Bianca Adamo 10000585609 Professor. Date In The Scarlet Letter, Nathaniel Hawthorne recites many biblical allusions when explaining the human demeanor of Hester Prynne and the Puritan community she lives in. Hester gives birth to an illegitimate daughter whom she names Pearl. A “pearl of great price”, a reference made to the Biblical Gospel of Matthew. The ‘pearl of great price”, is one that a merchantman sold all his belongings for in the pursuit of purchasing this expensive pearl. This is the initial introduction of Pearl, as the true unlawful daughter of an adulterer. The imagery Hawthorne gives early on in Pearls life is a testament to what Hester must give up to give birth to her. Hester’s reputation, community and religion; she must …show more content…
It is also a preface into the symbolism that Pearl embodies. She, in most scenes of the book, acts less like a human and more like a symbol. Pearl is a symbol of sin, a symbol of unity and moreover, a symbol of the conscience. Pearl is an emblem to the Puritan settlement that ultimately frees her parents from shame due to the symbolic nature Hawthorne provides as Pearls characteristics. Hester and Dimmesdale are overcome with shame due to the bearing of their adulterous love child Pearl. Pearl Prynne is symbolically representing her parents sins in the flesh. Everyday she is a living reminder to Hester of her passionate, or in the Puritans view, sinful tendencies. She lives as a mark on Hester’s life; much like the scarlet A she bears across her chest. The community that Hester lives in does not separate religion from state and every act that is done in passion, is done of sin; sin that will be punished for the whole settlement to see. Pearl is the reminder of Hester’s loss of religion and depiction of her sin, much like the scarlet A. The symbolic parallel between the Scarlet A and Pearl goes so far as Hester contemplating holding Pearl in front of her Scarlet A on the first scaffold scene. Hester decides that, "one token of her shame would but poorly serve to hide …show more content…
Initially she is the symbol of alliance that both Dimmesdale and Hester share. “Pearl was the oneness of their [Hester and Dimmesdales] being. Be the foregone evil what it might, how could they doubt that their earthly lives and future destinies were conjoined”. Pearl defines the unity that both Hester and Dimmesdale share. Their passion led them to create Pearl and although she is a constant reminding symbol of the sin they acted in, she is made up genetically both parents intertwined much like their destinies proving that, as much as Dimmesdale might not want to admit, Hester and himself are tied in unity because of Pearl. Pearl also acts as a union between human and nature. Hester‘s home in the forest, symbolizes her retreat from man to nature; this is where Pearl learns her connection with nature and the unity she represents. In the scenes where Pearl in enveloped in the forest, she seems persuaded by the natural surroundings to become one with it. When Pearl stands on one side of the brook, Hester and Dimmesdale beckon her to the other side, Pearl is taken over by the light the forest provides and for an instant feels at home with nature. Pearl manifests the
Pearl looks like the human version of the scarlet letter. Pearl is an example of the innocent result of sin. All the kids make fun of Pearl and they disclude her from everything. She never did anything wrong, but everyone treats her like she committed the sin also. Pearl acts out against the children that make fun of her and acts like a crazy child. She cannot control the sin that her parents committed. Hester accepts the Puritan way and sees Pearl as a creature of
The two of them, after Dimmesdale dies, continue with their plans to go back to England where they hope for a better life. Once in England, the two are able to change their lives around for the better. Pearl is even found to have a family of her own: “Mr. Surveyor Pue, who made investigations a century later, … Pearl was not only alive, but married, and happy, and mindful of her mother; and that she would most joyfully have entertained that sad and lonely mother at her fireside” ( Hawthorne 392). Pearl was able to overcome her old life and create a new one, a better one, one that was just for her. Even though her mother was no longer around she tried her best to kept in touch with her. She also kept her and her mother’s experience in mind never to let herself go back to that life. After spending many years in England, Hester finally returns to New England. When she returns she is full of sorrow and regret; however, she continues to wear her A on upon her chest as a reminder of her pain. With returning to the land of sin, people came to Hester, mostly women, with problems of their own. They hope by talking to someone who has been through so much will help them, or give them insight on what life is like to be on the outside: “And, as Hester Prynne had no selfish ends, nor lived in any measure for her own profit and enjoyment, people brought all their sorrows and perplexities, and besought her counsel, as one who had herself gone through a mighty trouble. Women, more especially,—in the continually recurring trials of wounded, wasted, wronged, misplaced, or erring and sinful passion,—or with the dreary burden of a heart unyielded, because unvalued and unsought,—came to Hester’s cottage, demanding why they were so wretched, and what the remedy! Hester comforted and counseled them, as best she might” (Hawthorne 392-393). Even though Hester was miserable and thought that no
In his novel The Scarlet Letter, Nathaniel Hawthorne uses the storyline of Hester Prynne’s adultery as a means of criticizing the values of Puritan society. Hester and her daughter Pearl, whom she conceives out of wedlock, are ostracized from their community and forced to live in a house away from town. The reflections of Pearl in different mirrored surfaces represent the contrast between the way Puritans view her and who she actually is. In the fancy mirrored armor of the society’s elite class, Pearl is depicted harshly as a devilish and evil spawn, unable to live up to the expectations of such a pristine society. However, in the natural reflections of the earth’s surface, Pearl’s beauty and innocence is much more celebrated. The discrepancies between these positive depictions of Pearl as an angelic figure and the Puritans’ harsh judgment of her character suggest that Puritans inflated her oddities and strange habits in order to place her and Hester in a place of inferiority within the community. Hawthorne employs reflection and mirrors in his novel to convey the Puritans’ misconstrual of Pearl as an elfish, evil child and to critique the severity of early Puritan moral codes.
