Question

the scarlet letter quiz complete time remaining 59:56 read this excerpt from chapter 2 of the scarlet letter using comprehension strategies. “goodwives,” said a hard - featured dame of fifty, “i’ll tell ye a piece of my mind. it would be greatly for the public behoof, if we women, being of mature age and church - members in good repute, should have the handling of such malefactresses as this hester prynne. what think ye, gossips? if the hussy stood up for judgment before us five, that are now here in a knot together, would she come off with such a sentence as the worshipful magistrates have awarded?” what is the meaning of this excerpt? the speaker believes that she and her peers ought to be in charge of assigning sentences in cases like hester’s the speaker believes she and her peers ought to be acknowledged for their good standing in the community the speaker believes that the older women of the church ought to be allowed to serve as magistrates the speaker believes that the magistrates have been too strict in their handling of hester’s case

Explanation:

The speaker, a mature and respected church - member woman, thinks that women like herself should be in charge of handling cases like Hester Prynne's instead of the magistrates. She implies that they would have given a different (presumably harsher) sentence.

Answer:

The speaker believes that the older women of the church ought to be handling of Hester's case.