Hawthorne's Pearl - Symbol and Character.

Hawthorne's Pearl: Symbol and Character
Author(s): Darrel Abel

Source: ELH, Vol. 18, No. 1 (Mar., 1951), pp. 50-66
Published by: Johns Hopkins University Press
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HAWTHORNE'S PEARL:
SYMBOL AND CHARACTER
By DARREL ABEL
The child Pearl is the most ambiguous characterin The

Scarlet Letter because she is so muchmoreimportantas symbol
than as agent.-She is a type-the Universal Child. She ex-
pressesHawthorne'sconceptionsof child-nature child-
in-itself,
natureas a phase ofhumandevelopment, of
and the significance
childrenin relationto the systemofrealityin whichtheyplay a
part. In thispaper an attemptwillbe made-tointerpret Pearl's
symbolicrolein The Scarlet Letter, and to indicatebrieflyhow
her symbolismtends to make her unmanageableand seriously
defectiveas an active characterin Hawthorne'smoraldrama.
SYMBOL: Lucy, THE CHILD OF NATURE AS IDEAL

FundamentallyPearl is a Child of Nature,significantlycom-
parable to the "Romantic" Child of Nature described in
Wordsworth'sLucy poems-especially, in its purestand most
ideal form,in " Three Years She Grew." It will be helpfulin
interpretingPearl, a much morecomplex,even anti-"Roman-
tic" conception,to note the main featuresof the pure Child of
Nature as Wordsworth conceivesofherin Lucy.
cut offfromhumanrelationships.She is
Lucy is significantly
not even acknowledgedto be engenderedfromhumanstock:
Threeyearsshegrewin sun and shower,(myitalics)
Then Naturesaid," A lovelierflower
On earthwas neversown."
This deliberateavoidance of mentionof-herhuman geniture,
and the elaborationof the flowermetaphorto characterizeher
earliestyears,implythat Lucy's humanoriginwas a factof no
importance,that her natural characteralone was significant.
More specifically,they implythat what Lucy was to become
was not dependentupon, or determinedor limited by, her
specificinheritanceof human possibility.
50
DARREL ABEL 51
In her nurture,as in her geniture,she was utterlyremoved
fromthe sphereof human influence-withoutparent or com-
panion. In " Three Years She Grew" there is not even a
mention of a house, or of any physical accompanimentof
ordinaryhumanliving,or of any of the visibletracesof man's
tenancywithwhichthe face of the earthis marked.1
The pure Child ofNature,then,is totallyunderthe influence
of Nature,withwhomalone she enjoysimmediateand perfect
intimacy.Nature said,
This ChildI to myselfwilltake;
She shallbe mine,and I willmake
A Lady ofmyown.
In effect,Wordsworthshows Nature undertakinga controlled
experiment,with a selectedspecimenof humanity,to demon-
stratewhat can be achievedin the way of producinga perfect
person. Nature assumes a morenearlyentirecontrolover her
Child thana humanparentcould assume. Not onlywillNature
be " law " to her darlingand " restrain" her; she will also be
" impulse" and " kindle" her. Nature's elaborate programis
' Wordsworth'sother Childrenof Nature of the same period as Lucy have human
associations,although the poet minimizestheir importance. " Ruth," for instance,
is conceived more realistically;Ruth's growing-upin Nature is recognizedto be
extraordinary, the consequence of orphanhoodand human neglect:
When Ruth was left half desolate,
Her Father took anotherMate;
And Ruth, not seven years old,
A slightedchild, at her own will (my italics)
Went wanderingover dale and hill,
In thoughtlessfreedom,bold.
Therefore,she grewup
As if she fromher birthhad been
An infantof the woods.
Althoughher " father'sroof" is mentioned,the poet assertsthat she lived as much
" alone " in thoughtand activityas if other human beings were not near.
Likewise, Wordsworth'sother Lucy, Lucy Gray, although she apparently had
regularand affectionaterelationswith her parents,was " a solitarychild":
No mate, no comradeLucy knew;
She dwelt on a wide moor,
-The sweetestthingthat ever grew
Beside a human door!
"Beside a human door " suggestsonly accidental connectionwith human life,and
the end of the poem indicatesthat the Child's disappearance is to be regardedas
an abandonmentof human ties to resume a more intimatelife in Nature.
