Boston, mid-17th century: Hester Prynne, dignified and silent, is led through prison doors to her public shaming by her censorious Puritan neighbors.

Holding her illegitimate child to her breast and bearing a bright scarlet letter 'A' embroidered on her bodice, Hester must now struggle to create a new life for herself and her child in this harsh and unforgiving community.

When her missing spouse reappears and takes up residence in town under an assumed identity, the stage is set for an explosive confrontation between the truly moral and the merely religious.