This embodied sin of Hester follows her wherever she travels to, just as the actual embroidered letter sticks with Hester. Just as Pearl depicts her mother's sin, she also shows her mother's resilience and emotional strength. This is equivalent to how the scarlet letter ends up being a symbol of power in the Puritan society. "The scarlet letter had the effect of the cross on a nun's bosom. It imparted to the wearer a kind of sacredness which enabled her to
Why did Hester name her child Pearl? “…she names the infant ‘Pearl,’ as being of great price, -- purchased with all she had, -- her mother’s only treasure!” 2. What does the Scarlet Letter mean to Pearl? At this point, the A is a fascination. As a baby, Pearl seems instinctively drawn the A. Symbolically, this suggests a connection between the baby and the A as they are born from the same sin, but some may speculate that the decorative nature of the letter during a time period of particularly bland dress would draw one’s attention.
Even seeing her own daughter, Pearl, would sometimes bring up the emotion of her sin all over again. Near the end of the book her view of the letter changed. There was almost a sense of pride in it; or at least she could truly accept it as part of who she is. An example of this is seen in the following quote, “On the mind on Hester Prynne herself, was powerful and peculiar. All the light and graceful foliage of her character had been withered up by this red-hot brand and had long ago
Guilt "God, as a direct consequence of the sin which man thus punished, had given her a lovely child, whose place was on that same dishonored bosom, to connect her parent for ever with the race and descent of mortals, and to be finally a blessed soul in Heaven! Yet these thoughts affected Hester Prynne less with hope than apprehension. She knew that her deed had been evil; she could have no faith, therefore, that its result would be for good. Day after day, she looked fearfully into the child’s expanding nature; ever dreading to detect some dark arid wild peculiarity, that should correspond with the guiltiness to which she owed her being" (Hawthorne, 86). Hawthorne describes Hester's guilt concerning Pearl's future.
Every time the child does something wrong, the mother feels the heartache. It doesn’t matter what the child has done because even if it was just a small matter, the mother would have felt the pain first because she cares and love for her daughter. She loves her daughter with all her heart and wants her daughter to have the best in everything, the kind heart of a mother is fragile. ‘hostage to fortune’, hostage is someone who’s kidnapped and fortune signifies money. This meant that that the idea of having a child is not at all the time pleasant.
Pearl punishes me too! See ye not, she is my scarlet letter, only capable of being loved, and so endowed with a million-fold the power of retribution for my sin? Ye shall not take her! I will die first!” (673). This quote shows how much of a devoted mother Hester is.
While Hester’s “sins” are out in public where all could see, Dimmesdale and Chillingworth hide their debaucheries from public view. The persecution of Hester strengthens her faith and conviction in the difference between right and wrong. The solitary life Hester is forced to live results in a determined drive to raise Pearl to the best of her ability: “Lonely was Hester’s situation, without a friend on Earth who dared to show himself, she, however, incurred no risk of want” (75). Focused only on bettering her life for Pearl, the townspeople see and benefit from the very
Love and Purity within Rappaccini’s Daughter Abstract Many people spend their life looking for true love. Rappaccini’s Daughter is an example of an old age search for love and in this story this love has a great deal to do with purity as well. Giovanni felt a need to search for love in his life, and Beatrice was the one who caused him to seek her out. Love Even though Beatrice’s body is corrupt by Dr. Rapacinni, her beauty and soul stay pure. Beatrice is a gentle lady who treats even the poisonous of plants with tenderness.
Mrs. Sommer has sacrificed too much for her family and this is just a little bit that she could enjoy. Apparently Mrs. Sommer doesn’t want to abandon her family neither abandon her personal identity while fulfilling the role of a wife and a mother. The story's ambiguous ending suggests that the struggle is one that continues to be encountered by women. Most of the mother always sacrificed for their family and they barely
The final line “Who could not say, ‘Tis pity she’s a whore?” can be seen as directed towards her and so she is blamed for everything that has occurred. Throughout the play she is seen as quite powerful and headstrong by refusing many marriage proposals and being quite stubborn in doing so. However, she is reduced to a weak being however upon dying which is a culmination of her passions. It is perceived that women are a danger to men and to society as a whole and so Giovanni’s actions are to be blamed not on himself, but on Annabella because of the beauty she possesses. Giovanni states that Annabella’s “lips would tempt a saint” thus showing the corruption her presence inflicts upon even the supposed innocent of men.