52 HAWTHORNE'S PEARL
designedboth to shape the Child's innateand burgeoningten-
dencies and to impartand incorporateinto her being certain
extrinsicqualities of the natural world: the sportivenessof
young animals, " the silence and the calm of mute insensate
things,"the movinggrace of cloud-forms and the linear grace
of bendingwillows,thevisiblebeautyofmidnightstarsand the
audible beauty of sounds in nature-and finallythe more
ambiguous" vital feelingsof delight" whichpresumablywill
giveheran innergraceand beautycorrespondent to herphysical
perfection.
Nature's powers were adequate to her purposes. With ap-
parentlyas littlestrainas was imposedupon God's powersby
the creationof the world,she succeededin makinga Lady of
her own: " Thus Nature spake-The work was done." The
total intimationof " Three Years She Grew" is that the Child
of Nature, in pure realization,is an ideal and perfectcreature.
Recognitionofthisperfection, and satisfactionin contemplation
ofit (" thememoryofwhathas been,and nevermorewillbe")'
account for the calmness of the poet's acceptance of Lucy's
early death. Not lengthof lifematters,but fulfilment.For a
Lucy, not death at the consummating moment,but longerlife
-the gradualdecay ofherperfection, wouldbe tragic.
In this perfect Child of Nature Wordsworthpictured a
paragonsuch as could not be producedby humannurture.
2
SYMBOL: PEARL, THE CHILD OF NATURE AS PURITAN
Turningto Pearl, we firstconsiderherin relationto the same

mattersremarkedin our examinationof Lucy as a Child of
Nature: the extentand importanceof human influencein the
formationof her character,the extentand importanceof the
ofNature,and thedegreeto whichNaturealone might
influence
bringabout the Child's realizationof herpotentiality.
When Nature " took" Lucy in orderto " make a Lady " of
herown,Lucy was threeyearsold-an age fixedon,apparently,
as approximatelymarkingthe beginningof a child's conscious
development.We firstsee Pearl whenshe emergesfromprison
in her mother'sarms,
DARREL ABEL 53
a baby of some three months old, who winked and turned aside
its little face fromthe too vivid light of day; because its acquain-
tance, heretofore,had brought it acquainted only with the gray
twilightof a dungeon.2
At this stage of her existence, when her responses are not
volitional but sensory, she is not yet a person. Her reflexive
turning-away from the light of the sun, which, like the love of
God and unlike the charity of his debased images, shines alike
on the just and the unjust, is a symbolic, not a characteristic,
act. Hawthorne, like Wordsworth, first exhibits his Child of
Nature at an age when her character is even in its outlines
undetermined,or at least unapparent.
Pearl, however, unlike Lucy, is shown to be from the begin-
ning of her development influencedby both her human geniture
and her human nurture. Hawthorne stresses the moral rather
than the biological importance to Pearl of her human origin:
The child could not be made amenable to rules. In giving her
existence,a great law had been broken; and the resultwas a being
whose elements were perhaps beautiful and brilliant,but all in
disorder.
The mother's impassioned state had been the medium through

whichwere transmittedto the unborninfantthe rays of its moral
life: and, howeverwhite and clear originally,they had taken the
deep stains of crimsonand gold, the fierylustre,the black shadow,
and the untemperedlight of the interveningsubstance.
Pearl's brilliant attire was merely an illustrationof her mother's
passionate temperament. Also, as Roger Chillingworth pro-
fanely hinted, the father's traits were not beyond discerningin
the child.4
Pearl thus mirroredher parents' proclivities because the germ
of infantlife is the fruitof the mature lives which engendered it.
'All quotationsfromHawthornein this paper are fromThe Scarlet Letter unless
otherwiseidentifiedin the footnotes.
3 " A person is a unityof a spiritualnature endowed with freedomof choice and
so forminga whole which is independentof the world,for neithernature nor the

state may invade this unity without permission."--JacquesMaritain, The True
Humanism (trans. M. R. Adamson. Second ed. London, 1939), p. 92. To this
Catholic humanist definitionHawthorne would have added that other individuals
mightnot " invade " such a " unity."
See Scarlet Letter (Riverside Ed.), p. 143.
