What did the women of the town think of Hester Prynne?

The women felt pretty good about themselves considering Hester's downfall. It meant that their own mundane and loveless lives were not that bad. They thought she was an adulterer and a shame. The extended this shame to her illegitimate daughter Pearl.

Several of the women begin to discuss Hester Prynne, and they soon vow that Hester would not have received such a light sentence for her crime if they had been the judges. One woman, the ugliest of the group, goes so far as to advocate death for Hester.