What is Hester Prynnes punishment? What do the Puritan magistrates hope to accomplish with this punishment?

The
first scene of 's novel depicts 's public punishment at the hands of the
Puritan society of mid-17th century Boston. Hester has committed adultery, an action that, in
Puritan times, was illegal and a punishable crime. Hester's adultery was discovered when she
birthed a baby whose father was unknown.

Hester is forced to stand on a
scaffold in town for three hours with a scarlet letter "A" branded on her dress. The
"A" is a symbol for Hester's adultery, and the government has decreed that she must
wear this "A" for the rest of her life. By putting her on public display, the
townspeople are made aware of Hester's crime, and she endures much humiliation and ridicule on
the scaffold.

Hester's public punishment is indicative of what the Puritan
society did to people it saw as transgressors. It's worth noting that Hawthorne's ancestor, John
Hathorne, was one of the judges that presided over the infamous Salem witch trials. Hathorne
apparently...