Pearl Symbolism In Scarlet Letter

Hester’s life as she once knew it is gone, and her only consolation is Pearl. Hester loves her daughter more than anything, but worries that because she had sinned, that the result would not be good. Hester sees many of her negative characteristics in Pearl, such as defiance and moodiness. Pearl is constantly causing mischief, causing Hester to wonder whether or not Pearl was a human child. Pearl knew she was an outcast and was treated as so by the other children and as an “imp of evil, emblem and product of sin, she had no right among christened infants” (53).

The townspeople often despised Pearl, due to her being a representation of her mother's sin. In The Scarlet Letter, Nathaniel Hawthorne describes Pearl as being a real life image as adultery. Hester is constantly reminded of her sin, just by seeing and raising Pearl everyday. Though Hester is reminded about her sin, she takes on the task of being a mother of Pearl. Hester loved Pearl, even though she had to go through a lot to keep her.

Their similarities are very evident, their differences however must be explored. Let's start with their stories. Hester of the scarlet letter, was condemned by her sin. She Lived in a small town with her husband. Hester however, cheated on her husband therefore committing adultery.

Symbolism is a great literary device used to enhance a piece of writing by taking a particular object and giving it an entirely different meaning that is much more significant than what the object actually is. In The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne, written in 1850, the author uses many symbols throughout the book to reflect Dark Romantic themes and conflicts and to show the Puritan way of life. Three important symbols that Hawthorne refers to repeatedly throughout the book are the scaffold, the scarlet letter, and Pearl, being a child of nature. Scaffolds in a Puritan society were used to publically embarrass sinners and criminals. This was first seen in The Scarlet Letter in Chapters 1-3 when the protagonist Hester Prynne stood on the scaffold before the people of the Puritan society.

Nathaniel Hawthorne’s book The Scarlet Letter, shows how badly people were treated for committed a sin in that time period. The main character, Hester Prynne committed lechery and in puritan society, which was very closely related to religion breaking the commandment that forbid adultery earned a very big punishment. It was even worse for Hester because she ended up conceiving a child. One way Hester was shunned by people was by having to wear the scarlet letter that would bring her public shame. Hester knew that because of the letter “young and pure would be taught to look at her, with the scarlet letter flaming on her breast,—at her, the child of honorable parents,—at her, the mother of a babe, that would hereafter be a woman, —at her, who had once been innocent, —as the figure, the body, the reality of sin”

The sin and punishment, in the novel, demonstrates Hawthorne’s thoughts on Puritan beliefs. Hawthorne’s story presented an accurate representation of society at that time and provides the perfect foundation to express his criticism of Puritan ideals and beliefs. The symbol of the scarlet letter, worn by women that commit adultery, was manipulated by Hawthorne to question the Puritan world, and whether their faith and punishments are just and fair. The scarlet letter was supposed to shame the women that wore them, but with Hester Prynne the letter became a symbol of her courage and resilience. By giving his heroine the courage to stand and to face her punishment, Hawthorne pointed out that some of the Puritan punishments were harsh and unnecessary.

The occurrences of a threat towards Hester to lose custody of her child and her punishment for adultery were directly brought upon by Chillingworth. Hester did not love Chillingworth anymore and she could not love him ever . Her thought process on Chillingworth is why she committed adultery. Losing custody of Pearl was due to the punishment inflicted on her because of her disloyalty to

Hester and Dimmesdale’s grief is a direct outcome of the unforgiving implications that the Puritans put on adultery. By choosing to embrace her actions, Hester flourishes and presents the scarlet letter with a new meaning. Hester has no way of hiding her sins like Dimmesdale since she is pregnant. Hester’s punishment was to stand for three hours on the scaffold and wear the scarlet letter on her chest for the rest of her life. Initially, the people of the Boston were cold and scorned Hester for her sins.

He understands the outcome of exposing Abigail because it will also exposing himself of his wrong-doing. Hester Prynne in “ The Scarlet Letter” often has conflicted views with her daughter Pearl. In this conflicted relationship Hawthorne shows just how Hester 's sin (Pearl a representation of sin) will never go away. Just like how abigail is still tormenting Proctor after their affair. The principles explained by John Locke in his “Second Treatise of Government” are illustrated clearly by John Proctor and Hester Prynne, Characters who illustrate the coming

To overcome Social Incrimination The Scarlet Letter encaptured people because of the perception of religion’s and society’s role in justice. As in most literature from the 19th century, religion plays a large part in The Scarlet Letter, because Hester Prynne, Reverend Dimmesdale and Roger Chillingworth are themselves affected by the hand of religion. Society shuns Hester, the scorned woman forced to wear the scarlet letter and placed on a scaffold with her sin-bred child Pearl, publicly humiliated for her act of adultery. The sins committed throughout The Scarlet Letter represent more than acts against God: each of the characters symbolize a sin, their actions and dialogue bringing this symbolism to light. In Nathaniel Hawthorne's,

Throughout the story, Hawthorne uses the symbol “A” to depict the suffering and stern Puritan beliefs of the characters. The “A” plays an extremely important role in Hester’s life. The book begins with the bestowing of the scarlet letter to Hester, which

In conclusion, the Scarlet Letter was following the story a lady who committed adultery and was punished, and the father of the child didn’t know he was the one until he was told and he finally came forward. The theme of sin, crime and punishment was the majority of what happened through the whole book. The characters gave an idea of what it was like to live during that time period, and also the way that they interacted with each other. The tone of the story helped to give a better understanding of what was going on and how they author wanted the mood to be like in each chapter. Symbolism helped follow along with the story so that we understood what was going on.

Hester ex-husband begins to resent her and she has to hide the identity of Dimmesdale. After she sinned and Pearl was conceived, she gave her whole life up for this baby, just like the man in the bible verse. Pearl is a symbol of price you pay when