In his expressionof thisconception,Hawthorne'spreoccupation
withthe moralratherthan the biologicalcontinuityin human
generationsmakes him Calvinistin his thought:
The processesof natureare not meresuccessions of events,but
sequencesin whichone event" springs " fromanotherand partakes
of a commonnature. Flowersand fruitsare not spontaneous,
externalappendagesofbranches, but growout ofthemand possess
characters peculiarto themselves.A man bornof a givenpairof
parents" inherits " theirtraits. Such continuities in natureare
evidencesofa " constitution or establishedorder."5
In this " constitutionor establishedorder" childrenplay the
same part in the human worldthat new growthplays in the
naturalworld. Hawthorneremarked: " It is a marvelwhence
[thewhitepond lily]derivesits lovelinessand perfume,sprout-
ing as it does from the black mud, over which the river
sleeps...." 6 Analogously,he said of Pearl that " herinnocent
life had sprung,by the inscrutabledecree of Providence,out
ofthe rankluxurianceof a guiltypassion." Pearl thusstandsas
a regenerativesymbol-a phenomenalresurgenceamong the
sulliedmembersof adult societyofthe powerofgoodnesswhich
men can obscurebut not extinguishin themselves.
In the personof Pearl this regenerativesymbolismis mani-
festin two ways, whichmay be called reincarnativeand talis-
manic. She is a reincarnationof the best human possibilityof
her ancestors-of potentialitieswhich,imperfectly realized in
past generations, are once more offered opportunity for a
better realizationin this " germ and blossom of womanhood."
The pathos of Pearl's situationarisesfromour awarenessthat
such realizationis contingentupon her sinfulparents' giving
hera connectionwiththe moralorderofthe universeby resum-
ingtheir" lapsed powers." The dramaticeffectofthusdefining
Pearl's moraldependencyis to enlargethe notionof moralcon-
sequence attachingto herparents'behavior;throughit, we are
made aware that, as Hawthornesaid, " Every crimedestroys
moreEdens than our own." Not merelyPearl's personalfulfil-
ment, but all the upward-yearning generationsof humanity
behindher whichare awaitinga betterrealizationin her life,
may be defeated.
' JosephHaroutunian,Piety versus Moralism: The Passing of the New England
Theology (New York, 1932), np. 16-17.
'American Notebooks, ed. R. Stewart (New Haven, 1932), p. 147.
DARREL ABEL 55
intrin-
Pearl's talismanicsymbolismis at once less significant
sically and more importantdramaticallythan is her reincar-
native symbolism.The formeris acted out morefully,and has
more apparent effecton the plot of the novel than does the
latter. As a talismanicsymbol,Pearl offersinstinctiveaffiance
to whateveris good in the personsaround her-a trait which
vividlyremindsadults of the powerof goodnessstillpresentin
themselves,howeverobscuredby the debasingpracticesof the
world: " As the pure breathof childrenrevivesthe lifeof aged
men, so is our moral nature revivedby theirfreeand simple
thoughts." Pearl makes repeated instinctiveappeals to her
parentsto preferspiritualgoods to animalsatisfactions;and the
changesin her moods,her conduct,and her characterduring
the progressof the story are an index to the varyingmoral
conditionof Hester and Dimmesdale. Old Mistress Hibbins
servesa complementary talismanicfunctionin the story,except
that she is a touchstoneof experiencedand conscious evil
ratherthan of innocentand unconsciousgoodness: whenever
MistressHibbins appears in the story,it is to accost someone
in whomshe detectsan access of evil impulses,and to urgehim
to declarehimelfirrevocablyforthe devil's party.
These thingsPearl, althougha Child of Nature, symbolizes
by virtue of being also (a more importantconsiderationto
Hawthorne) a Child of Man. What she was as " germ and
blossom" of human stock was her most significantmode of
being.
Since the conditionsof Pearl's human geniturewere of im-
menseimportance,her nurture,natural and humane,must be
effectualin the degreeto whichit realizesthe best possibilities
latent in those conditions.WhereasLucy, fromthe beginning
of her development,is shown to be (fortunately,fromher
author'spointofview) removedfromhumanassociations,Pearl
is establishedin a humanrelationshipwhichstronglyinfluences
her. She does not enjoy full and normal relationshipwith
society: Mother and daughterstood togetherin the same
circleof seclusionfromhuman society." But the most indis-
pensable influenceupon the child is the maternalone, and so
long as this operatedPearl could not become a pure Child of
I
" Little Annie's Ramble," Twice-Told Tales (Riverside Ed.), p. 151.
Nature. In fact, the maternalconnectionwas strengthened,
even to morbidity,by the ostracismof Pearl and Hester. To
Lucy, human associationsare not essential but rathertram-
melingto growth;to Pearl, theyare so essentialthat defective
ones are betterthan none at all.
