The Scarlet Letter Blog 1

Adultery has changed drastically over the years. As I read the consequences that the adulators had to face it amazed me how much the people cared about morals and relationships in the 1600s. Reading through the six laws of just the Massachusetts Bay Colony alone gives us a pretty good example of how seriously people in the 1600s handled adultery. In comparing the way that people respond to adultery, from the 1600s to now, it has become apparent that people have lowered their standards, become more lenient, and learned to be less judgmental, staying out of people’s lives. I think so many times in today’s society people don’t care enough about what is going on in other people’s lives. This is a dramatic change from that of the 1600s.
The Laws Addressing Adultery in Massachusetts Bay Colony are very strict saying “that if any man shall have carnall copulacon with another mans wife, they both shalbee punished by death” or “if any person commit ADULTERIE with a married, or espoused wife; the adulterer and adulteresse shal surely be put to death.” From these laws it is very clear to see that adultery was strictly prohibited in the 1600s. It is clear from the seriousness of issues that people in this time period took a lot of pride in having morals and doing what is right.
I wish I could say the same about today’s culture, but sadly I think I would be hard pressed to come up with a decent argument that supported this view. The very sad part is that I can think of a number of examples supporting the view that today’s culture does not hold moral values very highly. For an example, Tiger Woods, a pro golfer, has committed adultery recently. Because Tiger Woods is in the lime light his life has become very public. Tiger is not the only person, in the public eye, that has committed adultery. Although Tiger was given a lot of flak from the media, no one would ever even think about killing him for his actions.