Part one of term paper
In the New Testament it states that "the wages of sin is death." Though the penalty of sin in The Scarlet Letter is not a termination of life, the evil of isolation can be a physically, morally, and socially tortuous event in Puritan society. Hester Prynne and Arthur Dimmesdale, in Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter, are both victims of the crue ...

Part two of term paper
... for its absence. Shame and guilt feed upon Arthur's soul with slow malevolency. Only a combination of death and confession finally release Arthur from his torture. Though Hester's ostracism from society and the tortuous nature of her shame, Hester is stripped of all passion and humanity. Since society acknowledges Hester's sin, she becomes an exile in her own town. "All the world Ha[s] frowned on her," and Hester must bear the brunt of her shameful isolation. When Hester walks through her town "a ...