Human associationsbeingforHawthornea sine qua non of
full human development,it is evidentthat Nature could not
have such an entireand effectualinfluenceupon Pearl as she
had upon Lucy. But it is necessaryto definethe mode and
value of the influencewhichNature did have upon her Child
Pearl; foras I have assertedPearl is in her most fundamental
character a Child of Nature. She is of course a " natural
child" in the euphemisticsense of the phrase. But a Child of
Nature is properlyspeakingone who discoversconsciousand
withthe naturalworldand enjoys an active
valuable affinities
and formativerelationshipwiththat world.
Hawthornedid not regardhumannatureand physicalnature
as distinctordersof being,but ratheras the subjective and
objective-sentient and material-aspects of a singleorderof
beingwhichincludedand transcendedthemboth. Both parti-
cipated in the grand scheme of existencewhich his Puritan
ancestorswere wont to call " God's SovereignConstitution."
Therefore, thereis in Hawthorne'sworkno emphaticopposition
betweenpersonal and natural life; he did not see man as a
creatureseparatefromthe restof creation,inhabitinga visible
world irrationaland dead. Like Emerson, he believed in a
" relationbetweenmindand matter" which"stands in the will
of God." 8 Coleridgeutteredthis transcendentalist doctrinein
similar terms, remarking " an inherent relationshipbetween
nature and the human soul, a relationship apprehended by a
visionat once emotionaland intellectual."9 Little Pearl mani-
feststhisrelationshipbetweenman and nature;herlifeand the
lifeof natureare contiguousand sympatheticmodes of being.
Therefore,Hawthorne observed: "The mother-forest, and
these wild thingswhichit nourished,all recognizeda kindred
wildnessin the human child." This " wildness,"however,is
8 " Nature."
Literaria, ed. J. Shaweross (Oxford, 1907), I, xxxiv. Hawthorne
9 Biographia
was early familiarwith Coleridge's work; according to the records of the Salem
Athenaeumlibrary,he read the Biographia in 1836.
DARREL ABEL 57
not the wildnessof savagerybut the wildnessof innocence,like
that state of prelapsarianinnocencein whichAdam and Eve,
as well as " all Beasts of th' Earth, since wild,"10 wereinstinc-
tivelygentleand sportive. So Hawthornesaid of Pearl, " The
infantwas worthyto have been broughtforthin Eden," and
recorded (with characteristicdeprecation) the rumor that
even a wolfin the forest,responsiveto herprimitiveinnocence,
" came up, and smeltofPearl's robe,and offered his savage head
to be pattedby herhand." It was Pearl's consciouskinshipwith
Nature whichpromptedher to respondperversely,when the
ReverendMr. Wilson asked her who had made her," that she
had not been made at all, but had been pluckedby her mother
offthe bush of wild roses that grewby the prisondoor"-an
answer which, like other parts of her conduct and speech,
expressesher symbolismratherthan her character.To express
Pearl's fundamentalNaturalness, Hawthorne as inevitably
chose a flowermetaphoras did Wordsworthto expressLucy's.
Pearl's relationshipwith Nature was intensified,like her
relationshipwithher mother,by her ostracism.Hester's dwel-
ling on the verge of the forest,at the outskirtsof the town,
symbolizedher retreatfromMan to Nature; this situation
encouragedthe Child'seasy associationwithNature,thehuman
person's" trueparent.""
AlthoughPearl thusenjoyedan unusuallyrichlifein Nature,
the point of crucial if obvious importancein interpreting her
characteris that Hawthornerepresentsthe Child of Nature as
beinginfrahuman.Wordsworthlooks upon Lucy as a consum-
mate creature;HawthorneshowsPearl to be une fillemanquee,
lackinga character-an immensedefectin the opinionof Haw-
thorne,who declaredhimselfto be " a man whofeltit to be the
best definition of happinessto live throughoutthe wholerange
of his facultiesand sensibilities."12 Pearl's Nature was not a
blemish-it was indeed an indispensableand valuable part of
her reality;but it was not a fulfilment, for she had only a
nascent spirituallife. The Nature which she participatedin
was " thatwildheathenNature,... neversubjugatedby human
law, nor illuminedby highertruth" 3which put on a brighter
0Paradise Lost, IV, 341.
" "The New Adam and Eve," Mosses (Riverside Ed.), p. 279.
12
"The Custom House," Scarlet Letter (Riverside Ed.), p. 60.
"Ibid., p. 243. Nature, though amoral, is in Hawthorne's view an index to a
aspect forher adulterousparents when they decided to turn
theirbacks on moraldutyto satisfytheircarnaldesires.
AlthoughHawthorneregardedthe Child of Nature as an
imperfectbeing,he did not regardher as a corruptedor de-
praved being, as the Calvinists regarded all infants. Pearl
was not one of those " infantsflagitious"the justice of whose
damnationWigglesworthvindicatedin "The Day of Doom."
