Pearl as a Symbolic Device to Work on the Consciences of Hester and Dimmesdale
In Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter, Pearl Prynne is the living manifestation of the scarlet letter. She is the visible tie between Hester and Dimmesdale. The beautiful estranged daughter of the town adulteress, Pearl has demon-like traits. She is a very strange child, yet she is the one who leads both Hester and Dimmesdale to the acceptance of their sin and Dimmesdale to his confession in the end of the novel.
Initially, Pearl is the living punishment for Hester's sin. She is Hester's torture, as well…
