Characterization Of Hester And Pearl In The Scarlet Letter

In Nathaniel Hawthorne’s novel, The Scarlet Letter, the use of elaborate characterization helps the reader better understand each character’s personality and motive in the novel. At the start of the novel, Hester, a sinner, and her daughter Pearl were shunned and given hatred by the Puritan society however, near the end of the novel they seem to regain their identity and receive honor in the restrictive and cruel Puritan society. To characterize Hester and Pearl in the novel Hawthorne specifically constructs their names and describes them with vivid imagery and discrete symbols.

Hester Prynne, the protagonist of the novel, is shown as a proud, passionate, and selfless woman. The novel evolves around her because of her sin and her punishment is to wear the Letter A. As from the beginning, at the scaffold scene, we see Hester standing proudly and fearlessly in front of the crowd. Hawthorne writes, Hester “was tall, with a figure of

“Mother,” said little Pearl, “the sunshine does not love you. It runs away and hides itself, because it is afraid of something on your bosom. . . . It will not flee from me, for I wear nothing on my bosom yet! (Hawthorne 165)” Here the light imagery represents joy or peace and Hester’s Scarlet Letter is blocking her from having any; therefore, when Pearl creates her own Letter A, Hester tells her to quickly run into the sunshine so she does not lose her peacefulness. Throughout the novel, Hester is portrayed as an intelligent, capable, but not necessarily a powerful woman; she doesn’t attempt to fight back for her identity, instead she peacefully regains it. To somewhat cope with her punishment, Hester provides care for the poor and brings them food and clothing. By end of the novel, Hester’s Letter A has become known for “Able” not “Adultery” and she has become an idolized mother to the women of the Puritan