Public Shame In The Scarlet Letter

“You're Ugly”, “You look weird” these are successions of public shaming that often occurring on social media every day. Public shame is known for humiliating and dishonoring people, Are there any benefits? Or should public shaming became a thing of the past? In The Scarlet Letter (Source A), Hester Prynne is known for being a sinner and is shamed because of it. In The Price of Shame (Source B), Monica Lewinski has been publicly shamed for having unnormal feelings for her boss, which happens to be the president of the United States. Is the Internet a Mob Without Consequence? (Source C), the article explains how people on the internet can say whatever they want and not have any consequences. Public Shame impacts an individual in a negative way in their social, professional, and public lives. Intense shaming can impact an individual's social life incredibly. In the book The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne and The Price of Shame by Monica Lewinsky, Hester Prynne and Monica Lewinsky are publicly shamed in their social lives. Hester is shamed by her entire town, For example,”In a moment, however, wisely judging that one token of her shame would but poorly serve to hide another, she took the baby on her arm, and, with a burning blush, and yet a haughty smile, and a glance that would not be abashed, looked around at her townspeople and neighbours. On the breast of her gown, in fine red cloth, surrounded with an elaborate embroidery and fantastic flourishes of gold thread, appeared the letter A” (Hawthorne 60). This elaborate quote explains how Hester would be humiliated in front of the entire town with her baby in her arms. The Letter a is a symbol for shame because when people recognize the letter, they realize who she is and how they react is just shameful. In another case, Monica Lewinsky was also socially shamed, for example,”What that meant for me personally was that overnight …show more content…
In The Scarlet Letter, Hester accepts her shame, “Be not silent from any mistaken pity and tenderness for him; for, believe me, Hester, though he were to step down from a high place, and stand there beside thee, on thy pedestal of shame, yet better were it so, than to hide a guilty heart through life (Hawthorne 76). Henceforth, Hester accepted the shame that she received in a pubic place, on the scaffold in the middle of town with the entire town watching. In the Ted Talk, The Price of Shame, Monica Lewinsky was shamed by the quote,”I was branded as a tramp, tart, slut, whore, bimbo, and of course, that woman. I was seen by many but actually known by few” (Lewinsky 4:52). In a case that Monica would be seen in public, people would have those words like “tramp” would come to mind. It is important that Monica said,”I was seen by many but actually known by few,”because this means that people would just brand her with those alarming words and have preconceived ideas about her without her having a chance to prove herself. In result, someone who is publicly shamed could have other people judge them for the rest of their …show more content…
Therefore, an individual should care about public humiliation because it can have a large effect on a person’s future. A single case of public humiliation could have many aftershocks. One single case of public humiliation can lead to a lifetime of