The tendency of her fate and fortunes had been to set her free. The scarlet letter was her passport into regions where other women dared not tread. S… - Nathaniel Hawthorne

The scarlet letter was her passport into regions where other women dared not tread.

The scarlet letter was her passport into regions where other women dared not tread. Shame, Despair, Solitude! These had been her teachers — stern and wild ones, — and they had made her strong, but taught her much amiss.

let her cover the mark as she will, the pang of it will always be in her heart

The scarlet letter was her passport into regions where other women dared not tread.

Tradition, — which sometimes brings down truth that history has let slip, but is oftener the wild babble of the time, such as was formerly spoken at the fireside and now congeals in newspapers, — tradition is responsible for all contrary averments.