Mortify

mor·ti·fy

verb\ˈmȯr-tə-ˌfī\

To subject to severe and vexing embarrassment.

In "The Scarlet Letter" the town decides to mortify Hester Prynne by making her wear a scarlet 'A' on her dress as a sign of shame.

It mortified me to have to admit that I'd never actually read the book BUT i'm doing it anyway. Well I read SOME of it... ;)