The main allusion would be David and Bathsheba. Their story was one of adultery and murder. King David sent Bathsheba's husband to war so that he could truly be with Bathsheba (2 Sam. 11). This allusion was mentioned to compare the affair of Prynne and Dimmesdale to that of a more serious affair. Cain was mentioned because he committed the first murder and was given a specific mark to symbolize his murder (Gen. 4:15). “With her natural energy of character and her rare abilities, it could not reject her entirely, though it had left a more intolerable mark on a woman's heart than that which marked Cain's brow” (Hawthorne 87) . Hester was forced to wear the letter "A", causing people to treat her as if it was the mark of Cain. However, her skills were needed in the community and she was not completely