... asked her to behave more politely, but in reply Pearl "paused to gather the prickly burrs from a tall burdock." She then began to "arrange them along the lines of the scarlet letter." After Dimmesdale's comment about her behavior, Pearl "threw one of the burrs at Mr. Dimmesdale." Dimmesdale "shrunk, with nervous dead, from the light missile." When Pearl saw how she effected him she "clapped her hands ... in the most extravagant ecstasy." Hawthorne is obviously showing how Pearl is there to remind Hester and Dimmesdale of ... my opinion is when Pear wipes Dimmesdale's kiss from her fore...

• Word Count: 421
• Approx Pages: 2
• Grade Level: High School

... life change. On page 194 Hawthorne writes, "And she was gentler here than in the grassy-margined streets of the settlement, or in her mother's cottage. The flowers appeared to know it." Pearl fit in with natural things, which was considered evil to the Puritans, (Encarta) but Pearl is showing them how the forest is beautiful and natural. According to chuckii.com "Hester's child, is symbolic of ... changing Puritan society." Pearl changes the puritan society because she is the outcome of the scarlet letter, and was rebellious to the Puritan way of life but not evil. Even though something...

• Word Count: 647
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: High School

... , Hester Prynn had committed adultery while her husband was overseas. Out of this treacherous act, a beautiful daughter named Pearl was born. Hester paid an enormous price for her Pearl; she was ridiculed by the entire town and forced to wear the letter "A" for adultery. The community viewed Pearl as a monster and a thing. Hester thought of her child as a treasure and a blessing; "a lovely and ... immortal flower", paid for with everything she had (1295). The name "Pearl" has many different meanings for many people, both negative and positive. Nathaniel Hawthorne, known for works such as...

• Word Count: 445
• Approx Pages: 2
• Grade Level: High School

... happiness. In being Hester's source of happiness, Pearl has to suffer along with Hester in being the scorn of the town. Pearl cannot socialize with the children in town or with the public because they see her as the child of the devil. Inherited with the negative bias from the town, Pearl retreats into a "wild, desperate, defiant mood" (80) where "the flightiness of her temper, and even some of ... the very cloud-shapes of gloom and ... she is indeed "[is] of demon origin"(89). Hester, once hearing the news, hurries to the Governor's dwelling to oppose the consideration - sacrificing Pe...

• Word Count: 1004
• Approx Pages: 4

... of them pain when they are in the forest. To Pearl, the forest represents a home where she can be wild, elf-like. Hawthorne describes the woods as the "great black forest [that] became the playmate of the lonely infant." Since Pearl has been driven out of Puritan civilization, the forest is the embodiment of a comfortable friend for her. The main purpose of the forest in The Scarlet Letter is to be a place where ... the truth can exist. Nature serves as an extreme contrast to Puritan ... ...

• Word Count: 1017
• Approx Pages: 4
• Grade Level: High School

... of service to the sick and poor of the community.  Even though the perception of the letter changes, Hester carries it the same way throughout, the same way she carries her child.  Although she has not committed a crime, Pearl's place in society has been determined by her mother's guilt. Hawthorne uses Pearl in a way very similar to the way he uses the embroidered A. Just as the A, Pearl represents adultery ... and sin. She is a living, breathing reminder of Hester's offense. Some members of the community look at her as a "demon-child"" because she ... was born out of sin, and her beh...

• Word Count: 872
• Approx Pages: 3
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

... as well as their weaknesses with symbolic names. In The Scarlet Letter, Hawthorne uses evocative names to portray the characters' inner self and what they represent in the story. The most significant name belongs to the character Pearl. Hawthorne shows that this name has two meanings, but only one is used to describe the importance of Pearl's existence. "For so had Hester called her; not ... as a name expressive of her aspect, which had nothing of the calm, white, unimpassioned luster that would be indicated by the comparison. But she named the infant Pearl' as being of great price "pur...

• Word Count: 500
• Approx Pages: 2
• Grade Level: High School

... , but splendid, and not cold, but fiercely passionate," and these qualities existed in her work because they "stemmed from the same passionate self that engendered Pearl" (Leone 93). Pearl was quite possibly Hester's greatest work of art. It is the job of the great artist to use his creative powers to develop a work that mirrors his artistic vision, and similarly a mother utilizes ... ). Hester's initial sin with Arthur Dimmesdale was her artistic genesis, bearing the beginnings of Hester as a character of pure passion and inspiration. It is also apparent early on in the novel that Pearl ...

• Word Count: 1145
• Approx Pages: 5
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

... wondering in puzzlement if what he saw was the letter "A" engraved in his chest or not . These incidents are used to create a mysterious atmosphere through the story. Finally, intuition is also used to add romanticism to this tragic novel. Pearl, is constantly questioning the meaning of the scarlet letter "A" on her mother's blouse. Pearl doesn't know the meaning of it, but seems to have some ... sort of knowledge of the connection between the letter, her mother, and the preacher. She is determined to find out ... some truth of this mystifying letter. Pearl also seems to have foreknowle...

