Term paper on Pearl As A Symbol In The Scarlet Letter
Pearl As A Symbol In The Scarlet Letter Essays
While the free essays can give you inspiration for writing, they cannot be used 'as is' because they will not meet your assignment's requirements. If you are in a time crunch, then you need a custom written term paper on your subject (pearl as a symbol in the scarlet letter)
Here you can hire an independent writer/researcher to custom write you an authentic essay to your specifications that will pass any plagiarism test (e.g. Turnitin). Waste no more time!
Pearl as a Powerful Symbol
Pearls have always held a great price to mankind, but no pearl had ever been earned at as high a cost to a person as Nathaniel Hawthorne’s powerful heroine Hester Prynne. Her daughter Pearl, born into a Puritan prison in more ways than one, is an enigmatic character serving entirely as a vehicle for symbolism. From her introduction as an infant on her mother’s scaffold of shame to the stormy zenith of the story, Pearl is an empathetic and intelligent child.
Throughout the story she absorbs the hidden emotions of her mother and magnifies them for all to see, and asks questions nothing but a child’s innocence permit her to ask, allowing Hawthorne to weave rich detail into The Scarlet Letter without making the story overly narrative. Pearl is the purest embodiment of literary symbolism. She is, at times, a vehicle for Hawthorne to express the irrational and translucent qualities of Hester and Dimmesdale’s illicit bond, and at others a forceful reminder of her mother’s sin. Pearl Prynne is her mother’s most precious possession and her only reason to live, but also a priceless treasure purchased with her life. Pearl’s strange beauty and deeply enigmatic qualities make her an extremely powerful symbol.
The product of Hester’s sin and agony, Pearl was a painfully constant reminder of her mother’s violation of the Seventh Commandment: Thou shalt not commit adultery. Hester herself felt that Pearl was given to her not only as a blessing, but also as a punishment worse than death or ignominy. She is tormented by her daughter’s childish teasing and endless questioning about the scarlet “A” and it’s relation to Minister Dimmesdale. After Pearl had created a letter “A” on her own breast out of seaweed, she asks her mother, “But in good earnest, now, mother dear, what does this scarlet letter mean? – and why dost thou wear it on thy bosom? – and why does the minister keep his hand over his heart?” In saying this Pearl implies that she knows much, much more about the scarlet letter than she lets on. Throughout the conversation Pearl is impish and teasing, saying one thing and contradicting it soon after. She refuses to say just what she means, which makes it hard for Hester to give a straight reply. Hester is shocked that her playful daughter has led their conversation to the topic of the scarlet letter, and even more disturbed that she has assumed Hester’s letter and Dimmesdale’s habit of pressing his hand to his heart branch from the same issue. Pearl, in bringing this forbidden and painful subject about, unwittingly inflicts agony upon her hapless mother. Hester cannot tell her daughter what has passed between the minister and herself. Pearl symbolizes a hidden part of her mother that has not, and will never be exposed and therefore washed free of sin. Pearl was always drawn to the ”A”, and seemed to twist the symbolic knife in Hester’s bosom every time she thought she...
MLA Style
. EssayMania.com. Retrieved on 12 Feb, 2012 from
<http://essaymania.com/54513/pearl-as-a-symbol-in-the-scarlet-letter>
More College Papers
People Of The Setting Sun
Close inspection of The Setting Sun by Dazai Osamu allows one to see a particular family battle changing times that are affecting a whole nation of people. Paralleled in many ways by the author's own reality, we see how this deep message is more than just a fiction story. As a nation, Japan had just
Pee Wee Scouts Thanksgiving
Pee Wee Scouts are a group of kids that do good things
for other people.
On thanksgiving they made baskets for the poor people. So the poor people had somthing to eat on thanksgiving. Now isn't that nice.
When they were filling the baskets they found a unlabled can. Their teacher Mrs. Petters tol
Pornography And Women Theory
ONLY WORDS
Constitutionally protected speech that is Clearly sexual abuse is discriminating and
unconstitutional, therefore, must be restricted speech. Catherine A. MacKinnon, in her book
“Only Words” gives persuading evidence that pornography subordinates women as a group
through sexual abuse.