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Theme Of Isolation In Scarlet Letter

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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. Isolation has a powerful affect is a recurring theme in The Scarlet Letter displayed through Hester, Pearl and DImmesdale. Isolation changed Hester’s appearance and the way she acted. In the beginning of the book, Hester was very beautiful and people were jealous of her. “The …show more content…

Right from the start, Hester knew that Pearl was going to be different from the other kids because she was born a sin. Pearl acted differently from the normal kids, which may be because she wasn’t around other kids to see how they acted and learn from them. “The truth seems to be, however, that the mother- forest, and these wild things which it nourished, all recognized a kindred wildness in the human child” (Hawthorne 140). Pearl was connected more with the forest than she was with people. She spent more time in the forest, playing with flowers and moss, and she didn’t play with other kids because they didn’t want to be around her. She didn’t mind that she did not connect with humans. She knows a joy that other Puritan children did not. She was mischievous and unpredictable because she was isolated and she thought the laws didn’t apply to her. Isolation made Pearl different from

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570 Words | 3 Pages

Much to the surprise of the townspeople, Pearl has become a comfort and vindication for Hester. Pearl has found fascination in the letter making it less of a penalty for Hester. She hasn’t been able to be understood by the townspeople because she is seen as a creature of heaven and therefore not understood by those who have impure motives. But Hester also sees Pearl as a burden of her past because without the pregnancy of Pearl her affair would never have been discovered and she would’ve remained as a part of the town instead of an outcast. She gave Hester a lot of grief because she had such an uncontrollable attitude, she was strong willed and crated many annoyances for her

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907 Words | 4 Pages

She is responsible for all of the hate that is portrayed upon Hester. However, what pearl represents to Hester, is her wild side, how she can be herself and not care about what the town thinks. In chapter 14 Hester and Pearl are at the beach, “Hester bade little Pearl run down to the margin of the water,and play with the shells and tangles sea-weed, until she should have talked awhile with yonder gatherer of herbs. So the child flew away like a bird, and, making bare her small white feet, went pattering along the moist margin of the sea...the image of a little maid, whom Pearl, having no other playmate, invited to take her hand, and run a race with her. ”(154) Pearl is happy and free and influences Hester be the same way.

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1464 Words | 6 Pages

Although, to Hester, Pearl’s “Peculiarity...should correspond with the guiltiness to which she owed her being” (85). Again, Hester thinks that if Pearl is abnormal it is due to her sin, and that she must deal with Pearl, to rid herself of her guilt. Not long after Hester is released from prison,

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426 Words | 2 Pages

Throughout the passage from The Scarlet Letter, Hawthorne uses Hester’s baby, Pearl, to illuminate the theme of beauty in a dark place. Once released from prison, Hester, an adulterer, becomes a public spectacle. Through this hard time, Hester has her daughter Pearl to soothe her and to bring her strength and hope for a better future. By using vivid imagery and juxtaposition, Hawthorne depicts Pearl as Hester’s happiness, light, and beauty during a sad and lonely time. While in Prison, Hester is all alone and depressed.

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765 Words | 4 Pages

She continuously mocks her, doing things that make Hester feel bad and frustrated. Pearl is Hesters silent antagonist and she might even be better at keeping Hester from getting what she wants more than Roger. Pearl has of course caused all these events to take place with her birth, she also causes Hester to wear the A like the village did, and she as stated before mocks her for the entirety of the book. Pearl has caused all of these events to take place with her birth being the catalyst. To quote Hester “To assure herself that the infant and the shame were real” (Hawthorne 56) Pearl is the living proof of the sin committed.

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1655 Words | 7 Pages

She decided to live on the very outskirts of town in a small,old cottage. She did so in order to distance herself and Pearl from society. Not only was Pearl rejected by society, but she also pushed away any possible friends by her

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1246 Words | 5 Pages

In Heather James’ Fire, the first novel of the Elements of Power trilogy, she explains the consequences of isolating and secluding oneself: “Seclusion wasn't good for anyone; it made you forget how to protect yourself.”  Seclusion can range from being alienated by other people, to staying in solitude, to isolating oneself on purpose. While people often go into seclusion with a motive or a reason, they can end up with negative traits because of it. This theme of isolation is discussed and implied in Nathaniel Hawthorne’s works of literature, especially The Scarlet Letter and “The Minister’s Black Veil.” In these works, Hawthorne elaborates on how different methods of isolation have their negative tolls on the different characters that experience

