Hester Prynne, shamed by her puritan New England community for having a child while her husband was missing presumed drowned. Bears the scorn and isolation well and leads an independent life raising her daughter and refuses to name the father. 
 By contrast, her lover, the Rev Dimmesdale is revered in the community and her husband, known only to herself, believed to be a Doctor Chillingworth by the village appear weaker, largely motivated by propriety or desire for revenge. 
 Interesting morality tale with a view to how populations can be swayed by powerful influences and stereotype their members