What Does Pearl Symbolize In The Scarlet Letter

In a surface examination of the work of Nathaniel Hawthorne, it is quickly evident that no good things come from the wilderness. Therein, the wilderness is often associated with the savages and the devil. In his work The Scarlet Letter, Hester Prynne finds herself exiled by society for having an adulterous affair with the town reverend which brought forth the child known as Pearl. Pearl is quickly established as the child of the wilderness: wild, capricious, and thought by the town to be a demon-child. She represents several entities in the novel just by her being, but when her morality is delved into, much more of the nature of the story can be revealed. Pearl’s role is often overlooked as a formative force in the novel. Some scholars have gone as far as to denounce her as unnecessary to the story’s makeup. Upon close examination, it can be determined that Pearl is indeed a necessary element. In Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter, Pearl presents themes of morality, both personal and cultural, as well as the divide between society and nature, through her interactions with Hester, Reverend Dimmesdale, and the scarlet letter itself.

In the novel, The Scarlet Letter, Hawthorne characterizes Pearl with contrasting personalities and roles she plays in Hester’s life. Pearl’s conflicting personality components, innocence and defiance, both derive from her isolation from society, which transpired because of her mother’s sin. Pearl represents the conflict between everything good and dark, which reflects in the role she plays in Hester’s life, as the physical embodiment of the A. While Pearl serves as a savior to Hester, representing possible redemption, she is also Hester’s tormentor, a constant reminder of her sin, and the consequences of disobeying her Puritan nature and religion. Hawthorne’s intent is established in the novel through Pearl’s attachment to the A, the mirror

In Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter, symbolsim is constantly present in the actual scarlet letter “A” as it is viewed as a symbol of sin and the gradally changes its meanign, guilt is also a mejore symbol, and Pearl’s role in this novel is symbolic as well. The Scarlet Letter includes many profound and crucial symbols. these devices of symbolism are best portayed in the novel, most noticably through the letter “A” best exemplifies the changes in the symbolic meaning throughout the novel.

““There was witchcraft in little Pearl’s eyes, and her face, as she glanced upward at the minister, wore that naughty smile which made its expression frequently so elvish.” (Hawthorne 145) This, is a misleading description that Nathaniel Hawthorne depicts of Pearl, the daughter of Hester Prynne, in his classic novel The Scarlet Letter. Pearl is the living product of sin for her mother. Born out of wedlock, Pearl is a unique child that tends to be very moody and unpredictable. However, Pearl, at such a young age, demonstrates outstanding knowledge and exhibits curiosity to her mother’s scarlet letter, and the hypocrisy of Puritan society. Although Pearl portrays devilish characteristics and performs mischievous behaviour, she

“Imagination is the key ingredient to overcoming fear and doubt.” Throughout “The Scarlet Letter”, Nathaniel Hawthorne tends to emphasize the intensity of Pearl’s imagination by describing the way Pearl saw the world around her and by talking about the way the people who noticed her vivid imagination, referred to her as a “witch-child”. In “The Scarlet Letter”, Pearl grows up secluded from the rest of the children in the New World. She learns to entertain herself and keep herself company by using her imagination. This is one big example of Pearl overcoming the hardships that she grew up with. As the book progresses, and as Pearl gets older, we see her overcome more hardships she is challenged with to create a strong, independent young girl. The poem provided written by Emily Dickinson comes to show how overcoming Pearl’s hardships led her to blossom from a strong, independent young girl, into an even stronger, successful woman.

The Scarlet letter takes place in a puritan society. Where the town revolves around punishment. They do not believe in pleasure and believe that humans are mostly evil. These people are Anti-transcedentalist. The main characters, Hester, Dimmesdale, Pearl and chillingworth support this theory that the citizens believe. Hester is a beautiful women and she has a kind her. She enjoye sewing and she gives all the only she makes from sewing to charity, while donating clothes to them also. Hower, Hester and Dimmesdale committed the sin of adultery and created Pearl. Chillingworth is Hester’s husband but not the father of her daughter. In his novel “The Scarlet letter” , Nathaniel Hawthorne uses the symbolism of Pearl, the burrs and sunlight to

The townspeople characterized Pearl as a witch because she was the outcome of the sin her mother took part in, those same females that were agitated with the way Hester wore the “A” were the same woman telling their children to stay away from Pearl, they excluded her and didn’t consider her being a normal human. Hester was concerned that her only daughter that she loved very much, would be an outcast and would be marked by sin, but Hawthorne describes Pearl as beautiful individual, in fact the exact same way Hester took the scarlet letter that is supposed to leave an awful mark but turned it into a stunning “A”. Hawthorne describes Pearl as Hester’s living scarlet

Nathaniel Hawthorne, author of the Scarlet Letter, uses symbolism to display the Puritan’s way of life. Embarrassed with having ancestral ties with the Puritans, Hawthorne reveals the harsh truth on the society not accepting Hester’s sin of adultery by casting Hester into wearing the scarlet letter “A.” From this adultery, Pearl is the creation of Hester’s sin, whereas the scarlet letter is the creation of the Puritan society. From this we can conclude that Hawthorne is symbolizing that Pearl is another form of the scarlet letter, and the scarlet letter is another form of Pearl. Even though the Puritan society craved for perfection, Nathanial Hawthorne displayed contrasting color imagery to prove that individuality is important because salvation can only be earned by being true to yourself.

