Pearl And Chillingworth's Role In The Scarlet Letter

Lily Polonetsky, A December 19, 2016

Pearl and Chillingworth as truth-seekers

In The Scarlet Letter, by Nathaniel Hawthorne, Pearl’s and Chillingworth’s role is to encourage Hester Prynne and Arthur Dimmesdale to “show freely to the world” their crime. Pearl, Hester Prynne’s daughter, is conceived by Hester and Arthur Dimmesdale’s adulterous act and throughout the novel she acts as a reminder to Hester of her sin. Roger Chillingworth is Hester’s husband who arrives in town after surviving a shipwreck. Throughout the novel he continuously attempts to discover the identity of Hester’s lover. Both Pearl and Chillingworth coerce Hester and Dimmesdale to admit their guilt publicly by representing religious figures. Pearl is a source

of piety for Hester and is a representation of Jesus. Chillingworth, however, reflects the opposite, cajoling Dimmesdale into confessing his sin by portraying the religious figure that Dimmesdale fears most: the devil. Hawthorne’s main motto in The Scarlet Letter is “be true, be true, show freely to the world.” Pearl and Chillingworth embody this motto throughout the novel by coaxing Hester and Dimmesdale to “show freely to the world” their sin.

In the novel, Pearl is a representation of the letter ‘A’ on Hester's chest, thus fulfilling her role as a reminder to Hester of her sin.

Pearl is fascinated by the ‘A’ on Hester’s chest that she is required to wear by the Puritan community as punishment. In describing Pearl as a baby, Hawthorne writes, “But that first object of which Pearl seemed to become aware was—shall we say it?—the scarlet letter on Hester's bosom! (194)” Here, Hawthorne portrays Pearls connection to the scarlet letter by depicting her fascination with it from birth. From the moment she is brought into the world, Pearl connects with the scarlet ‘A’. Pearls connection to the scarlet letter is further developed when Hester dresses her is red garments with embroidered gold threads; this is the same way that Hester adorned the letter on her clothing. Pearl’s preoccupation with the scarlet ‘A’ acts as a reminder to Hester of her sin. By being a constant reminder, Pearl is ensuring that Hester stays true to her sin and is showing freely to the world who she

is.

Similarly to Pearl, Chillingworth is a constant reminder to Hester and Dimmesdale to never forget the truth about their grievous sin. Chillingworth accomplishes this by investigating and prodding Hester and Dimmesdale in order to ascertain who Hester’s lover is. In describing Chillingworth, Hawthorne writes,
He had begun an investigation, as he imagined, with
the severe and equal integrity of a judge, desirous only
of truth, even as if the question involved no more than
the air-drawn lines and figures of a geometrical problem,
instead of human passions, and wrongs inflicted on itself. (260)

This quote describes how determined Chillingworth to figure out who Pearl’s father was. By fixating himself on the investigation, Chillingworth attempts to unveil who Hester’s lover is and force him to show himself “freely to the world.” This is in contrast with Pearl as Chillingworth takes an active role in reminding Hester and Dimmesdale of their sin, whereas Pearl takes a passive role. In his investigation, Chillingworth attempts to force Dimmesdale to “be true and show freely to the world,” by exposing the truth of who Pearl’s father is.

Symbolically, Pearl represents Jesus, who brought forth a revolution in thought. Jesus brought about religious change, teaching that one should show one’s true self “freely to the world.” In the penultimate paragraph describing Hester’s revelations, Hawthorne writes that Hester,
had long since recognized the impossibility that any mission
of divine and mysterious truth should be confided to a woman
stained with sin, bowed down with shame, or even burdened
with a life-long sorrow.

The angel and apostle of the coming

revelation must be a woman, indeed, but lofty, pure, and beautiful;

and wise, moreover, not through dusky grief, but the ethereal

medium of joy; and showing how sacred love should make us

happy, by the truest test of a life successful to such an end! (534)

From this quote it is evident that the “angel and apostle of the coming revelation” is believed to be Pearl. She is conceived of “sacred love” and will teach the Puritan community that one should be true to himself and show “how sacred love should make us happy.” By depicting Pearl as Jesus, Hawthorne demonstrates that Pearl wants to bring truth to the world so that everyone can “show freely to the world.”

In contrast, Chillingworth represents the devil. He attempts to force Dimmesdale to show freely to the world that he is stained with sin. When describing Chillingworth, Hawthorne writes,

...there came a glare of red light out of his eyes; as if the

old man's soul were on fire, and kept on smoldering duskily

within his breast, until, by some casual puff of passion, it

was blown into a momentary flame...Chillingworth was a

striking evidence of man's faculty of transforming

himself
into a devil, if he will only, for a reasonable space of time,
undertake a devil's office. (343)

From this quote it is evident that Chillingworth represent the devil. The devil is always looking for evil and to get vengeance, just as Chillingworth was with Dimmesdale. As the devil, he coerces Dimmesdale to “show the world” his true self as Hester’s lover. Similar to Pearl, they both force others to show freely to the world who they are. Despite this similarity, Chillingworth is focused specifically on the sin of Dimmesdale and Hester, whereas Pearl wishes to bring a change to the attitude of both Hester and the Puritan community that one should “be true” and “show freely to the world.”

Hawthorne’s main motto “be true, be true, show freely to the world,” in the Scarlet Letter is evident in both Pearl and Chillingworth’s role in the novel. Pearl’s role is to act as a constant reminder to Hester of her sin and force her to be true to her sin. In addition, Pearl symbolizes Jesus, the bearer of a revolution of new ideas: such as being true and showing freely to the world. Similarly, Chillingworth wishes to bring to light the truth of Hester and Dimmesdale’s sin, wanting them to show their true self to the world. In contrast to Pearl symbolizing Jesus, Chillingworth represents the devil, looking for the worst in Dimmesdale. Within the novel Hawthorne utilizes both Pearl and Chillingworth’s characters to convey the importance of being true to oneself.