The narrative of Hester Prynne, a seamstress who becomes an outcast in puritanical Boston in the middle of the 1600s after she becomes pregnant by a clergyman who is considered to be in good standing. She does not reveal the identity of the man who is the father of her child, and as a result, she is "convicted" of adultery and made to wear a scarlet letter "A" until an Indian invasion brings the Puritans together and causes them to reevaluate their rules and values.