UnlikeHawthorne,thePuritansdid notconceiveofchild-nature
as a distinctdevelopmentalphase of human character. They
looked upon the infantas a person with a moral character
already formed-and that characterwas the sinfulone settled
upon all mankind in the decree of damnation. Therefore
childrenweretaughtthat " in Adam's fall we sinnedall," and
theirparentswereexhortedto
Considerthemas creatures, have
whomyou (as instruments)
broughtintobeing,taintedwithinnatecorruption.
Your childrenare bornwitha corruptednature,pervertedby

sinfulexamples,ignorantof God, in a stateof growingenmityto
him,and, in consequenceof all, exposedto his wrathand curse,
and in thewayofeverlastingruin.14
Hawthornethought,as did the Puritans,that the only dis-
tinctivelyhuman reality was moral reality; but unlike the
Puritans,he regardedinfanthumanityas beingin a pre-moral
or infra-moralcondition.Pearl, therefore,as a Child of Nature
a
was not perverted or damned creature. She was artUndine-
a beautifulhalf-human childwho instinctivelyaspiredto posses-
sion of a soul. Coleridge, who thought that " Undine's char-
is
acter,beforeshe receivesa soul, marvellouslybeautiful,"15
remarkedin anotherconnectionthat "'all lower natures find
theirhighestgood in semblancesand seekingsof that whichis
person's moral condition,for whenevera person errs from spiritual law through
absorption in sense, his link with Nature, she assumes in sympathy with his
nearer approach a brighterand friendlieraspect. This is subjectivelyexplicable:
the ascendancy of sense in man makes natural life a more central element in his
consciousnessthan it normallyis or ought to be, thus renderingmore vivid his
perceptionof natural delightswhile it beclouds his spiritualsensitiveness.Compare
Paradise Lost, VIII, 561 ff.
14 Quoted froma sermon (author not identified)in SandfordFleming, Children
and Puritanism (New Haven, 1933), p. 118.
'" Table Talk, entryfor May 31, 1830. Hawthorne read Table Talk in 1836.
DARREL ABEL 59
higherand better. All thingsstriveto ascend, and ascend in
their striving."16 The strikingvariabilityof Pearl's temper
resultedfromherinsistentyearningtowardspiritualrealization,
at timesbaffledby the evil in lives involvedwithher own,but
springingup again irrespressibly, in her childingsof Hester
whenever Hester gave signs of ignoring her moral obligations,
and in her repeated mute intimations to Dimmesdale that he
shouldabandon the falsehood which was eatingaway the moral
truthin his existence.
Pearl's aspirationtowardmoral lifecould not be assistedby
the Nature in her. Hawthorne'sview of the relationof the
Child to Nature differedsignificantly fromthe early Words-
worthianview in this respect. He did not thinkthat Nature
can teach moreof " moral evil and of good than all the sages
can," but held views nearer to those which Wordsworthex-
pressed more than forty-five years after the Lucy poems in
" The WestmorelandGirl." Hawthorneapparentlythought
17
that Nature quickenedthe Child's sensibilities,so that moral

truthsmightmore readilyfindentrance,but that the actual
moral character of the Child would be determinedby the
quality of the human influenceswhich workedthroughthese
awakenedsensibilities.IntimacywithNature,which,in Words-
worthianphrase,exercised" the essentialpassionsofthe heart,"
would prepare the Child for human and spiritualaffections.
Many of Hawthorne'scommentson the value of Nature to the
developingChild echo Wordsworth: "Is not Nature better
than a book? " he asks, in " Earth's Holocaust," adoptingthe
theme of "Expostulation and Reply" and " The Tables
Turned." He created a whole company of children (among
themthe dream-children in " The VillageUncle,"themountain-
18 Aids to Reflectionand the Confessionsof acnEnquiringSpirit (Bohn's Popular
Library. London, 1913), p. 75. Hawthorneread Aids to Reflectionin 1833.

