Pearl In Nathaniel Hawthorne's Scarlet Letter

Decent Essays
pearl In Hawthorne's novel the scarlet letter we see a woman who manages to live after committing adultery and what kept her from committing a bigger sin. Hesters daughter Pearl, more than just a symbol ; she actually helps keeps Hester from deteriorating and becoming a catastrophic mess.Being a act of love , giving a straight image of herself, and reminding Hester of her mistake.

Hester forced to wear the scarlet letter "A" for the rest of her life. Having a mental and physical punishment she decided to stay in the town where she committed adultery. Having to live on her punishment she had nothing to live she could of simply taken her life but she had one hope her daughter pearl because she had come at a great price.

Related Documents

  • Improved Essays

    “But Pearl, who was a dauntless child… screamed and shouted, too, with a terrific volume of sound… caused the hearts of the fugitives to quake within them.” In the novel The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne the story of a married woman who had a child out of wheelock is told. Throughout this novel Pearl, Hester’s child out of wedlock, is viewed as a character who represents sin, hope, and love, because she is a character that represents a different person than what a puritan is suppose to be, the way that Pearl stands out and does not fit into the puritan colony is shown throughout the story. Since the day Pearl was born she was a representation of sin and of a “Demon offspring”(Hawthorne 232). Pearl was a child out of…

    • 1134 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    The Scarlet Letter Nathaniel Hawthorne’s novel The Scarlet Letter revolves around the meaning of Hester Prynne’s punishment for her sin of adultery in a Puritan society, which was to wear the scarlet letter. In the first chapter of The Scarlet Letter, the reader is introduced to Hester Prynne and her daughter Pearl. Pearl is the product of Hester’s sin of adultery.…

    • 1063 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Pearl’s role in The Scarlet Letter is largely significant because she deters Hester from evil and its’ temptations. Not only do her actions deem her human, but she proves to the town through her actions that she is not what they thought she was. Pearl develops into quite the young lady and she also begins to take matters into her own hands by questioning the authority figures around her. Her rise to the level of main character is supported by the fact that she matures into a more realistic and believable character. The tale of Pearl captures her forwardness towards the townspeople in her pursuit, along with her significance to the novel as a whole, and the fascinating development of her rise to the title of main…

    • 1283 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    In The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne, Hester Prynne, a Puritan mother was tried and convicted of adultery and spent the rest of her life raising her child alone. Hester was forced to wear a scarlet letter embroidered on her chest, which served as a constant symbol of public shame and embarrassment. The Puritan people’s cruelty towards Hester carried on to her child, Pearl. Pearl was forced to live the early part of her life as an outcast of society. Although Pearl and Hester were forced to suffer under intense scrutiny for a large part of their lives, Pearl’s father remained untouched by punishment.…

    • 903 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Decent Essays

    Nathaniel Hawthorne uses words to describe Pearl in the Scarlet Letter. The author said that Pearl had a wild spirit and loved mischief. Pearl would imagine that the weeds were Puritan Children. Also she would throw rocks at them and chase them. Also Pearl would throw wild flowers at her mother's dress.…

    • 153 Words
    • 1 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The first thing that Pearl “seemed to become aware was the scarlet letter on Hester’s bosom” (66). Pearl soon begins to show a great interest in the scarlet letter. Hester feels obligated to explain to Pearl the reason she is to wear the letter. Despite efforts to do so, Pearl is always fascinated by the evil symbol. Pearl’s beauty made her the “the very brightest little jet of flame” (69).…

    • 1293 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Pearl’s moral ambiguity shows in her transformation from being seen as a beacon of evil to being seen as an intellectual and socially aware young lady. By being a morally ambiguous character, Hawthorne is able to leave the reader in a perpetual state of apprehension regarding Pearl’s true moral alignment. From the moment Pearl is born, the little girl is treated like an outsider, and as a figure of evil and possible satanic origin. This view of Pearl comes forth in the personality during her early years. Pearl does not fit in with the rest of the children around her because of her connection to sin and evil.…

