Cambley 1

Zoey Cambley & Leilani Maher

Period 2

Ms. Moss

2 April 2019

The Scarlet Letter​ Movie: The setting

In the movie the setting takes place during the Elizabethan era, late 1500s, in the heart of

England. England was run by the king and queen during this time making Hester the queen, yet

during this time women were also suppressed, even more than they were in the victorian era. The

harsh ridicule of a woman was taken very seriously because any counts against the crown or a

person in a higher class was punishable by death. This correlates with Hawthorne’s depiction of

The Scarlet Letter​ and having it set in the Puritan age because in both eras women were

suppressed a lot and were punished for acting unholy. Hawthorne explains, “On the other hand,

penalty, which, in our days, would infer a degree of mocking infamy and ridicule, might then be

investe with almost as stern a dignity as the punishment of death itself” (Hawthorne 44).

Declaring that this act of adultery has such a harsh punishment like death. In the Elizabethan era

the queen committing adultery was punishable by having her head be cut off. Both times actively

describe stringent accountability for women and how women were often persecuted.