Modern-day Scarlet Letters

Last time I checked in here, I shared a cross-section of Classic Meets Modern {literature style}.  And today, I've got another example of the ties between something that might seem archaic {like, I don't know, a story from 1850} and something else that is completely here and now.

My entire ENGL222 class is currently immersed in Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter.

This classic bit of literature focuses on Hester Prynne, who is sentenced to wear the book's namesake embroidered on her clothing for the remainder of her days.  Her crime?  Adultery - thus "the scarlet letter" is actually an "A".  The book is set in puritanical Boston during the mid-1600s.

Her very public and degrading punishment instantly made me think of these:

{This 12-year-old girl's mother happened
to catch an online photo of her with a Vodka bottle.
The consequence was swift and public.
The picture above was posted on
her Facebook page for all to see...}

{The trend is even catching on with pet owners...
This one always makes me giggle!}

---

The modern-day version of the scarlet letter may not entail walking through the center of town and standing on a scaffold as it did in Hawthorne's pivotal work.  It may have gotten a makeover and been upgraded to work even virtually, but it is nevertheless making a reemergence.

Although the two examples above were chosen by "parents," there have been actual legal cases where a judge issued the convicted to wear similar signs in a public area.

I wonder what Hester {and her literary creator} would think of this...  I wonder what you think of it, too!