... us. Only be giving yourself totally to His devotion can you escape hell's gapping, flaming mouth. This is what the Puritans lived through. Religious leaders spit out so many fearful images that the people had no choice but to follow "God's" will. Now imagine that even after all that fire and brimstone, you decide to do it your way anyway. This is what Hawthorne demonstrates in "The Scarlet Letter". And none of this could have been the least effective had it not been for the tale's setting. The setting was all-essential for this story. If Hester Prynne did her adulterous deed in present-day America, would people even given it a second thought? No, not even in the Bible belt. It was the Puritan society that condemned her. It was the setting that drove Dimmesdale into silence. He feared Puritan justice coming down on his high brow. Whatever love, fear, cruelty, ...

See this essay or coursework document in full right now