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1006 Words | 5 Pages

How the Scarlet Letter Transforms Hester In The Scarlet Letter, when Hester is first brought out on the scaffold to by publically shamed for her ignominy, Arthur Dimmesdale pleads with her to name him as her fellow sinner so that he will not have to reveal himself when he exclaims, "Be not silent from any mistaken pity and tenderness for him; for, believe me, Hester, though he were to step down from a high place, and stand there beside thee, on thy pedestal of shame, yet better were it so, than to hide a guilty heart through life.” Hester refuses him and Dimmesdale goes unnamed and unpunished until the very end of the story. While Dimmesdale refuses to accept responsibility for his sin, Hester embraces the shame of the community. It is this difference which causes Dimmesdale enormous amounts of guilt and pain while Hester in able to find peace with herself and with her situation.

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502 Words | 3 Pages

Pearl’s estranged behavior is believed to be a result of the way she was conceived through sin, which is just another example of how Pearl is the physical representation and constant reminder of Hester’s sin. Towards the end of the book, Pearl is finally allowed to be a real human being once Dimmesdale confesses his sin. In Chapter 23, Hawthorne writes, “The great scene of grief, in which the wild infant bore a part had developed all her sympathies; and as her tears fell upon her father’s cheek, they were the pledge that she would grow up amid human joy…” (Hawthorne 142).

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599 Words | 3 Pages

Hester never took her anger or frustration out on Pearl, and that took great patience from Hester. Pearl was the one who brought curiosity and happiness into Hester’s life. Undeniably, Hester truly loved Pearl, there was no doubt about that. Hester did not want Pearl to make the same mistake when she got older and Hester just wanted the absolute best for Pearl. Pearl was a strange child and Hester thought that was because of the sin she committed, but in all honesty, Pearl just looked at things in different perspective.

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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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431 Words | 2 Pages

In The Scarlet Letter written by Nathaniel Hawthorne, the comparison between Hester’s scarlet letter and Dimmesdale’s hand over his heart presents the theme that people will experience a permanent and more powerful pain when they attempt to hide their sin intentionally rather than choosing to confess and expose it to the public. The scarlet letter once to be a reflection of sin, but what it stands for can always be changed because it is removable, and it is not a permanent imprint on Hester’s body. Even though both Hester and Dimmesdale are sinners, Hester experiences less torture because the townspeople witness her confession through her action of helping the poor, and they interpret the scarlet letter A as “able” instead of “adultery” because

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877 Words | 4 Pages

Something so small can alter someone’s psychological nature. During the time of The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne; Chillingworth, Dimmesdale, Hester and Pearl did not have the things many people used today to treat these disorders and diseases. Pearl, Hester, Dimmesdale and Chillingworth all obtain some sort of these disorder that transforms their characters into something that causes uproar throughout the community. Hawthorne portrays the psychological nature of the novel through the development of anxiety, mood, depression and psychotic disorders in the four main characters. Pearl, Hester, Dimmesdale and Chillingworth.

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1662 Words | 7 Pages

In Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter, Hawthorne explores recurring themes of suffering surrounding the main characters, Hester Prynne and Arthur Dimmesdale. Hester and Dimmesdale both commit adultery with each other, and, as a result of this, both experience gruesome and occasionally unbearable forms of suffering. Though they undergo different forms of pain, both of their experiences are highly reliant on how the Puritan society treats them. Hester 's pain stems from the shame and estrangement she receives from the community, while Dimmesdale’s is due to the reverence with which the community regards him. Although, in spite of the fact that both Hester and Dimmesdale receive harsh penalty for their sin, by the end of the book, Hawthorne shows how their suffering is, in fact, the key to their salvation.

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1597 Words | 7 Pages

Author, Nathaniel Hawthorne, uses his writing to show how each character shapes Hester in a particular way. In "The Scarlet Letter," Hester 's relationships with her daughter Pearl, her agape Arthur Dimmesdale, and her vengeful husband Roger Chillingworth help readers to see the maturity in Hester with each one. The mother-daughter relationship has a unique quality like no other. A mother and daughter love and support each other through good times and bad times. In an article written by Eavan O 'Brien, he talks in further detail about the dynamic mother-daughter relationships have.

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