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The Scarlet Letter is a romantic work of fiction in a historical setting, and is considered to be Nathaniel Hawthorne’s masterpiece. When this novel was published, it attracted much attention in the literature field. Set in 17th-century Puritan Boston, Massachusetts during the years 1642 to 1649, this novel tells the story of Hester, who conceives a daughter through an adulterous affair and struggles to create a brand-new life of repentance and dignity. It is worth mentioning that the themes of this story are relatively various, such as legalism, evil, sin, guilt, love, freedom and etc.
Many scholars just attach much importance to the matter of artistic feature of this novel or just try to analyze this work from the angle of psychological analysis or emphasize on the themes—evil, sin, guilt, etc. Few critics have paid attention to the relationship between the characters and the society. However, of this group, many of them still choose to have a close study of Prynne, Dimmesdale and Chilingworthe but ignore Pearl. These scholars think only the three are the protagonists while little Pearl is not the main character. However, little Pearl, whose distinct personality relates the protagonists in this novel together organically, is also an indispensable character and her complex characters are really worth analyzing.
This paper will profoundly analyze Pearl’s characters from three different aspects. The first chapter expounds that Pearl is the fruit of adultery. It contains two parts. The first part introduces the origin of Pearl’s evil, but the other part shows the emergence of her justice. Then the second chapter analyzes that Pearl is becoming more and more endearing. The first part of this chapter focuses on Pearl’s innocence while the second reflects her sophistication from several different angles. Finally, the third chapter mainly discuss that Pearl achieves her self-worth gradually. It also analyzes Pearl’s character from two parts. To be specific, she not only shows her mystery but also presents her actuality in the story. It seems that each group of Pearl’s character has a sharp contrast. However, with deconstruction, it is obvious that the three groups of Pearl’s character are all the unity of opposites. This paper dispels the dual opposition with deconstruction theory in order to profoundly analyze the image of Pearl.
Chapter One Facing the Humiliation since Birth
When Pearl was born, she was regarded as the symbol of sin because her mother brought her to the world as a result of adultery. What she most interested in is the sinful scarlet letter on her mother’s bosom, which motivates Hester to introspect step by step. However, she also has the sense of justice, which defuses Dimmesdale’s sense of guiltiness and sublimates his soul.