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While reading, I found Pearl to be an incredibly intriguing character that often reflected the themes and issues at play in the story. Her very existence is the origin of the conflict in the book, as she is the physical manifestation of sin that creates her mother’s public shame. In many ways, she is the embodiment of her Mother’s guilt. One passage that struck me was in chapter 19, when she doesn’t recognize her mother without her scarlet A on. Without it, Hester appears to lighten, takes her hair down, and looks beautiful and rid of the sad cloud that the A brings. However, Pearl and her reflection in the brook are not happy with her mother looking this way. In fact, she refuses to come near her mother until she replaces the A on her chest, to which Pearl says “Now thou art my mother indeed!” and kisses the scarlet letter much to her mother’s dismay.
I found this scene between the mother and daughter to be so interesting, because Pearl only has known her mother with the mark of shame on, and loves her as she is when she wears it. However, Pearl’s assertion of this also seems sinister as her mother becomes visibly less beautiful, happy, and warm as the “withering spell” of the sad letter takes over her. Pearl’s mystical quality contributes to the feeling that she has a mysterious role taking on the shame and guilt of her Mother and embodying it, like a mirror. On the other hand, she is one of the only characters that is not distressed by her mother’s shame: in fact, she loves it because it is a part of her.
3 thoughts on “Pearl As a Mirror”
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Maggie, I think your analysis on Pearl being a physical representation of Hester’s sin and guilt is spot on. It seems intrinsic to her character and her relation with Hester that she represents the event or “sin” that got her mother into trouble in the first place.
I also took notice of the part of the story where Hester basically described Pearl as part of her punishment for what she did. It is obvious that she loves her daughter, but it’s also clear that whenever she looks at her daughter, she is reminded of her past adultery and feels all the guilt that comes with that. I think this commentary about Pearl being part of her punishment adds to your argument that Pearl is really there to represent her mother’s shame and sin.
This representation was most obvious to me in the scene at the Governor’s house where Hester had quite literally dressed Pearl in a red outfit, symbolizing the “A” itself. Almost as if Hester herself was acknowledging the connection between her guilt and the way she views her daughter.
Hi Maggie!
I think you make a lot of great points about the connection between Pearl and Hester. I was also intrigued with the idea that Pearl is the physical embodiment of her mother’s sin. I was intrigued with the narrator’s emphasis that Pearl would also, “hereafter be a woman” (Hawthorne, 469). I think it is essential that Pearl is a female. Like her mother she is described as physically beautiful but “wild” in nature. Pearl seemingly maintains the theme of women being wild and sinful.