Pearl is the daughter Hester gives birth to. Ever since birth she has recognized her mother for the scarlet letter she bears on her bosom. Everyone says she is the Scarlet Letter itself and was sent by the devil. Pearl is very energetic and sometimes malicious.…
This passage explains how Pearl represents the innocence in one’s passion or love for another. Her stark contrast from other children catches the attention of both her parents, Hester and Dimmesdale. Pearl serves as a result of their lust for each other. Hawthorne further explains this concept by comparing Pearl to a “messenger of anguish.” Hawthorne uses this metaphor show that once Dimmesdale dies, the lustful connection between Hester and the pastor breaks apart. Pearl loses her wild character and ceases to be defiant of the world, displaying her new capability of feeling sorrow.…
The Scarlet Letter, a beautifully embroidered “A” that represented sin and now ability, was constantly the focus of Pearl’s eyes. While Hester has an encounter with Roger Chillingworth, she tells Pearl to go play while she speaks with him. Pearl gets distracted by all of the elements of nature as she entertains herself. “Pearl took some eelgrass, and imitated, as best she could, on her own bosom, the decoration with which she was so familiar on her mother’s. A letter--the letter A--but freshly green, instead of scarlet!” Since she does this, she will not stop pestering Hester about what the “A” actually means. Ironically, She later makes the connection of Hesters “A”, and Reverend Dimmesdale always holding his chest.…
Pearl’s isolation and her reliance upon her mother has led to her not being able to form relationships between other people. In the story, Pearl is conceived by the unfortunate crime of adultery. She is isolated from everyone but her mother, Hester. Hester is the only person Pearl interacts with in a loving way throughout the story. Pearl is very protective of Hester; when the children were making fun of Hester Pear, “. . . snatching up stones and fling at them, (Hawthorne 64).” This shows how she stands up for her mother and only her mother. Because of Hester committing adultery, Pearl is seen as a product of sin and not a single towns person will like Pearl because of their compliance to their faith. Pearl is described by the townspeople…
6) In The Scarlet Letter, Nathaniel Hawthorne employs figurative language to explain the symbolic character of Pearl before she becomes a woman. To Hester, her child who is often associated with sin is, “Her Pearl! ...she named the infant “Pearl”, as being of great price, --purchased with all she had, her mother’s only treasure!”(6,1). This allusion of the Gospel of Matthew, the merchant man seeking goodly pearls gave up everything to get that one pearl, similarly connects to how Hester gave up everything such as her home, friends, and dignity just to obtain her daughter, Pearl. Hester sustains the pain of abandonment and wrath from the Puritans just to keep Pearl; Pearl gives Hester a reason to strengthen herself and survive in this community…
She is the result of Dimmesdale and Hester's love for each other. Because of Hester's crime, Pearl is also discriminated because of her mother. "Behold, verily, there is the woman of the scarlet letter; and of a truth, moreover, there is the likeness of the scarlet letter running along her side! Come, therefore, and let us fling mud at them!"(Hawthorne 112). This quote explains how the Puritan children felt about Hester and Pearl. They wanted to fling mud at them because these children were probably told to hate them, and also of the crime Hester committed. Pearl is also considered a wild child, and very untamed and very unlike Puritan children."The child shall be well cared for!far better than tho canst do for it."(Hawthorne 124). And "The discipline of the family in those days, was of a far more rigid kind than now....Hester Prynne, nevertheless, the loving mother of this one child, ran little risk of erring on the side of undue severity. Mindful, however, of her own errors and misfortunes, she early sought to impose a tender, but strict control over the infant immortality that was committed to her charge. But the task was beyond her skill. After testing both smiles and frowns, and proving that neither mode of treatment possessed any calculable influence, Hester was ultimately compelled to stand aside and permit the child to be swayed by her own impulses." (Hawthorne 100). This quote explains how unlike Puritan child Pearl is, and how's she's offended. Pearl is considered wild and has no rules to follow, because Hester hasn't disciplined her. Because of this, the Townspeople want to give Pearl away to someone who's a better parent. Hester's sin has affected Pearl because she isn't treated with respect and she's considered the result of Hester's sin. Pearl is also considered a wild child that must be…
