Question: Who is the protagonist  of Nathaniel Hawthorne's novel "The Scarlet Letter" who may have been inspired by a settler in colonial Boston who was brought to trial after the death of her child?
Context: The Scarlet Letter is a 1995 American romantic drama film.  It is a film adaptation of the Nathaniel Hawthorne novel of the same name.  It was directed by Roland Joffé and stars Demi Moore, Gary Oldman, and Robert Duvall.  This version was "freely adapted" from Hawthorne and deviated from the original story.  It was nominated for seven Golden Raspberry Awards at the 1995 ceremony, winning "Worst Remake or Sequel." The Out Campaign is a public awareness initiative for freethought and atheism.  It was initiated by Robin Elisabeth Cornwell, and is endorsed by Richard Dawkins, a prominent atheist.  The campaign aims to create more openness about being an atheist by providing a means by which atheists can identify themselves to others by displaying the movement's scarlet letter "A", a scarlet colored capital "A" in the Zapfino typeface, and an allusion to the scarlet letter "A" worn by Hester Prynne after being convicted of adultery in Nathaniel Hawthorne's "The Scarlet Letter".  It encourages those who wish to be part of the campaign to come out and re-appropriate, in a humorous way, the social stigma that in some places persists against atheism, by branding themselves with a scarlet letter. The Minister's Wooing is a historical novel by Harriet Beecher Stowe, first published in 1859.  Set in 18th-century New England, the novel explores New England history, highlights the issue of slavery, and critiques the Calvinist theology in which Stowe was raised.  Due to similarities in setting, comparisons are often drawn between this work and Nathaniel Hawthorne's "The Scarlet Letter" (1850).  However, in contrast to Hawthorne's "The Scarlett Letter", "The Minister's Wooing" is a "sentimental romance"; its central plot revolves around courtship and marriage.  Moreover, Stowe's exploration of the regional history of New England deals primarily with the domestic sphere, the New England response to slavery, and the psychological impact of the Calvinist doctrines of predestination and disinterested benevolence. Elizabeth Pain (c. 1652 – 26 November 1704), sometimes spelled Elizabeth Paine or Elisabeth Payne, was a settler in colonial Boston who was brought to trial after the death of her child.  She was acquitted of the murder charge but found guilty of negligence, fined, and flogged.  According to some writers and by popular tradition, aspects of Pain's life and her gravestone are considered an inspiration for the life and grave of character Hester Prynne in the novel "The Scarlet Letter" by Nathaniel Hawthorne. Rita K. Gollin was born on January 22, 1928 in Brooklyn, NY.  She attended Queens College for undergraduate studies before earning her Ph.D. in English from the University of Minnesota in 1961.  Gollin is Distinguished Professor Emerita of English at the State University of New York at Geneseo.  Gollin is a scholar of the life and works of Nathaniel Hawthorne, on whom she has authored several books and many articles.  Her 1979 book, "Nathaniel Hawthorne and the Truth of Dreams", published by the Louisiana State University Press, is consistently included on Hawthorne bibliographies.  Her later publications pursued visual-textual studies, focusing on the iconography of Hawthorne portraiture, and a biography of Hawthorne's publisher's wife, "Annie Adams Fields, Woman of Letters."  Gollin has also edited scholarly editions of Hawthorne's best-known novel, "The Scarlet Letter".  Her awards and services include NEH grants, and Presidencies of the Nathaniel Hawthorne Society and of the Northeast MLA. Ann Hibbins (or Hibbons; Hibbens) was a woman executed for witchcraft in Boston, Massachusetts, on June 19, 1656.  Her death by hanging was the third for witchcraft in Boston and predated the Salem witch trials in 1692.  Hibbins was later fictionalized in Nathaniel Hawthorne's famous novel "The Scarlet Letter".  A wealthy widow, Hibbins was the sister-in-law by marriage to Massachusetts governor Richard Bellingham.  Her sentence was handed down by Governor John Endicott (also spelled "Endecott"). The Scarlet Letter (German: Der Scharlachrote Buchstabe ) is a 1973 German film directed by Wim Wenders.  It is an adaptation of the Nathaniel Hawthorne novel "The Scarlet Letter". Hester Prynne is the protagonist of Nathaniel Hawthorne's novel "The Scarlet Letter".  She is portrayed as a woman condemned by her Puritan neighbors.  The character has been called "among the first and most important female protagonists in American literature". In The Blood is a play written by Suzan-Lori Parks which premiered at The Joseph Papp Public Theater in 1999.  Parks borrowed many aspects from Nathaniel Hawthorne's "The Scarlet Letter", and wanted to create a play based on the novel.  She originally wanted to call the play "Fucking A", but scrapped the idea.  She later wrote the story based on the main character from "The Scarlet Letter", and turned the story into more modern era, and changed the title to "In The Blood".  She later wrote a different play that she did title "Fucking A". The Holder of the World, (1993) is a novel by Bharati Mukherjee.  It is a retelling of Nathaniel Hawthorne's 1850 novel "The Scarlet Letter", placing the story in two centuries (17th and 20th).  The novel involves time travel via virtual reality, locating itself in 20th century Boston, 17th century Colonial America, and 17th century India during the spread of the British East India Company.  It also references Thomas Pynchon's novel, "V.".
Answer: Hester Prynne