• Word Count: 522
• Approx Pages: 2
• Grade Level: High School

... guilt of being an adulterer eventually kills him. Hawthorne's story begins in seventeenth-century Boston, then a Puritan settlement. A young woman, Hester Prynne, is led from the town prison with her infant daughter, Pearl, in her arms and the scarlet letter "A" on her breast. Hester's husband, a scholar much older than she is, sent her ahead to America, but he never arrived in Boston. While ... Hester to keep her (their) child. Hester threatens Arthur just to get him to come out of hiding. Obviously, showing capriciousness this lack of obligation not only torments Dimmesdale in the lon...

• Word Count: 1146
• Approx Pages: 5
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... much as possible. Contrarily, Hester creates a beautiful letter of scarlet and gold, which she mounts openly on her chest. Pearl is also another piece of irony. Children are supposed to be a blessing, but Pearl becomes another piece of evidence of Hester's sin. "The sunshine does not love you. It runs away and hides itself, because it is afraid of something on your bosom ... . It will not flee from me, for I wear nothing on my bosom yet" (Hawthorne 168). As if Hester is not reminded enough of her sin, even Pearl speaks negatively of the letter. The letter separates Pearl from a normal li...

• Word Count: 512
• Approx Pages: 2
• Grade Level: High School

... stayed well away from her and dealt with her only when they had to. They were even so brave as to ask her to give up her child, on the grounds that Pearl would be corrupted if she lived with Hester. She could no longer walk among them with her head held high. Hester was doomed to a solitary life and proceeded to ... paid, or even given a friendly word. Hawthorne's descriptions help the reader to see the situation from within the minds of the people experiencing it. One can feel Hester's love for Pearl, Chillingworth's hate towards Dimmesdale and Pearl's love for Dimmesdale. We also come...

• Word Count: 1115
• Approx Pages: 4
• Grade Level: High School

... sin, is something she must always deal with and is something she can never escape. Pearl the product of Hester's sin, is usually dressed in red clothing, representing sin. Pearl is also called the names "Ruby", "Coral", or "red Rose," and "a little bird of scarlet plumage," further extending Pearl as a red representation of Hester's sin. Hawthorne also uses black and darkness as ... symbols throughout The Scarlet Letter. Black is used to represent evil and hiding. Hawthorne calls the prison the "black flower of civilized society," meaning it is evil and a place concealing the truth. Freq...

• Word Count: 1044
• Approx Pages: 4
• Grade Level: High School

... branded it afresh in Hester's soul; so that, oftentimes, she could scarcely refrain, yet always did refrain, from covering the symbol with her hand." (Pg 57) Hester admits Pearl is her torture in chapter 6, Hawthorne writes, "So infinite was the torture inflected by the intelligent touch of Pearl's baby-hand." (Pg 64) Not long after her punishment starts, Hester begins to help ... by sewing clothing and helping them out in many other ways. After a few years of torture from the letter and from Pearl, Hester begins getting very familiar with her punishment, and it doesn't have the effect ...

• Word Count: 944
• Approx Pages: 4
• Grade Level: High School

... pastor's voice was tremulously sweet, rich, deep, and broken." (p.1369) Dimmesdale's voice was so pure that his words touched everyone in the crowd even the baby little Pearl, "Even the poor baby, at Hester's bosom, was affected by the same influence; for it directed its hitherto vacant gaze towards Mr. Dimmesdale, and held up its little arms, with half pleased, half plaintive murmur." (p.1369) Dimmesdale ... Dimmesdale was doesn't become sick for no apparent reason. Well there was a reason, a dark reason, Dimmesdale knowing that he was he father of little pearl, the committer of adulte...

• Word Count: 1126
• Approx Pages: 5
• Grade Level: High School

... with such embellishment; because its beauty and luster seems to say to the world that she is proud of her sin rather than ashamed of herself. On the contrary, Hester accepts the sin and her scarlet letter as part of herself, in the same way she accepts Pearl. Pearl's birth also implies that treasure can sometimes become the end result of sin. Hawthorne makes it clear that ... Pearl's character is directly related to the sin that brought her into the world. She is a product of the young couples" adultery; an act ... a contamination, but in Hester's case it is a response to hurt, lonelin...

• Word Count: 1128
• Approx Pages: 5
• Grade Level: High School

... Dimmesdale suffers alone with a searing guilt which ultimately leads to his demise. Hester is the most immediately affected by guilt, which is openly shown to the public by the scarlet letter, that she bears on her clothing. Another visible sign of her guilt is the embodiment of it in Pearl, who is the direct result of Hester's sin and is therefore a constant reminder of guilt for ... both Hester and Dimmesdale. Pearl is also always doing something to further her mother's guilt. The first thing she recognizes in the world is the scarlet letter, she often throws things at the letter, and...

