... she could not help but be emotionally affected by her daughter, Pearl. Pearl, the daughter of Hester Prynne, is the symbol of the illegitimate relationship Hester had and is considered a sin in Puritan society. Pearl is the "the animate letter, the child dressed in gold-embroidered scarlet" and "the scarlet letter in another form, the scarlet letter endowed with life." In addition to Hester Prynne ... or talk to her mother until she put the scarlet letter back on again. The scarlet letter is Pearl's comfort zone. It affects Hester because her own child is lowering her self esteem. In a ...

• Word Count: 1468
• Approx Pages: 6
• Has Bibliography

... not send her and he was not her actual father. Both can be true; if she was devout, God is her father but in the earthly world He could not be Pearl's actual father. "Individuals in private life, meanwhile, had quite forgiven Hester Prynne for her frailty; nay, more, they had begun ... caused by her chaotic upbringing, none of which was actually her acting out of the evil in her heart. Pearl showed love and compassion to the ones dear to her. Her father was barely had a presence in her life yet Pearl loved him and shedded tears for him. If she was truly evil, she would ... gave up when...

• Word Count: 1931
• Approx Pages: 8
• Grade Level: High School

... chest. This journey, which includes Mr. Dimmesdale, the man Hester was involved with, Pearl, the daughter of Hester, and Chillingworth, the man who was married to Hester brings the reader into the exploration of the many themes apparent in the novel. In The Scarlet Letter, Nathaniel Hawthorne uses the characters in the story to help develop the themes of identity in society, the nature of evil, and secrecy versus exposure of sin ... sin. Pearls identity in society was forced upon her from birth because people labeled her as evil because of how she came to this world. Pearl was never give...

• Word Count: 1923
• Approx Pages: 8
• Has Bibliography

... when he places Pearl above the rest of the children in intelligence, free spirit, beauty and kindness. The traits of intelligence and free spirit are a direct link the ideals of the Romantic writers of the time. Pearl could always be found in the forest, "And she was gentler here [the forest] than in the grassy-margined streets of the settlement, or in her mother's cottage. The flowers appeared to ... know it," once again this shows the difference between Romanticism and Puritanism, as the Puritans felt that anything that came ... how to be merry among sad acquaintance and events of som...

• Word Count: 2043
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... cottage away from society. After Hester moves away from the village, the Puritans give her the job of making fine clothing for the upper class. With any extra material that Hester has, she makes Pearl's clothes. Pearl's clothes are extraordinarily elaborate, which separates Pearl from the other children. Hester never let the clothing be plain for Pearl. Pearl did not do anything wrong by being born. For ... for her lover, it is easy for her to hide the truth from the Puritans. Hester believes that actions based on love are not immoral. The scaffold scene in the beginning chapters of th...

• Word Count: 1429
• Approx Pages: 6
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

... , resemblance, or convention, especially a material object used to represent something invisible. Sometimes referred to as "the first symbolic novel to be written in the United States", "The Scarlet Letter" contains many symbols that are apparent throughout the novel. As seen through the forest, Pearl, and the scarlet letter "A". The forest which symbolizes the freedom and solitude that someone can have, even in a Puritan society is a very promising thought from ... a consequence for Hester, but also is the un-flawed character in the novel. Finally, the letter "A" is the consequence of H...

• Word Count: 2041
• Approx Pages: 8
• Grade Level: High School

... Chillingworth who was a physician as well as Hester's husband, moves in with Reverend Dimmesdale because Dimmesdale was growing sick. While staying with Dimmesdale, he grows suspicious that Dimmesdale is the father of 2 Pearl and seeks revenge on him by hurting him more than curing him of his illness. But this was only a suspicion until one night, Chillingworth opened Dimmesdale's shirt while he ... together and Dimmesdale imagines people mocking him as they should have seven years ago. He apologizes to Pearl and Hester for not being with them on the Scaffold. While they are on the scaf...

• Word Count: 2338
• Approx Pages: 9
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

... story because it is centered on sin in the puritan society. Through out The Scarlet Letter, light is used to show happiness and goodness. One of the most happy and cheerful characters in the novel is Pearl, who is represented by the light. As Fogle (1969) states, "Pearl is the character most recognized for her presence in the sun" (p. 38). The sun is drawn to her as she is drawn ... to the sun. In one scene, while in the forest with her mother, Hester, Pearl realizes that sun does not shine ... nature, alone, than playing with children of her own age. She enjoys frolicking in the fores...

