Views Of Adultery In The Puritan Times Of Today

Adultery is the sexual intercourse between a married person and a person who is not their spouse. It is seen as the seventh of the Ten Commandments and states “Thou shalt not commit adultery”. Throughout time, this crime has become more acceptable and isn't as frowned upon as before. Although it is still a sin, people do not typically seek a punishment for this crime. When comparing the views and punishments of adultery between the Puritan times of the book The Scarlet Letter and now, there are obvious differences.
During the Puritan times of early America committing a sin that violated any religious rule would have a serious punishment. These punishments would be especially horrific if they violated any one of the Ten Commandments because the law and religion were almost identical back then. When looking at the sin of committing adultery, people back then had many different opinions as
Adultery is not only seen in modern society, but is supported by TV, movies, and popular culture( Divorce Resistance, n.d.). Also, it is one of the top reasons of today's high divorce rate. The typical punishments or penalties of committing adultery in the United States are fines and jail time. After these disciplines are over and dealt with there is hardly a stigma left behind.
When comparing the views of adultery throughout history, there are obvious differences and visible changes. In early America colonists thought that it was such a horrible sin to commit that it deserved death. While today the only punishment is a small fine or a couple of years in jail. Some reasons for the changes are thought to be the view of marriage. Puritans believed that marriage is a legal binding between a husband and wife that should not be broken, and divorce was almost unheard of. However, today's culture will commonly view marriage as a bond between husband and wife that can easily be