Should Chillingworth Enact Vengeance Upon Hester Prynne

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The Scarlet Letter, written by Nathaniel Hawthorne, discusses the story of Hester Prynne and the ignominy of adultery she committed on her husband Chillingworth. There are many reasons why Chillingworth should enact vengeance upon Hester Prynne, but more valuable reasons why he should not. Chillingworth was absent from home for many years and there was no proof he was still alive; Chillingworth knew that Hester did not love him when they got married; and due to Hester’s infidelity, she now has a baby to take care fore alone. Adultery was a crime punishable by death during the 1600s since the Bible was the Puritan constitution. However Hester’s situation differed from others. Chillingworth sent Hester to America while he stayed in Europe to settle his affairs. Two years passed by and Hester had no idea if he was dead or alive or if he would join her in America. While Chillingworth talks to a stranger, trying to gather information about Hester, the man tells him “…as is most likely, her husband may be at the bottom of the sea; - they have not been bold to put in force the extremity of our righteous law against her” (Hawthorne 58). Some may say Hester should have been smarter and less impulsive, she could have found the way to get information about her husband by contacting the right people. Although Hester could have been more concerned for her husband, she had no way to contact Chillingworth and she couldn’t do much since she didn’t have an address to send a letter to or to check personally. Marriages in this time period were mostly arranged because women could not work and they needed to be sustained economically by a man. This was the case for Hester Prynne and Chillingworth. Hester clearly stated she never loved him: “thou knowest that I was frank with thee. I felt no love, nor feigned any,” but Chillingworth fooled himself and believed that their marriage

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