In 17th-century Boston, a beautiful woman called Hester Prynne stands on a scaffold holding her three-month-old baby girl. She must face the scorn and insults of the angry crowd, who are there to humiliate her. Hester has a scarlet letter embroidered on her dress. It is the letter 'A' - for adulteress. At that time, it was a terrible crime for unmarried women to have children. Hester is a married woman although her husband had not been around for years. The crowd demand to know one thing - who is the father of Hester's baby? But that is Hester's secret.