17 The WestmorelandGirl is a Child of Nature,
but
This brave Child
Left among her native mountains
With wild Nature to run wild
is imperfect;the poet acknowledgesher "unruly fire" and " frowardimpulse,"
and says that she needs humane cultivation:
Easily a pious training
And a steadfastoutward power
Would supplant the weeds, and cherish
In their stead each opening flower.
childrenin " The AmbitiousGuest,"and Ernestin "The Great
Stone Face ") who, like Lucy, were mouldedby "silent sym-
pathy" withNature. The Child who lives in Nature, though
" untouchedby solemn thought,"lies " in Abraham's bosom
all the year," and thus receivesintimationsof truths" which
we are toilingall our lives to find."18 Hawthornefelt that,
" Often,in a youngchild'sideas and fancies,thereis something
whichit requiresthe thoughtof a lifetimeto comprehend."19
Whetheror not the adult can recallthesefreshvisionsof child-
hood, theirinfluenceis not lost, for they have " peopled the
mind with formssublime and fair,"20 so that mature life is
made better " by force of obscure feelingsrepresentativeof
thingsforgotten." 21 Hawthornetalked of this with Margaret
Fuller one languidAugust afternoonin Sleepy Hollow: "We
talked . . . about the experiencesof early childhood,whose
influenceremainsupon the characterafterthe recollectionof
themhas passed away." 22 Thus, whilethe infantPearl stood
at the thresholdof spirituallife,she was gatheringimpressions
whichwould influenceher consciousthoughtsand acts whenin
the time to come she shouldhave acquired a moral character
of her own.
Naturecouldthusquickenthe Child'ssensibilities, so thatshe
mightbe receptiveto moraltruths,yetnaturealone was incap-
able of doing more to assist moral development.The latent
spiritualityofthe ChildofNature couldbe unfoldedonlyby the
attractionstoward moral life proffered by those personswith
whom her budding characterwas connected. Her instinctto-
wardgoodness,as spontaneous as a leaning
seedling's to the sun,
of
had to be met by a shower benign influence.Although in a
certainbasic sense Nature is man's " true parent," his human
parentshave the responsibility ofimpartinghis moralrealityto
him. " Marriage,"Coleridgewrote," simplyas marriage,is not
the means 'for the procreationof children,'but forthe human-
ization of the offspringcreated."23 Pearl's prospect of be-
13 The first two quotationsare from" It Is a Beauteous Evening," the thirdfrom
the " Intimations" Ode.
'" Grandfather'sChair (Riverside Ed.), pp. 443-444.
20 Wordworth's Prelude,I, 546.
21 Ibid., I, 605-607.
22AmericanNotebooks,p. 160.
23 Aids to Reflection(ed. cit.), p. 353.
DARREL ABEL 61
cominghumanizedby such meanswas grievouslybecloudedby
the irregularityof her birth and the persistenterrorof her
adulterousparents.
CHARACTER: PEARL, THE WILD INFANT
Pearl's importanceto the plot of The ScarletLetterhas been

impliedin the foregoingdiscussion. We are interestedin two
questionsabout her: What willherown fatebe? How willshe
affectthe fate of her adulterousparents? Since the storyis
primarilyabout the situationof the sinfulparents,the second
of these questionsis the more important.
The questionconcerningPearl's own fate is specificallythat
of whetheror not she will achievemoralrealityand thus bring
nearerto realizationthe idea of human perfectionimplicitin
all the generationsbehind her. With her mere worldlyfate
Hawthorneis less concerned;he deals perfunctorily and im-
plausiblywithit in the " Conclusion" (artisticallyno real part
of the book), but does so merelyto knot up a loose end of
narrativewhichwould be troublingto matter-of-fact readers.
The significantquestion of whethershe will achieve moral
realityis notmade continuously interesting,becauseHawthorne
propoundsit too much in termsof yes or no. His conception
of her nature being what it is, he shows her comparatively
helplessto act towardherown fulfilment. She standsknocking
at the door of moral lifeuntilit is opened unto her-but there
is nothingin her role trulycomplicativeand developmental.
At the eve ofthe story'sclimax,herstatusis essentiallywhatit
has been throughout.She has no vicissitudes,no significantly
altered relationships.Hawthorne'sattemptsto make her in-
terestingas a characterare merelyexercisesin elaborationof
her establishedsymbolicsignificances and in illustrationof her
various qualities and variable temper. Because her fate is
contingent,not somethingto be workedout throughher own
actions,Hawthornecould thinkof nothingfor her to do but
glitterand prance. He has givenher a highdegreeof visibility
and animation,but she is onlya gildedand paintedmechanical
toy,not functioning humanlythroughinteriormotivationbut
manipulated from without to signalthe meaningsofherauthor.