Nathaniel Hawthorne is known for his heavy use of symbolism in his writings, The Scarlet Letter is no exception. In the novel, Pearl could be presumed to symbolize only the idea of sin that her mother committed, but upon further investigation, past the erratic behavior, we see that she holds a sense of light within herself and lashes out only when antagonized by those who look down on her. Society held a role in perceiving Pearl as a ‘Devil-Child’ and implicated her in the role of being such a symbol as opposed to viewing her in the light that they see other children in. Pearl being a symbol of purity contrasts each other character who hold ungodly intentions or secrets within them making her appear as odd but develops her to be seen more as

When she was born Pearl is portrayed as being “worthy... to be the playthings of angels” ( Hawthorne 62). In this brief instant Pearl seems like the only character thus far who would not be affected by the issue of morality and sin. But soon society’s judgement rains down and it becomes obvious that morality and sin would forever be part of little Pearl’s life, because from the beginning “ however white and clear” the rays of moral life were originally “ they had taken the deep stains of crimson and gold, the fiery lustre, the black shadow, and the untempered light, of the intervening substance” and throughout the whole story society seems to believe that “ Pearl was a demon offspring” (Hawthorne 63 and 69). Throughout the story Pearl “ the living hieroglyphic, in which was revealed the secret they so darkly sought to hide”, serves as a constant reminder to society that Adultery did happen despite the constant change of the meanings of the scarlet letter (Hawthorne 140). Pearl also functions as a reminder to Hester that her sin and past will always be part of her, Pearl is constantly aware of the presence of the scarlet letter on hester’s bosom and is unwavering in keeping it on her mother’s

Pearl—a rare and precious white gemstone, often associated with perfection, purity and innocence. In The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne, Pearl is the daughter of Hester Prynne, a young woman living in the difficult Puritan society during the mid-17th century. After migrating to Massachusetts Bay Colony, Hester commits the sin of adultery and has Pearl with Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale. In this religious society, this stirs an uproar and Hester is plagued with the scarlet letter ‘A’ on her chest as punishment and reminder for her sin. As one of the most complex symbols in the novel, Pearl manages to hurtle through challenges of society by remaining conscious of her surroundings, which allows her to help the most significant figures in her life

In the book, The Scarlet Letter, Hawthorne uses Pearl as a symbol of the scarlet letter

In Nathaniel Hawthorne's, The Scarlet Letter, his commentary on the raw, unreserved passion of a child is portrayed through his character Pearl. He shows a distinct view on Pearl and her role in the book and to her mother. He shows the great comparison in the actions and role of a child, exaggerated through Pearl. Her intense passion in the book also makes her a sort of conscience and punishment for her mother. This is because her passion makes her strongly against views when first introduced and when learned and accepted, are taken so literally and so strongly believed in.

A pearl is an object of immense value and tremendously precious to its beholder. Nathaniel Hawthorne, the author of The Scarlet Letter, uses this definition to create the character Pearl. Pearl, named because she was purchased with everything her mother had, is a complex and symbolic character in the novel (81). Because Pearl’s parents, Reverend Dimmsdale and Hester Prynne committed adultery, there was penance to be paid. Pearl is this price for Hester.

This description of her, however, demotes the character growth that Hawthorne portrays for the complex child. This analysis implies that she is nothing to the novel but another representation of sin. It does not do justice for the complex mother-daughter relationship that Hawthorne portrays in the novel or the complexity of Pearl in general (Daniels). While the townspeople and many of the readers see Pearl as just another representation of sin, like the scarlet ‘A’, Hawthorne creates a contradicting image of her as well in an effort to refute the idea that the only purpose she serves is to be a negative reminder of the crime that Hester committed. He wrote, “...made her the very brightest little jet of flame that ever danced upon the earth, ” (Hawthorne) which does not give Pearl a negative connotation and instead paints her as a vibrant, exciting child. Many critics see Pearl as a symbol for different things such as Emily Budick who wrote, “the strict authoritarianism of Puritan patriarchy finds its object in the child Pearl, who, as the living "likeness" of the letter … becomes the target of the Puritan’s efforts to control both human sexuality, and its literary, historical expression,” (Budick 201). However, Budick also believes that Pearl serves a higher purpose in being an integral character in the story and actually means something to Hawthorne, who possibly modeled Pearl after his own daughter,