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The Scarlet Letter is set in the colonial time period in Boston, Massachusetts when accusations of trivial crimes and dull felonies were high. But not all were for nothing. In Nathaniel Hawthorne's book, he depicts the scene of everyday life in colonial towns where the every move of everyone is either ripped apart and criticized or put on high. This very well describes the book. Hester Prynne, the main character, committed adultery and was forced …

…the truth. Although it was not his intention at the time he wrote The Scarlet Letter, Nathaniel Hawthorne has related that time period to modern day. There are still punishments for adultery, even if they are not as stiff as the penalties were in those days. He shows how powerfully painful both seen and an unseen sentences are to a person's wellbeing and how it can bring a perfectly healthy person to have a breakdown.