In appearanceshe is " the scarletletterendowedwithlife,"and
her actions are as symbolicas her appearance: her demon-
strationsofperversity towardsocial and religiousauthority,
her
acts of hostilitytowardthe Puritanbrats,herrepeateddemon-
strations of sympatheticinterestin the Scarlet Letter on
Hester's bosom and in the minister'sgestureof pressinghis
hand to his breast,her precociousand ambiguousquizzing of
both her parents-all these " actions" and " speeches" are
mere puppetryand ventriloquism.
Therefore,the fatefulbut not very suspensefulquestion of
her achievementof a soul must finallybe settled in deus ex
machina fashion. Her apparentlycapriciousdispositioncould
be regularizedinto morallifeonlywhenherparentsconformed
to moral principlesthemselves." Before the establishmentof
principles,what is characterbut the series and successionof
moods?"24 It was Hawthorne's belief,strikinglyillustrated
in " The ChristmasBanquet," thatintimatesympathy(" heart-
knowledge") with another was requisite to quicken into
spirituallife the highestcapacities of a person.25Pearl's im-
perfectconnectionwiththe moralelementin societyprevented
her receptionof such animatingimpulses. She needed some
" deep distress" to " humanizeA26 her soul; or, as Hawthorne
said of her," She wanted-what some people want throughout
life-a griefthat should deeplytouch her,and thus humanize
and make her capable of sympathy."Her father'sdyingcon-
fession,whichsignalizedhis resumptionof moral life,supplied
herwitha connectionwiththe moralorderofthe universe,and
simultaneouslytouched her sympathiesdeeply, so that an
enduring'moralimpressionwas made upon her:
The greatsceneof grief,
in whichthe wildinfantborea part,had
developedall hersympathies;
and as hertearsfelluponherfather's
cheek,theywerea pledgethat she wouldgrowup amid human
joy and sorrow,not foreverdo battle withthe world,but be a
womanin it.
Pearl's moreimportantrole in the story,that relativeto the
principalcharacters,is to serve as a " messengerof anguish"
24 AmericanNotebooks,p. 201.
25 Undine told her knight: " Such as we are . . . can only obtain a soul by the
closest union of affectionwith one of your race."
26 See Wordsworth's " Elegiac Stanzas, Suggestedby a Picture of Peele Castle."
DARREL ABEL 63
to both her parents,and especiallyto chastenand redeemher
mother-to chastenthroughmakingherfeelshameand remorse,
to redeem throughpermittingher to love someone purely.
Hester tells her Puritan inquisitors:
" God gaveme thechild!... He gave herin requitalofall things
else,whichye had takenfromme. She is my happiness!-sheis
my torture,none the less! Pearl keeps me here in life! Pearl
punishesme too! See ye not,she is the scarletletter,onlycapable
of beingloved,and so endowedwitha millionfold the powerof
retribution
formysin?'
This is a more paracticable functionfor a human infantto
performactivelyand realisticallythan is the role of being an
Undineyearningfora soul. The redemptionof Hester,outcast
fromsociety,throughher love forher child,is psychologically
sound, and endows this aspect of Pearl's existence with a
genuinenesswhich gives her whateververisimilitudeshe pos-
sesses. Her symbolismneveris energizedinto characterization
in the otherelementsof her presentation, but in thisone she is
trulymotivatedand effectiveso that she assumes at least a
partialillusionoflife. As the emblemof sin (" the scarletletter
endowedwith life") she fails,however,to take on a realistic
semblanceof life. Her appeals to Hester and the minister,the
most effectiveof whichoccurs in the Dantesque scene in the
wood when Pearl compels her motherto resumethe cast-off
Scarlet A, are, like most of her behavior,merely repeated
symbolicgestures.
Most of Pearl's shortcomings as a characterobviouslypro-
ceed fromthe unmanageableburdenof symbolismshe has been
required to carry: most of the time, she is performing the
officeof a bili-posteror sandwich-manto call attentionto facts
which Hawthorne apparentlydid not know how to express
dramatically.But she is presentedto us as a real person,and
her animationand conspicuousnessinclineus to accept her as
one-so that we are vaguely discontentedbecause she fails to
persuadeour feelingsof her genuineness.
Actually,we wouldcomprehendherbetterifwe morereadily
recognizedherto be the same kindofinfra-human characterwe
have met ill some of Hawthorne'stales-the Snow Image, or
Feathertop. Both of these creationshave visible status and
businessin the worldof men,and are acceptedby personsthey
meet as genuine,but Feathertop is merely the mechanical
replicaofa humanbeing,and theSnowImage merelythevisible
projectionofan ideal. The common-sensible hardwaremerchant
Lindseytreatsthe Snow Image as an actual human character,
and prettyPolly Gookinfora timeaccepts Feathertopas one;
but Hawthorne'sreadersshouldnot make the same mistakein
regardto Pearl. Pearl is alreadyhumanin a real sensein which
these two are not-but she is not fullyhuman,and therefore
her relationto humancreaturesis inevitablypartlymechanical
and not expressiveof true and consciousresponsesof feeling
and thought.
