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Emotions Spill In Kate Chopin's The Scarlet Letter

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Let the Emotions Spill In Kate Chopin’s The Awakening protagonist Edna Pontellier is said to possess “That outward existence which conforms, the inward life which questions.” In The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne, Hester Prynne is a character who outwardly conforms while question inwardly. Prynne is humiliated and is publicly shamed by wearing the scarlet letter upon her bosom for seven years by everyone. Going through that horrible journey she begins to question Pearl inwardly. Although some may claim that Roger Chillingworth is the best character represented by this statement, Prynne would most definitely relate more especially with the forceful marriage. In The Scarlet Letter, Prynne is a character that conforms outwardly while …show more content…

“On the breast of her gown, in fine red cloth, surrounded with an elaborate embroidery and fantastic flourishes of gold-thread, appeared the letter A” (Hawthorne 50). The novel states this description of Prynne’s scarlet letter and how she has to put it on her gown, noticeable for everyone to see. Prynne is inwardly questioning herself whose child is Pearl “...child, what are thou? Cried the mother. Oh, I am your little Pearl… Art thou my child, in very truth?...mother half doubted...thou art not my child! Thou art no Pearl of mine!...said the mother… (Hawthorne 89-90). Even though Prynne is playfully stating this question there is this inner question that she is not able to hide after the fact that Pearl is present to constantly make Prynne question herself. “God gave her the child… This child of its father’s guilt and its mother’s shame hath come from the hand of God” (Evans). Though as much as she wants to question Pearl being her daughter, she realize that Pearl is a living reminder of her “sin” she has committed. In the novel “the talk of the neighboring townspeople...had given out that poor little Pearl was a demon offspring...ever since old Catholic times… …show more content…

As she is attempted to sign the book, the reminder of her life is there. Pearl is there as a reminder that she has a reason to live for and to care about which prevent her from signing the book. “...thou knowest what is in my heart, and what are a mother’s rights, and how much the stronger they are, when that mother has but her child and the scarlet letter” (Evans). Feeling of motherly concern is filled in Prynne’s heart especially when she does not sign the book because of Pearl. The gloomy forest is represented as darkness. In the puritan village when someone has commited sin, they are exiled and sent to the forest to live on their own. Everything that is said or done in the darkness of the forest is kept secret from the eyes of the outside world. Because the forest is very secure, Mistress Hibbins prefers to meet there at night so she can secretly sign away everyone’s souls to the devil. Not only that but it is explained in the book that Mistress Hibbins told Pearl the story of Black Man and how Prynne’s scarlet letter was Black Man’s mark. “...ugly-tempered lady, old Mistress Hibbins, was one...Black Man’s mark on thee…glows like a red flame when thou meetest him at midnight, here in the dark wood…” (Hawthorne 167). In the novel, Black Man is seen as the devil and also holds a book with iron clasps. “... he indistinctly beheld a form under the trees, clad in garments so sombre, and

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1415 Words | 6 Pages

A Role Model that Transcends Time Hester Prynne changed dramatically throughout the course of Nathaniel Hawthorne’s, The Scarlet Letter. Initially she was viewed as the antagonist and was a destructive character to those around her. After being confined in her cottage with Pearl, she began to develop a sense of who she needed to become in order to efficiently raise Pearl. Hester’s ability to do what was necessary for her improvement made her into a respectable role model for women to shadow. Hester chose to isolate she and Pearl to create a wave of self-improvement. Because of Hester’s mysterious, seductive, and rebellious actions, she demonstrated the characteristics of a byronic hero.

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502 Words | 3 Pages

Hawthorne states, “... Hester could not help questioning at such moments whether Pearl was a human child. She seemed rather an airy sprite…” (Hawthorne 52). Even though some people see Pearl as a child of the devil, she is actually just a little kid whose mother’s actions reflected badly on her life and made people’s views of her distorted.

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1581 Words | 7 Pages

When members of society do not conform, they are often treated differently. Those who are rebels, those who break the rules and do not fit into the status quo, become outcasts to society. These castaways are often avoided, ignored, and disrespected by societal figures. Modern society is easily said to have multiple different expectations for its affiliates, in relation to physical ideals, emotional processes, and intelligence levels. Societies’ essential goals for human life are everywhere; magazines, television, radio, the internet, and even on everyday streets.

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468 Words | 2 Pages

“ All these giant trees and boulders of granite seemed intent on making a mystery of the course of this small brook; fearing, perhaps, that, with its never-ceasing loquacity, it should whisper tales out of the heart of the heart of the old forest whence it flowed, or mirror its revelations on the smooth surface of the pool.” (Hawthorne 124-125) The whisper tales out as Hester and Pearl continue their conversation of the Black Man. This conversation carries out the story Mistress Hibbins told Pearl, the Black Man “...haunts this forest, and carries a book with him, —a big, heavy book, with iron clasps; and how this ugly Black Man offers his book and an iron pen to everybody that meets him here among the trees; and they are to write their names with their own blood. And then he sets his mark on their bosoms!”

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470 Words | 2 Pages

Pearl Pearl Prynne, the daughter of Hester Prynne, from The Scarlet Letter provides support to Hester through her inquisitiveness and her symbolism. Pearl Prynne provides support to Hester through her inquisitiveness. Pearl’s knack for the Scarlet letter displays her inquisitiveness because most children notice their parents face or smile first, but she noticed the Scarlet Letter first. We can really see Pearl’s inquisitiveness when Pearl “grasped for it [The Scarlet Letter], smiling not doubtfully, but with a decided gleam…”(Hawthorne, 63). This excerpt from the story shows Pearls inquisitiveness because of the way she grabs for the “A”, this is not the only time she does this, things similar to this happen plenty of other times.

