Throughout The Scarlet Letter, the narrator constantly reminds us of the Puritan culture which governs most of the themes of the story, including sin. The crux of the story relies on a population that values purity above all else and condemns Hester for committing an act of sin that has been banned by law. To this community, their law relies on both “the Scripture and the statute book” (454) which I think shows the fundamental structure of their society and how they govern themselves. In understanding the importance of Puritan culture to this narrative, I found myself interested in how the narrator introduces characters by their appearance, particularly women. The narrator even goes so far as to describe that “morally, as well as materially, there was a coarser fibre in those wives and maidens of old English birth and breeding (453).” From this quote, the narrator immediately correlates the strength of the morality of the women in this community with the solidity of their features/appearance. It becomes clear that the descriptions of the appearances of each woman are important to focus on as metaphors of their moral fiber. 

For example, he describes one woman who wants to condemn Hester to death as “the ugliest as well as the most pitiless (454)” and another as a “hard-featured dame (453).” On the other hand, all the descriptions of Hester’s appearance focus on her intangible beauty that, although she is shrouded in sin, so to speak, is undeniable. He describes her as “a figure of perfect elegance” and and although she was in sin, “her beauty shone out (455).” I am particularly interested in these descriptions because while normally a woman’s elegance and fairness would be in direct correlation with high morality, in this case, the more “lady-like” a woman is such as Hester, the lower their moral fiber. I think this reversal really shows the Puritan themes throughout the book which equate beauty in a woman with sin, and “plainness” with piety.