In The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne one of the main characters in Hester Prynne. She is a convicted adulterer, and the story follows her starting in 1642 in a Puritan town. She and her illegitimate daughter, Pearl, along with her lover, Dimmesdale, and husband, Chillingworth, are the main focus of this dramatic tale. Through her actions and words, Pearl is a “device” to move the consciences of her parents to end their sinful situation. Pearl’s physical obsession with the scarlet A torments her mother, at one point making her physically put it back on, all while forcing her to confront her sins. Pearl also pressures Dimmesdale into acknowledging her as his daughter, and admitting his sins. Pearl is an important aspect of this tragic…
1. Hawthorne uses the quote, “Man had marked this woman’s sin by a scarlet letter, which has such potent and disastrous efficacy that no human sympathy could reach her, save it were sinful like herself. God, as a direct consequence of sin which man thus punished, had given her a lovely child, whose place was on that same dishonored bosom, to connect her parent forever with the peace and descent of mortals, and to be finally a blessed soul in heaven.” (86), to contrast how man views Hester’s sin as an unforgiveable act that she deserves to be punished for infintely, and God saw the sin and sent her aid in the form of baby Pearl. Pearl’s purpose on Earth is to show her mother happiness and beauty and lead her to heaven.…
In Nathaniel Hawthorne’s Scarlet Letter, Pearl undergoes a dramatic transformation from a devilish infant to a sagely child. Born into a society full of judgment and hypocrisy, Pearl, a bastard child, is unable to escape her predetermined role. Pearl lacks a traditional family; her mother is the sole provider, a direct attack on Puritan standards designating this young family as outsiders. Furthermore, Pearl, unlike her peers, establishes a reputation for being strange because she does not adhere to conventional norms. Despite her apparent shortcomings, Pearl is more perceptive and compassionate than members of her community. Predestined by stringent, oppressive Puritan standards, Pearl is outwardly…
Hawthorne uses Pearl as a big source of symbolism in The Scarlet Letter. Pearl represents the unseen tumult that is inside of Hester, that even Hester herself cannot see. She symbolizes the secrecy of Hester and Dimmesdale’s love outside of the strict rules of the Puritan society. She represents how forbidden it was to love outside of a marriage or family. Pearl was a last hope for Dimmesdale to pass away peacefully and without regrets. She was her own hope for a better life and to fit in…
Pearl is a very intriguing character in The Scarlet Letter; she is Hester's and Dimmesdale's child and the embodiment of their sin. Pearl is used in contrast to puritan society and as human form of the scarlet letter.…
‘Thou thyself wilt see it, one time or another. They say, child, thou art of the lineage of the Prince of Air! Wilt thou ride with me some fine night to see thy father? Then thou shalt know wherefore the minister keeps his hand over his heart!” (Chapter 22 Pg.230). In The Scarlet Letter Mistress Hibbins is the voice of society so one can infer that the rest of society also perceives Pearl as not only Hester’s sin, but also as the devil, which is why she is left to find companionship on her own leading her to do things in which the Puritan society frowns upon such as grave stomping and disrespecting her elders. Once Pearl expresses her anger throughout bad actions it leads Mistress Hibbins to believe that Hester is an unfit to raise Pearl due to her sin. “But this could never be. Pearl was a born outcast of the infantile world. An imp of evil, emblem and product of sin, she had no right among christened infants. Nothing was more remarkable than the instinct, as it seemed, with which the child comprehended her loneliness: the destiny that had drawn an inviolable circle round about her: the whole peculiarity, in short, of her position in respect to other…
In “The Scarlet Letter”, Nathanial Hawthorne masterfully weaves symbolism into his plot. The smaller implied themes of the story add an element to “The Scarlet Letter” that is lacking in many books, modern and classic. Pearl, being the daughter of one of the main characters, is portrayed in two ways, just like many of the other characters in the story. In Hawthorne’s tale of the scarlet letter, Pearl Prynne is represented as both a symbol as well as a main character in the story.…
In Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter, Pearl serves many roles as a character. In the harsh Puritan society she lived in with her mother Hester, she provides some comical relief into their difficult lives. Hester was condemned her whole life from committing adultery. Her letter was not the only punishment she faced, but the internal guilt of knowing she went against her religion sat with her for life. Pearl was her most precious gift and she gave Hester a reason to keep going and continue on with her life, because she knew that Pearl deserved the best. Lastly, Pearl serves as a device to help further connect Hester and Dimmesdale. Although a result of adultery, Pearl is the result of two people who truly loved each other, which was rare for this…
In addition to the scarlet letter upon Hester’s bosom Pearl is also a torturing physical reminder to Hester and Minister Arthur Dimmesdale of their sin.…