Hester and the Puritans in The Crucible Hester Prynne's life was difficult and unique, with many difficult events and circumstances that changed her and separated her from ordinary people. Large rifts eventually formed between her and the community in which she lived. These differences could be divided into two categories: external distinction and internal change. The outward distinction is easy to identify. It is Hester's adultery, and is signified in the scarlet letter A and her daughter Pearl. Inner change is much more subtle and difficult to express. It is the alteration in Hester's mind and soul that could be said to have originated from the day of her public shame. Outwardly she appeared to have repented and reformed, wholeheartedly embracing Puritan theology, but in her mind and heart she was a different person and had turned away from the Puritan lifestyle. Not only had she turned away from the Puritans, but she had turned away from God as well. This was demonstrated in some of the things she did. To understand how Hester was separated from the society around her in the first place, it is necessary to understand the society itself. The Puritan lifestyle, which should have been unique, was not all that different from the societies found everywhere in Europe at the time. Probably most characteristic was that, although this was an important part of society elsewhere, Puritan life was based almost entirely on religion. Puritan life was almost entirely governed by laws, as one of their beliefs was that strict discipline was good for people. “He [the Puritan] thought that God had left in His word a rule for discipline, and that it was aristocratic for the elders, not monarchical for the bishops, nor democratic for… middle of the paper… dland.” 5 Hawthorne, 183.6 Hawthorne, 116.7 Hawthorne, 154.8 Hawthorne, 157.9 Hawthorne, 158-159.10 Hawthorne, 159.BibliographyBancroft, Seth. “Puritan Theology: A Handbook in Four Parts” http://www.neo.Irun.com/12teachers/Netp4M/PuritmOancroft.html.Buckingham, Rachel. "Anne Hutchinson: American Jezebel or Courageous Woman?" http://cpcug.org/user/billb/hutch.html.Crawford, Deborah. Four women in violent times. New York: Crown Publishers, Inc., 1970. Geree, John. "The Character of an Old English Puritan, or Nonconformist" http://www.cet.com/-mtr/GereeChar.html.Hawthorne, Nathaniel. The Scarlet Letter. Logan, Iowa: The Perfection Form Company, 1979. Rollmann, Hans. "Anglicans, Puritans, and Quakers in 16th- and 17th-century Newfoundland" http://www.mun.ca/rels/ang/texts/ang 1.html.