The Scarlet Letter is set in 17th-century Puritan Boston, Massachusetts, during the years 1642 to 1649. It tells the story of Hester Prynne, who conceives a daughter through an affair and struggles to create a new life of repentance and dignity. Throughout the book, Hawthorne explores themes of legalism, sin, and guilt.The Scarlet Letter is a work of fiction in a historical setting, and is considered to be Hawthorne’s best work. Hawthorne describes a space between materialism and 'dreaminess' that he calls 'a neutral territory, somewhere between the real world and fairy-land, where the Actual and the Imaginary may meet, and each imbues itself with nature of the other.' This combination of 'dreaminess' and realism gaveHawthorne space to explore major themes.