• Word Count: 1649
• Approx Pages: 7
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

... , which affects each character in a different way. The characters who are affected by the letter are Arthur Dimmesdale, Roger Chillingworth, Pearl, and Hester Prynne (Schneider). The scarlet letter is a sign by which the colonial authority seeks to fix the crime of adultery and the criminal, Hester Prynne. The "A" both indicates, yet hinders the Puritan community's authority over Hester's identity. As the novel progresses, the letter changes meaning from adultery to ability ... , in the eyes of the people around her. Through the scarlet letter, Hester become a sympathetic heroine ... ...

• Word Count: 1366
• Approx Pages: 5
• Grade Level: High School

... "A" patched against her breast. An elderly onlooker asks of what is going on and a man in the crowd explains that the lady is Hester Prynne who carries the child, Pearl, of an adulterer and is being charged for illicit sexual intercourse. The man explains to the elder that Hester was sent ahead to Boston by her husband, who is a scholar much older than she, but he ... years then pass by and Hester is then supporting herself as a seamstress and Pearl grows into a stubborn, naughty child. Since they are shunned by the community, they live on the outskirts of Boston. Later, community offic...

• Word Count: 1497
• Approx Pages: 6
• Grade Level: High School

... this guilt every day of his life. His emotions are characterized as anguish and anxiety like Hester, because he must rely on Hester not to give his name as the father of Pearl. Dimmesdale believes that God will never exonerate him for his hidden sin. This creates conflict and will cause Dimmesdale to torture himself later in his life, which is how ... feels a sense of vengeance towards his wife who has clearly betrayed him. His emotional state is represented as being angry and anxious because he wants to find out who the father of Pearl is. Chillingworth creates a false persona when, "h...

• Word Count: 1995
• Approx Pages: 8
• Grade Level: High School

... associate with it. A monstrous version is reflected in an armor breastplate. The scarlet letter represented many things throughout the novel; everything Hester did, wore, Pearl, the letter was her identity. Indeed, this is the way the Puritans view Hester. She has no identity save the letter. And in this scene, the letter is represented in Pearl twice. The first is in her apparel. Hester spent hours working on ... and torture"(Hawthorne1387). The last representation is in the child herself. "In truth, Pearl was the one, as well as the other; and only in consequence of that identity had H...

• Word Count: 1915
• Approx Pages: 8
• Grade Level: High School

... , wore that naughty smile which made its expression frequently so elfish. The minister, Mr. Dimmesdale, was Hester's sin who is even mistaken later in the novel by Pearl for the Black Man. The Black Man is the devil who leaves his mark on those in the forest. In the forest, Hester and Pearl are talking about the Black Man, "Is there such a Black Man? And didst thou ever meet him ... seeks to hide, with his hand always over his heart? Ha, Hester Prynne!" She links the two together and understands the relationship between it all. Mistress Hibbins and Pearl are unlike the rest of the people...

• Word Count: 1820
• Approx Pages: 7
• Grade Level: High School

... Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter, the author uses the scaffold scenes to depict the idea of private versus public sin. The first scaffold scene establishes the tone for the novel. Here, Hester Prynne is taken before her Puritan town from the prison. On her bosom she bears the scarlet A for "adultery" and in her arms she holds the creation of her sin, her daughter Pearl. She ascends the steps of the scaffold alone ... , Arthur has an ulterior motive for not wishing Hester to reveal the father in public, for the fact stands that he is the father of Pearl. Cleary, this shows that fo...

• Word Count: 1460
• Approx Pages: 6

... she asks Dimmesdale to join her and her mother on the scaffold the following day, the narrator explains his feeling, " with the new energy of the moment, all the dread of public exposure that had so long been the anguish of his life had returned upon him - (137). Though she is but a young little girl, Pearl illuminates the limited nature of Dimmesdale's confession, and she solidifies ... his inability to reveal himself to the town. Examining Hester Prynne, Arthur Dimmesdale, and Roger Chillingworth in the second scaffold scene, shows the development of honesty and deception at the very m...

• Word Count: 1627
• Approx Pages: 7
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

... symbol is, it "was red-hot with infernal fire" (Hawthorne 82). The letter not only symbolizes the humiliation of the public, but also the deep burn that guilt evokes. The children in the village are taught to look at the woman who bears the scarlet letter "as the figure, the body, the reality of sin" (Hawthorne 74). Pearl, a very smart and curious, girl is described as elfish and ... the devil's child because of her mother. As she grows, her personality changes in the reader's mind ... last sermon he reveals that he partnered Hester in their sin of adultery. He calls himself "the one s...

• Word Count: 1253
• Approx Pages: 5
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

... herself as best a woman might." He looks past the reason for her situation and recognizes the good in the adulteress. This aspect also foreshadows later events as Hester is the strongest link in the relationship between her, Dimmesdale, and young Pearl. Also, Hawthorne's figurative style and his insight into the characters is shown. He writes, "Pearl looked as beautiful as the day, but was in one of those moods ... and pride. Though it is a part of her actual wardrobe, it comes up later as an abstract object. At the end, when many claim that they see it on Dimmesdale's chest, the letter...

