The first act of Scarlet chronicles Hester's arrival in America. While waiting for her husband to join her, she is drawn to the goofy, goodhearted Dimmsdale, who folds a coded flirtation with Hester into one of his sermons. But when Hester becomes pregnant, the mighty scorn of the Puritan community is aroused with a vengeance. Hester is forced to bear the infamous red "A" for adultery on her dress and raise her daughter Pearl (Eva Hudson Leoniak) alone.