The Heart of Midlothian

The Heart of Midlothian is often regarded as Scott's finest novel featuring Jeanie Deans, the first woman among Scott's protagonists, and also the first to come from the lower classes. While the heroine is idealised for her religious devotion and her moral rectitude, Scott nevertheless ridicules the moral certitude represented by the branch of Presbyterianism known as Cameronians, represented in the novel by Jeanie's father David.