• Word Count: 1296
• Approx Pages: 5
• Grade Level: High School

... that while Dimmesdale was asleep one day, Chillingworth opened up Dimmesdale's shirt to find the letter "A" across his heart. The scene finalized that Dimmesdale was the father of young pearl. It also caused Chillingworth to become even more infatuated with torturing his victim. Chillingworth attempted to keep the secret inside the minister so his self-conscience would eat at him until death. Over time, ... now become a part of her. Hester would not be the same person without it. Again, by wearing the "A" after she was asked to remove it, angered the community. The last and biggest way ...

• Word Count: 1589
• Approx Pages: 6
• Grade Level: High School

... that while Dimmesdale was asleep one day, Chillingworth opened up Dimmesdale's shirt to find the letter "A" across his heart. The scene finalized that Dimmesdale was the father of young pearl. It also caused Chillingworth to become even more infatuated with torturing his victim. Chillingworth attempted to keep the secret inside the minister so his self-conscience would eat at him until death. Over time, ... now become a part of her. Hester would not be the same person without it. Again, by wearing the "A" after she was asked to remove it, angered the community. The last and biggest way ...

• Word Count: 1480
• Approx Pages: 6
• Grade Level: High School

... part focuses on the symbolic meanings of the marketplace. The second part presents the allegorical meanings of the forest wilderness. The third part comes to a new view towards the two different settings in the novel. The conclusion restates the thesis of the paper. Outline An Analysis of the Marketplace and the Forest Wilderness of Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter I. Introduction. 1. The background of Nathaniel Hawthorne. 2. The brief introduction of Hawthorne's the Scarlet Letter. 3. The view on the two settings that ... be the greatest ccomplishment of an author hailed as the master of...

• Word Count: 2453
• Approx Pages: 10
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

... , she will have to bear the burden of isolation for the rest of her life. She is reminded of her sin every day with her child, Pearl, and the scarlet letter. Hester's perseverance, self-reliance, and strength helped her survive the alienation from the town, but the long period of time without another human's affection besides Pearl's made her callous. Hester made the decision to stay in Boston even ... after being disgraced by the community because she believed Boston was where she belonged and ... she embraces her tragic flaw which leads to her demise. Hester chooses to stay in Boston ...

• Word Count: 1733
• Approx Pages: 7
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... to be jealous of Hester Prynne's beauty. When Pearl is looking at Gov. Bellingham armor, all she can see is the letter. She can't see her own mother and this adds to the idea that the letter is bigger then life. The meaning of the Scarlet Letter is also something that gets distorted throughout the book. In the beginning of the book the "A- stands for adultery which is not something ... whenever Hester walked abroad in the night.""(P.90) This passage says that the letter would glow in the night but that is not possible and shows the use of distortion. "Then gasping for breath, did Hester...

• Word Count: 1455
• Approx Pages: 6
• Grade Level: High School

... this point has invited Hester and her daughter Pearl up on the scaffold, Pearl asked if the three of them can stand together he tells her no but someday. At the great judgment day," whispered the minister; and, strangely enough, the sense that he was a professional teacher of the truth impelled him to answer the child so. "Then, and there, before the judgment-seat, thy mother, and thou, and I must ... stand together. But the daylight of this world shall not ... ...

• Word Count: 1308
• Approx Pages: 5
• Grade Level: High School

... then hiding his deed. Chillingworth sins by acting upon his desire for revenge, and by torturing Dimmesdale. Hester and Dimmesdale suffer from shame and guilt throughout the novel. It was a sin for which Hester Prynne was damned by society, and for which Arthur Dimmesdale damned himself (Loring 1). Hester is made ... was on that same dishonored bosom, to connect her parent forever with the race and descent of mortals, and to be finally a blessed soul in heaven.(Hawthorne 14). Hester is a woman full of motherly love that she showers on Pearl. Hester dresses her daughter with pride and ho...

• Word Count: 1373
• Approx Pages: 5
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

... with him, under the same roof!"(215).After their conversation, Dimmesdale regains his lost power again and decides to confess. Although Dimmesdale is physically very sick at the end of the book, he seems to be quite clear mentally. Hester and Pearl have to help him, get onto the scaffold, to ... confess his sin. Although Dimmesdale is so sick that he will die shortly after the confession, he speaks "with a voice that ... on Dimmesdale. Chillingworth had suspected Dimmesdale of being Pearl's father for a long time but he knows it for sure at the end of chapter 10, when he finds the minist...

• Word Count: 1627
• Approx Pages: 7
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School