The stigmatization of the adulteress in Nathaniel Hawthorne’s “The scarlet letter” and in the contemporary society

Abstract

Nathaniel Hawthorne tells the story of the adulterous crime of Hester Prynne and Pastor Arthur Dimmesdale, who, at the beginning of the story, goes unpunished, suffering only from self-punishment and guilt that chases him throughout the play.The population of Boston meets to witness the execution of Hester Prynne's penalty, which becomes a pariah before the inhabitants of the city, for being an adulteress.The methodology used was the bibliographical research of Literature and Law theorists.The article aims to analyze female adultery in the puritan society of the seventeenth century comparing it with adultery in the twenty-first century and the consequences of this for women.The analysis of the literary work takes place from the point of view of Law and Literature studies and in the results obtained it is noticed that little has changed in relation to female adultery, although it is no longer a crime in the Brazilian Penal Code, by morality and religion, the figure of the adulteress continues being publicly execrated, reaching her honor and image before the society.