i love essays
Marisa Johnson
Mrs. Donahue
American Dream
7 March 2005
The Scarlet Letter is a story with many themes. A theme that stands out is the connection between Hester Prynne and her daughter, Pearl. Because Hester committed adultery, she and her daughter moved to the edge of town. They only had each other. They did everything together, from going to town to just picking flowers around their house. Five specific passages in The Scarlet Letter really show the connection between these two outcasts.
The connection between Hester and Pearl were not always psychological connections. They had physical connections as well. “But she named the infant “Pearl,” as being of great price,-purchased with all she had, -her mother’s only treasure! (61)” Yes, Hester and Pearl were connected by blood, but this passage means so much more. Pearl was Hester’s everything. As said in another part of The Scarlet Letter, Hester would have become a witch with Mistress Hibbins if it weren’t for Pearl being in her life.
As said in the opening, Hester and her daughter moved to the edge of town. No one liked them or visited them. One day Hester and Pearl went into town. The little children were making fun of Pearl. “Mother and daughter stood together in the same circle of seclusion from human society (65)”. They were connected again, but this time because they were pariahs in the town.
This next passage shows the connection Pearl had with her mother. It also shows the symbolism of the rosebush. In The Scarlet Letter, the rosebush symbolizes Hester because she was a beautiful woman (the rose) in a world of evil (the thorns). “Pearl, seeing the rose-bushes, began to cry for a red rose, and would not be pacified (73)”. Pearl was yearning for her mother in that symbolic sense.
Hester loved her daughter more than anything. She would do anything for her. In this passage, Hester was telling the governor and others why she deserved to keep Pearl.
“ ‘God gave me the child!’ cried she. ‘He gave her, in requital of all things else, which ye had taken from me. She is my happiness!-she is my torture, none the less! Pearl keeps me here in life! Pearl punishes me too! See ye not, she is the 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!’ (77)”
Hester knew that if she kept Pearl, it would be good for both of them. The connection between them was so strong that no one could separate them and Hester knew that.
The last passage of the connection between Hester and Pearl was when Pearl wanted to be just like her mother. “At the last touch to her mermaid’s garb, Pearl took some eel-grass, and imitated, as best she could, on her own bosom, the decoration with which she was so familiar on her mother’s. A letter, -the letter A,-but freshly green, instead of scarlet! (122) “ Pearl wanted to be just like her mother, and that meant having the letter A on her too.
Hester and Pearl had a connection that no other mother and daughter could have. In so many ways were they connected and no one could take that away from them.
if you want to help me with the conclusion, leave me a comment :-P
Mrs. Donahue
American Dream
7 March 2005
The Scarlet Letter is a story with many themes. A theme that stands out is the connection between Hester Prynne and her daughter, Pearl. Because Hester committed adultery, she and her daughter moved to the edge of town. They only had each other. They did everything together, from going to town to just picking flowers around their house. Five specific passages in The Scarlet Letter really show the connection between these two outcasts.
The connection between Hester and Pearl were not always psychological connections. They had physical connections as well. “But she named the infant “Pearl,” as being of great price,-purchased with all she had, -her mother’s only treasure! (61)” Yes, Hester and Pearl were connected by blood, but this passage means so much more. Pearl was Hester’s everything. As said in another part of The Scarlet Letter, Hester would have become a witch with Mistress Hibbins if it weren’t for Pearl being in her life.
As said in the opening, Hester and her daughter moved to the edge of town. No one liked them or visited them. One day Hester and Pearl went into town. The little children were making fun of Pearl. “Mother and daughter stood together in the same circle of seclusion from human society (65)”. They were connected again, but this time because they were pariahs in the town.
This next passage shows the connection Pearl had with her mother. It also shows the symbolism of the rosebush. In The Scarlet Letter, the rosebush symbolizes Hester because she was a beautiful woman (the rose) in a world of evil (the thorns). “Pearl, seeing the rose-bushes, began to cry for a red rose, and would not be pacified (73)”. Pearl was yearning for her mother in that symbolic sense.
Hester loved her daughter more than anything. She would do anything for her. In this passage, Hester was telling the governor and others why she deserved to keep Pearl.
“ ‘God gave me the child!’ cried she. ‘He gave her, in requital of all things else, which ye had taken from me. She is my happiness!-she is my torture, none the less! Pearl keeps me here in life! Pearl punishes me too! See ye not, she is the 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!’ (77)”
Hester knew that if she kept Pearl, it would be good for both of them. The connection between them was so strong that no one could separate them and Hester knew that.
The last passage of the connection between Hester and Pearl was when Pearl wanted to be just like her mother. “At the last touch to her mermaid’s garb, Pearl took some eel-grass, and imitated, as best she could, on her own bosom, the decoration with which she was so familiar on her mother’s. A letter, -the letter A,-but freshly green, instead of scarlet! (122) “ Pearl wanted to be just like her mother, and that meant having the letter A on her too.
Hester and Pearl had a connection that no other mother and daughter could have. In so many ways were they connected and no one could take that away from them.
if you want to help me with the conclusion, leave me a comment :-P