Through the use of numerous symbols, Nathanial Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter serves as an allegory for the story of Adam and Eve and its relation to sin, knowledge, and the human condition that is present in human society. Curious for the knowledge of good and evil, Adam and Eve sinned in the Garden of Eden, which resulted in the revelation of their “humanness” and expulsion from the “divine garden” as they then suffered the pain and joy of being humans. Just as Adam and Eve were expelled from their society and suffered in their own being, so were Hester Prynne and Arthur Dimmesdale in The Scarlet Letter. Hester was out casted and shunned, while Dimmesdale suffered under his own guilt. After knowledge of her affair is made known, Hester is forced to wear a scarlet letter “A” on her chest to symbolize her crime of adultery, and is separated from the Puritan society. Another “A” appears in the story, and is not embroidered, but instead scarred on Dimmesdale’s chest as a symbol of guilt and suffering. Hester’s symbol of guilt comes in the form of her daughter, Pearl, who is the manifestation of her adultery, and also the living version of her scarlet letter. Each of these symbols come together to represent that with sin comes personal growth and advancement of oneself in society as the sinner endures the good and bad consequences.
Pearl is Hester and Reverend Dimmesdale’s illegitimate daughter. Although Pearl is described as beautiful, throughout the book, she is consistently described as “impish” and “elfish.” These strange descriptions, as well as her odd behavior, make her seem inhuman, and make the townspeople view Pearl as sin-embodied and the devil-child. Pearl is very smart, and even at a young age she becomes aware of the scarlet letter and recognizes that is has some kind of significance. The quote, “One day, as her mother stooped over the cradle, the infant’s eyes had been caught by the glimmering of the gold embroidery about the letter, and, putting up her little hand, she grasped at it, smiling, not doubtfully, but with a decided gleam, that gave her face the look of a much older child.”, shows how she draws attention ...
Pearl and the other Puritan children have a huge role in Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter. Pearl is displayed as very different from any of the other children in the book. The attitudes of the children tell the reader a lot about the lives of the Puritans. The story emphasizes that children were to be seen but not heard however, Hester chooses to let Pearl live a full and exciting life. Hester does not restrict pearl or hide her from anyone or anything. This is part of the reason that Pearl becomes such a colorful child. People see Pearl as a child of sin; the devil’s child. Pearl is quite the opposite. She is a happy and intelligent little girl. Pearl is born with an incredible sense of intuition. She sees the pain her mother feels but does not understand where the pain is coming from. Pearl knows somehow deep in her heart that Dimmesdale is her father. She takes a very strong liking to him. This makes it much harder on dimmesdale to work through the guilt seeing what a beautiful thing came from his terrible secret. Pearl serves as a blessing to and a curse to Hester. Hester Prynne loves her daughter dearly but she is a constant reminder of the mistakes she has made.
Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter makes use of Biblical allusions to deepen its treatment of the moral superiority of Hester Prynne. Write an essay that explains how familiarity with the parable of the ‘pearl of great price’ from the book of Matthew helps the reader understand the overall meaning of Hawthorne’s novel. Highlight your thesis and claims in yellow. Staple your notes to the back of the essay.
In Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter, Pearl, is a symbol of sin and adultery in the sense that she leads Dimmsdale and Hester to their confession and the acceptance of their sins. A beauitful daughter of the towns adulturist has somtimes demon like traits. She is also the only living symblol of the scarlet letter "A". In another way Pearl also makes a connection between Dimmsdale and Hester.