• Word Count: 917
• Approx Pages: 4
• Grade Level: High School

... of that time. It can be interpreted either as adultery, or adulterer when worn by someone such as Hester. Another part of the punishment is that she must stand on the scaffold in front of everyone. She is brought out, with her baby Pearl, to show everyone what she has done. Now that she wears this letter, she is labeled as a sinful person ... cloth surrounded with an elaborate embroidery and fantastic flourishes of gold thread...". (50) Some of the town's people are astonished and startled by her beauty, even though she is an adulterer. As the novel progressed, Hawthorne changes the mea...

• Word Count: 571
• Approx Pages: 2
• Grade Level: High School

... could not find the courage to make for himself. So, in the beginning of the book the Scaffold symbolizes to the reader that it is a place of retribution for the transgressors and also the punishment is a harsh and unforgiving treatment. The second time in the book where The Scaffold changed its symbolism takes place at the middle of the night. Dimmesdale, Hester and Pearl stand on the Scaffold and ... hold their hands and form a circle symbolizes to the reader about the unity ... dimmesdale is still not ready to reveal his hidden secrets to the world. So, the second time when the Scaffol...

• Word Count: 695
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: High School

... with shame, and standing where Hester Prynne had stood" (136). Then, at least, his inner torment would cease. The minister, however, is not yet ready to confess. Hester and Pearl pass by the scaffold on their way home from watching at the governor's deathbed. To Pearl, Dimmesdale promises that he "shall, indeed, stand with thy mother and thee one day" (137) but that this will ... that he is not yet ready to do so. His midnight trip to the scaffold provides him with a choice to make, and his decision is to stay in the realm of moral darkness, instead of the alternative that Pearl gives h...

• Word Count: 891
• Approx Pages: 4
• Grade Level: High School

... go to Europe, "Her advising them to flee Boston was irresponsible" (Granger 7). Hester after talking about leaving, and while in the forest with Dimmesdale and Pearl, takes the scarlet letter off. She was planning to never wear the scarlet letter again, especially after saying, "The mid-ocean shall take it from my hand, and swallow it up forever!" (Hawthorne 193). This shows that she did ... not have enough courage to bear the scarlet letter in Europe. Pearl still makes her bear the letter by saying, "Come thou and take it up!" (Hawthorne 193). Finally ... , Dimmesdale has a boost of co...

• Word Count: 706
• Approx Pages: 3
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

... return. Dimmesdale could not love Hester even had his heart allowed him to. He, like Hester, can be accused of adultery, for before his affair; he belonged to somebody else. The vow he took entering priesthood was a marriage to God, similar to Hester's own marriage to Roger Chillingsworth. Hester and Dimmesdale performed an act of adultery their night together, one of ... forbid man to do. Hester is merely a temptation he had been unable to fight. His pain is really the guilt of betraying his one and only true love, God. Up until his death Dimmesdale never reveals to the public that he ...

• Word Count: 586
• Approx Pages: 2
• Grade Level: High School

... in meaning, standing for the sin of Adultery. To resonate the "A" in the mind of the reader Hawthorne displays the letter in a variety of altered profiles. Besides being the beacon from Hester's breast the letter "A" is presented in several forms. It is on the armor breastplate in Governor Bellingham's garden, in the sky on the night of Dimmesdale's scaffold vigil, continually little Pearl is pictured to be the scarlet letter personified, and ... the most dramatic of the "A"'s is that which ... ...

• Word Count: 661
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: High School

... -morrow?" It is commonly agreed that the colors are used extensive in The Scarlet Letter as symbols. This is illustrated by the scene by the prison door, but the use and importance of the symbol grows as the book moves along. Pearl, is often identified with the color red, which Waggoner identifies as evil. Pearl is not an evil child in the true sense of the word, but she is a reflection ... red, along with images of bright glow shows Pearl to be the product of a moment of passion between Hester and Dimmesdale. Just like the red rose at the start of the story, Pearl is meant to relieve t...

• Word Count: 964
• Approx Pages: 4
• Grade Level: High School

... a forgiving nature, a punishment for a sinful act, and as living reminders of human foibles. The symbols used in this book are the scarlet letter, Pearl, and the rosebush next to the rusted prison door. The scarlet letter was a stigma worn by someone who had committed a sinful act many Puritan settlements. The Puritans believed that public humiliation was a just punishment for these offenders. Hester was forced to ... requests to Hester to meet her in the forest to worship the Black Man. Hester declined this invitation because the governor allowed her to keep Pearl. Many times during the ...

• Word Count: 843
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: High School