we have evolved from the time of the puritans. I think they were far to judgmental and punished too easily. Does that however mean that in comparison, we now live in a lawless society?