Question: What reasons are given as to why Hester Prynne was not executed for her crime? What would the Puritan women have done to her if given the power?
Answer:
Hester was not executed for her crime for a multitude of reasons. One reason being that imprisonment, mocking, and ridicule are almost as bad as death and she has to live with the shame for the rest of her life. In addition she was pregnant and the towns people would not have wanted to kill an unborn child and the child would also serve as her punishment because she has to raise Pearl and constantly be reminded of her Adultery. A third reason Hester was allowed to live is that some people spoke on her behalf like Dimmesdale saying that she should live. Even though the town elders do not admit this I believe that they were also curious about who the father was and also wanted to punish him. The only way to find out who the father was is to let Hester live and make her tell them. A combination of all these reasons made it logical for the elders to decide to shame Hester instead of having her executed.
I believe that if the Puritan women were left to make the decision of Hester's fate they would have had her publicly shamed and then have had her hung. I think they would have done this because some of the women talked about shaming her and others talked about hanging her. In addition they are not opposed to violence because Hawthorne talks about how they rush to see people get hung or shamed which leads me to believe they would not mind giving this as a punishment. Also I think some of the women are jealous of Hester because she is so pretty and they want to purify the society of wrongdoings. Overall I do not think the Puritan women would have let Hester live.
Hester and Child
"She ascended a flight of wooden steps, and was thus displayed to the surrounding multitude."
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