When Pearl is three years old they try to take her away from her mother. “God gave me the child!” cried she. “He gave her in requital of all things else, which ye had taken from me. She is my happiness! - She is my torture none-the-less! Pearl keeps me here in life! Pearl punishes me too! See ye not, she is the scarlet letter only capable of being loved and so endowed with a million-fold the power of retribution for my sin?” (94) This is Hester saying that Pearl is her punishment from God for her sin. She’s basically pleading for them not to take her because she deserves this child, this gift, and this punishment all in one.
Often in novels writers use symbolism as a device to make their themes and ideas come across clearly to the reader. In the novel The Scarlet Letter, Nathaniel Hawthorne uses many forms of symbolism. People and objects are symbolic of events and thoughts of hawthorn throughout the course of the book. The Scarlet letter itself is a symbol he uses to contradict the puritanical society of the story. Nathaniel Hawthorne uses Pearl both as a symbol in the novel, and to work on the consciences of Hester and Dimmesdale.
Pearl is all that Hester has in her life. She says that Pearl: "keeps me here in life! Pearl punishes me too! See ye not, she is the scarlet letter, only capable of being loved, and so endowed with a millionfold the Power of retribution of my sin?" (Hawthorne 100). Hawthorne shows that Pearl represents the scarlet letter not only symbolically but literally as well. Hester says that Pearl is the living scarlet letter, and causes Hester more anguish than the scarlet letter itself. Pearl is only difficult when she sees her mother trying to flee her sins the wrong way. This is why Pearl makes her mother keep the scarlet letter.
According to Hawthorne “It was the scarlet letter in another form; the scarlet letter endowed with life” (Hawthorne 112). Pearl could physically and emotionally be compared to the scarlet letter. All knew that she was the product of sin; therefore, she was seen as a version of the scarlet letter through her origin. Furthermore, Hester dressed her child just as if she was the very scarlet letter on her bosom. She dressed Pearl in fine embroidered clothes with gold thread, which was basically a bigger image of the letter itself. The letter itself is a symbol of Hester’s sin and it is used as an emblem to show the public that she is guilty of a great offense to the Puritan
In The Scarlet Letter, Hester Prynne, for her sins, received a scarlet letter "A" which she had to wear upon the "breast of her gown"(Hawthorne 39). It was the Puritan way of treating her as a criminal for the crime of adultery. The Puritan treatment of Hester did not stop simply with the assignment of the letter. As she walked through the streets, she was looked down upon as if she were some sort of evil spirit among them, being punished for some ghastly crime. This gave Hester much mental anguish and grief. On the other hand, God's treatment of Hester for her sin was quite different than the scarlet letter. He gave Hester the punishment of rearing a very unique child whom she named Pearl. "But she named the infant "Pearl," as being of great price, --purchased with all she had, --her mother's only treasure!"(Hawthorne, 62). Hester named her daughter Pearl because she had to give up everything, including freedom, for her. This punishment handed down from God was a constant mental and physical reminder to Hester of what she had done wrong. There was no escaping it. In this aspect, Pearl symbolized God's way of punishing Hester for the sin of adultery.
The novel pursues Hester Prynne, a woman shunned from society for committing adultery in a strict Puritan society. Hester's result of her adultery with the town's minister Arthur Dimmesdale who conceals his sin, includes wearing the scarlet letter and being dismissed from society along with her daughter Pearl, born out of wedlock. Hawthorne explores isolation through Hester's shunning from society, Dimmesdale's aloneness from undisclosed shame and guilt, and Pearl's solitude from the Puritans exiling her from church and activities the town's children would take part in.
In Nathaniel Hawthorne's novel The Scarlet Letter, many of the characters suffer from the tolls of sin, but none as horribly as Hester's daughter Pearl. She alone suffers from sin that is not hers, but rather that of her mother's. From the day she is conceived, Pearl is portrayed as an offspring of vice. She is introduced into the discerning, pitiless domain of the Puritan religion from inside a jail; a place untouched by light, as is the depth of her mother's sin. The austere Puritan ways punish Hester through banishment from the community and the church, simultaneously punishing Pearl in the process. This isolation leads to an unspoken detachment and animosity between her and the other Puritan children. Thus we see how Pearl is conceived through sin, and how she suffers when her mother and the community situate this deed upon her like the scarlet letter on her mother's bosom.