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562 Words | 3 Pages

Pearl is the living embodiment of of the scarlet letter. Pearl constantly reminds Hester of her sins, without meaning to. Whenever she asks questions about Dimmesdale or about the scarlet letter, Hester is reminded of the things she did wrong. Pearl is very smart child, and she likes to ask questions and learn about things. If she sees something that confuses her, she will ask her mother about it.

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1270 Words | 6 Pages

When Pearl looks at her mother’s reflection in a convex mirror, she claims to exclusively see the A: “the scarlet letter was represented in exaggerated and gigantic proportions, so as to be greatly the most prominent feature of her appearance. In truth, she seemed absolutely hidden behind it” (95). Hawthorne clearly illustrates how Pearl and the public choose to see Hester merely as her sin. Even numerous years later, Hawthorne suggest that the townspeople still cannot view Hester

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847 Words | 4 Pages

Have you ever been extremely publicly shamed before? Hester Prynne has. In The Scarlet Letter, written by Nathienal Hawthorne, Hester Prynne was shamed and harassed by the Puritan townspeople for committing adultery. The Puritan townspeople lived in a Puritan community, in which they had unrealistic standards for their people. Hester Prynne did not meet one of their standards

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1841 Words | 8 Pages

In Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter, Pearl is born an outcast from the Puritan community, who consider her an “imp of evil” and a “product of sin” (84). She represents the forbidden act of passion of her parents, one that defies the fundamental morals of Puritan society in the 17th century. She serves as a constant reminder of the adulterous act of her mother, both in the eyes of the guilty and all those who they meet. Thus, she is a living symbol of sin, an extension of the scarlet letter with which she is so obsessed. They both embody the immorality of sin, and both act as constant reinforcement of the stern Puritan ideals of the day -- or so it would initially seem.

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748 Words | 3 Pages

This child is not meant to be a realistic character but rather a symbol of Hester’s sin, blessing and scarlet letter. Pearl is the scarlet letter, a blessing and curse, and the love and passion of a dangerous relationship. More than a child Pearl is a symbol of the love and passion between Hester and the minister. Pearl is a symbol that connect her parents forever even if they couldn’t be together. The narrator says, “God, as a direct consequence of the sin which man thus punished, had given her a lovely child, whose place was on that same dishonoured bosom, to connect her parent forever with the race and descent of mortals, and to be finally a blessed soul in heaven!”(86)

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459 Words | 2 Pages

The names Pearl Prynne and Reverend Dimmesdale, in The Scarlet Letter, depict their personality traits and amplifies how others view them. Hester Prynne only has one treasure, her daughter Pearl Prynne, whom she advocates throughout her life. Meanwhile, the town which Hester and Pearl Prynne live in, torment Hester because of her grave sin, adultery. As a result, Pearl Prynne supports her mother and becomes her prized possession. After Hester Prynne stands on the scaffold for hours, Hester Prynne presents the name of her daughter, which is Pearl Prynne because she “...

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744 Words | 3 Pages

This role of her being an antagonistic protagonist creates a paradox within the already complex and unusual child. The symbol of Pearl plays an important part in the novel The Scarlet Letter. She is a reminder of her mother 's sin and antagonist toward Hester, as well. She is the root of many other symbols in the book.

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716 Words | 3 Pages

In the beginning of the book, Hester Prynne is being shamed by the whole town, Hawthorne writes that Hester sees someone she knows walking along the edges of the forest, we later find out that the man she sees is Roger Chillingworth. Hawthorne portrays Chillingworth as evil, because he came from the forest, and in the book, nature is evil. Toward the middle of the book Hester was in the forest and she took her “A” off and also let her hair down, she grew very happy, thus causing the forest to become happy. Hawthorne is illustrating the fact that nature reflects our mood. Pearl was the type of child to run and play until her heart gives out, when she plays outside, Hawthorne portrays the forest as happy as well, hence stating that the forest shows a parallel feeling with a person.

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893 Words | 4 Pages

The place of isolation can become the place of revelation. The Scarlet Letter written by Nathaniel Hawthorne tells the story of Hester Prynne's life after having a child, Pearl, while her husband, Roger Chillingworth, was away and having to live with an A on her chest for adultery. The father of the child, Arthur Dimmesdale, had to live with the guilt and beat himself because of it and the truth remained a secret to almost everyone, except Chillingworth, who planned to get revenge on him because of his sin. Chillingworth became evil and changed because he wanted revenge on Dimmesdale and the guilt made Dimmesdale feel sick. Dimmesdale died after he told everyone the truth and Pearl gained a sense of compassion when she saw him dying.

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953 Words | 4 Pages

The Short Story The Story of an Hour by Kate Chopin explores the emotions of Louise Mallard a woman with a heart disease. In the hour that the story is told, it ranges from showing Mrs. Mallard different reactions to learning of her husbands death to him surprisingly showing up alive and eventually her untimely death from a heart disease. Although only a brief period of time is shown, many emotions are revealed through the third person omniscient point of view. This point of view shows more than just the protagonists thoughts and is not limited to one person. It allows the readers to know something about Mrs. Mallard that she does not as the story ends after Mrs. Mallard has already died.

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