The Scarlett Letter

In The Scarlett Letter, Nathaniel Hawthorne portrays Hester Prynne and Pearl as two individuals that are not characterized as typical female stereotypes, but as persons within their own right. Hawthorne depicts these female characters as stronger than men, which defy stereotypes of women in the 17th century Puritan society. The author expresses this view in several ways throughout The Scarlett Letter, such as the way Hester raises Pearl, how Pearl’s strength and intelligence is portrayed, and Hester’s defiance towards male figures with power. Hawthorne uses Hester and Pearl’s various experiences, minds, and the townspeople of Boston as a way to express his viewpoint.

     Hester Prynne raises her daughter, Pearl, in an extremely unconventional way. The Puritan society was a society centered on the males and it was a common belief that men are superior to women. Hester is a single-working mother who had an illegitimate daughter born out of wedlock. As a mother, it is Hester’s job to discipline Pearl and make her into a proper Puritan woman. However, Pearl is the exact opposite of a disciplined Puritan child. Pearl was not disciplined the proper Puritan way which thought that, “The frown, the harsh rebuke, the frequent application of the rod, enjoined by Scriptural authority, were used, not merely in the way of punishment for actual offenses, but as a wholesome regimen for the growth and

promotion of all childish virtues” (Hawthorne 51). Puritans thought that the proper way to raise

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children was to beat them and scream at them into submission, even if they did nothing wrong. Hester, on the other hand, raised her daughter Pearl with, “Both smiles and frowns … a tender but firm control over the soul of her daughter” (Hawthorne 52). This is the reason why Pearl is so different from other children her age.  She wasn’t beaten into thinking like a Puritan as the other children were. This is why Hester’s household has so many feminist ideals within it and it contradicts every aspect a Puritan should live by. Hester’s way of living and raising Pearl, has allowed Pearl to think for herself and make her own decisions in life. This is why Pearl is compared to a bird so often in the novel, because birds represent freedom just like Pearl is free from the flawed Puritan society.

Pearl is a very strong and intelligent child and she turns every situation to her advantage. Since other children are not willing to accept her as one of them, she decides to live with nature and animals because these are the only things that show her acceptance. Since the community doesn’t accept Pearl, she takes on the characteristics of nature because nature accepts her. Pearl's character, "lacked reference and adaptation to the world into which she was born. The child could not be made amenable to rules" (Hawthorne 51). This quote shows a resemblance in description between Pearl and nature. Pearl and nature are referred to as not adapting to Puritan society. Pearl is not affected in any way by the Puritan society; the only thing that has influence to this child is nature. She has been pushed out of her community's life and the only way of life that she can identify to is that of the forest and the things of nature. Pearl is a very clever child. She could read her surroundings and other people’s behavior to understand the things that she was not supposed to understand. Her intuition between right and wrong is almost always right. Before anyone in the novel realizes that Chillingworth is evil, Pearl warns her mother to, “Come