    • 1622 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    In The Scarlet Letter, Nathanial Hawthorne made it quite evident that Pearl was a very symbolic character. As we know, following Hester's act of adultery, she became pregnant with Pearl and we get the sense that there is something strange and unnatural about her when first introduced. This is relevant to her symbolism and the many attributes that she represents. Throughout the novel, her symbolism ranges from being equated to evil, sin, and innocence. Furthermore, it is also possible that her name in itself is used to symbolize different elements like a pearl; a treasure much like Pearl becomes for Hester.…

    • 1054 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Pearl is a unique young child who needs a certain amount of attention, but can anyone provide her with what she needs? In The Scarlet Letter written by Nathaniel Hawthorne in 1850, Pearl deals with almost being taken away from her mother Hester, this then leads to the question who should truly be taking care of Pearl? Although Hester is her mother it seems to others that she is not teaching her the proper Puritan ways. Meanwhile there are also two men named Dimmesdale and Chillingworth that are also in the race to raise Pearl because they both have characteristics of someone who could raise Pearl the right Puritan way or so they say? Although Hester isn’t teaching Pearl the Puritan way she is teaching her certain things in life that she truly…

    • 975 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    “But she [Hester] had named the infant “Pearl,” as being of great price, - purchased with all she had, - her mother's only treasure!” writes Nathaniel Hawthorne in the Scarlet Letter about Pearl, the most complex character present in the novel thus far, who continues being seen as a misunderstood child due to her association with her mother and the the child of the scarlet “A”. Hester pays the greatest price in giving birth to Pearl, as she receives a lifelong, physical reminder of her faults. Pearl's presence becomes a symbol of punishment from God for her sins of adultery. In order to prove to herself of Pearl's existence and the reality of her sins, she begins “to snatch her to her bosom, with a close pressure and earnest kisses, - not so much from overflowing love, to assure herself that Pearl was flesh and blood, and not utterly delusive,” (116).…

    • 285 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Puritanical settlements in early America were built around the idea of simple living. This idea represents the notion of a perfect society, also called a Utopia, where everyone is equal in terms of their work labor and way of living. In this community, committing a sin of any kind usually resulted in an isolation from society because the notion of predetermination allowed Puritans to label an outcast as being evil. This kind of societal influence is displayed in Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter when Hester was exiled from Boston because they classified her as an adulterer.…

    • 1373 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    One source writes that “she is so much more important as a symbol then as agent. She is a type-- the Universal Child” (Abel par. 17). Pearl is the living version of her mother’s Scarlet Letter. Hester is given the Scarlet Letter because she gave birth to little Pearl. The reader then perceives Pearl as the symbol of all the evil and sin in Hester Prynne’s life.…

    • 907 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Why did the author of The Scarlet Letter, Nathaniel Hawthorne feel the need to include Pearl in his story? Hester and Dimmesdale could have committed adultery without having Pearl and risking getting caught. So why did Hawthorne feel the need to include Pearl in the story? Pearl isn’t just a character in the story, she has a huge role and is a symbol for the whole book. The significance of Pearl is a hidden meaning.…

    • 719 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Great Essays

    but she still loved her nevertheless. When the minister tried to separate them Hester said "God gave me a child... she is my happiness!-she is my torture,none the less! Pearl keeps me here in life" because Pearl was her only companion without her there would have been no meaning to her life. As the story progresses Hester seems okay with her life until finally "she undid the clasp that fastened the scarlet letter and, taking it from her bosom, threw it to a distance " after doing this Hester feels free…

    • 1606 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Improved Essays

    This is the most obvious, for that is the crime that Hester committed to force her to wear the letter. However, the letter soon comes to be a symbol of Hester’s ableness, along with many other aspects of her life. These pieces of meaning can be derived both through the citizens of Boston, along with Hester’s own young daughter, Pearl. Nathaniel Hawthorne’s inspirational novel, The Scarlet Letter, holds within itself a symbol that has within itself many meanings which are expressed throughout the…

    • 1169 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays