The prison is sad and gloomy. There is a small crowd of Puritans standing outside. Their clothes reflect the darkness of the prison. Hester Prynne is outwardly imprisoned. She committed adultery, and is now being punished for it through solitude and division. Arthur Dimmesdale is inwardly imprisoned, because he feels guilty inside for not confessing his sin. In the midst of all of the obscurity there is a single rose bush that symbolizes Hester living in truth despite everything happening around her.
             The crowd is gathered to see Hester come out. For her sin of adultery, she is sentenced to public humiliation by wearing the letter "A" embroidered in gold thread on her dress forever. The "good-wives" believe that she should be more harshly punished, and refer to her as a hussy.
             As Hester walks out of the jail, she looks proud. She clutches her baby in her arms, and pushes through the crowd. She goes to a scaffold, and has to stand there to boast her letter. The crowd includes her husband, Roger Chillingworth, her Pastor, Arthur Dimmesdale, Bellingham, the Governor of Boston, and Rev. John Wilson, the Senior Pastor.
             Hester recognizes the small, deformed man in the crowd, and he signals to her that he doesn't want his identity uncovered. Rev. Dimmesdale is sincerely grieving in the crowd because of her sin. He later tries to uncover the truth of who the father is, under the direction of John Wilson.
             Being summoned to the jail, Hester and Roger come face to face for the first time. Hester is sick, and it is affecting Pearl's health also. Roger is called to the jail as their physician. He asks her who the father is, but she will not tell him. He told her to not tell anyone who it is, but he will find out and seek revenge on the man that had an affair with his wife.
             After being released from prison, Hester is free. She can do whatever she wants, and can go wherever she wants to go. She decides ...