She has endured the abuse from the community and they are now content to leave her alone. His failure to admit to any weakness gives the congregation the impression that he is a holy man.Īs Dimmesdale’s mental state weakens, Hester’s status within the community improves. Chillingsworth uses this knowledge to torture Dimmesdale at every opportunity in the hopes that he will eventually confess. He quickly realizes that the reverend has a secret. Chillingsworth has now made a place for himself within the community and has insinuated himself with Dimmesdale. The governor is prepared to take Pearl away from Hester, but Reverend Dimmesdale successfully pleads on her behalf (Hawthorne, 136-139). Rather than handling it with quiet dignity, Pearl fights back, both in imagination and in deed. The local children taunt Pearl as often as their parents taunt Hester. She refuses to do so, however she moves to the outskirts of town and works as a seamstress. Now released from prison, Hester is free to leave the town and thus remove the scarlet “A” from her bosom. Hester’s estranged husband, Roger Chillingsworth, pays Hester a visit in prison and vows that he will figure out the identity of Hester’s lover because he will “read it on his heart” (Hawthorne, 93). The man in question, reverend Arthur Dimmesdale, participates in Hester’s public humiliation on the scaffold. Hester takes the punishment alone and refuses to name her lover and Pearl’s father. Pearl is a vessel for Arthur Dimmesdale’s secret sin and shame and cannot truly live until he publicly acknowledges her.Īs the story begins, Hester stands on the scaffold with three month-old Pearl. Pearl is not a human child she is the embodiment of sin. Rather, she is filled with rage and passion and has instinctual knowledge that she cannot possibly possess. She doesn’t behave in the way girls are expected to she isn’t sweet, she’s far from innocent, and doesn’t play with dolls or cling to her mother’s skirts. The truth is that Pearl isn’t truly a little girl. A first read of The Scarlet Letter would give the impression that Pearl’s temper is a result of how she was conceived. The Scarlet Letter is the story of Hester Prynne, who is forced to wear a letter “A” on her clothing as a reminder of the adultery that led to the birth of her child, Pearl. The Scarlet Letter: Character Analysis of Pearl
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