"Should have the handlings of such malefactresses as this Hester Prynne. What think ye, gossips? I the hussy stood up for judgment before us five...come off with such a sentence as the worshipful magistrates?...Marry, I trow not." (38)
For a town so small, Hester Prynne keeping a known secret so big must be killing some of the towns people. If this had been a normal secret, like who stole something trivial and the townspeople knew that one of their own knew information, that person would be hounded. It would never be acceptable just to passively walk away with the secret. Hester Prynne did not just walk away. She got a heavier sentence, but she was able to keep her secret. The towns people must have tried everything while she was in jail, before the opening scene. After all that and being asked in front of everyone at her hearing Hester told no one. This added on to her shunning from the society. Now, she was an adulterer and she had a dangerous secret that she would not reveal. In the 21st century, this would be seen as honorable, protecting another, so you can bear the burden, but only worsened Hesters, punishment, both from society and the law.
It does seem kind of convoluted that they would just let her go without revealing the secret and give her a heavy sentence rather than force her to give up the secret and have a lighter sentence. I guess it just goes back to the time period in which the story takes place, which you hinted at. Like you said, in the 21st century, the secret would be more important than the crime. But in Puritan times people obviously enjoyed watching others suffer than knowing the juicy details for themselves.
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