Since it is Pearl's dubiousin-betweenstatuswhichmakesher
so difficult forher authorto handleas a characterin his human
story,she oughtto have been eithermore definitely placed in
the category of sub-humanitywith the Snow Image and
Feathertop,or more fully realized in her human character.
Either her symbolismmust be made more unmistakeable,or
hercharactermustbe. " Feathertop" and " The Snow Image "
are franklyallegorical,but The Scarlet Letter aims at enough
realism for literal credibility;therefore,Hawthorne's proper
expedientwas to make Pearl more realisticallyhuman. He
attempted this-by giving her human origin, for instance
(Feathertopis the cozeningmanufactureof a witch,the Snow
Image the ideal playmateof childhoodmiraculouslyquickened
into tenuouslifeby naive faith). Moreover,his care to make
Pearl visibleand livelyis an attemptto make hermorerealistic.
But such an attemptis misguided,forit givesher an imposing
apparentrealitywithouta correspondent psychologicalreality.
In her externalsshe forcesus to accept her as real, but in her
internals,not so.
In " The Gentle Boy," Hawthornesucceeds much betterin
handlinga similarproblemof character.Ilbrahim,the Gentle
Boy, is likePearl the issue of morallyturbulent(thoughnot in
his case especiallysinful)humansources:
His naturalcharacter. . . was in manyrespectsa beautifulone,yet
the disorderedimaginations of both his fatherand motherhad
perhapspropagateda certainunhealthiness in themindoftheboy.
In his generalstate,Ilbrahimwould deriveenjoymentfromthe
mosttriflingevents,and fromeveryobjectabouthim....
On the other hand, . . . the exuberantcheerfulnessof the boy's
DARREL ABEL 65
prevailingtempersometimes
yieldedto momentsof deep depres-
sion.27
Like Pearl, he is an outcast fromsociety,exceptforthe shelter

and affection providedby his (foster) parents:
He was a sweetinfantoftheskiesthathad strayedaway fromhis
home,and all the inhabitantsof this miserableworldclosedup
their impurehearts against him, drew back their earth-soiled
garments fromhistouch,and said," We are holierthanthou."
Even more than Pearl, he was patheticallydependentupon
human influenceforhis personalrealization:
His mindwaswantinginthestaminaforself-support; it was a plant
thatwouldtwineitselfbeautifully aroundsomething stronger than
itself,but ifrepulsed,or tornaway,it had no choicebut to wither
on the ground.
Althoughthe characterizationof Ilbrahimis baldly abstract
instead of delicatelysymboliclike that of Pearl, and although
a modem taste does not relish such unabashed rhetoric,
Ilbrahimassumes forany readera convincinglifewhichPearl
never assumes, because he is more directlyand centrallyin-
volved in significantdoings in his storyand does not merely
move around in someone else's story,as Pearl does.28 The
reallydisablingcircumstancein the characterization of Pearl is
thatHawthorneso exaggeratesherseparationfromsocietythat
he cannot supply her with any energeticconnectionswith
humanity.Ilbrahimis real fromthe firstscene of the story-
as a son weepingon his father'sgrave; as a confidingboy be-
friendinga monstrousbrat,and cruellyrepulsedand abused by
him; and as inmateof a bereaved household,in whichhe fills
theplace ofchildrenwhohave died. Such situationsand actions
are not symbolic,althoughthey are too melodramaticallyde-
scribed,perhaps;they are actual and common.
Could Hawthorne,withoutdestroyingeffectsessentialto his
story,have givenPearl enoughcrediblebusinessto establisha
characterforher-at the same timekeepingher " housed in a
27 This and the two followingquotations are from "The Gentle Boy," Twice-
Told Tales (Riverside Ed.).
28 Perhaps the differenceof sex makes Ilbrahim seem a little more real, because
of the conventionalnotion that little boys are made of snips and snails, of more
earthymaterialsthan are little girls.
dream,at distancefromthe kind" 29 untilher parents'return
to rectitudeopened a vista of moral lifebeforeher? I believe
that he could have done so by devisingforher relationships,
howeverslight,with persons in the story-even such casual
relationshipsas mightresultfromhaving her run errandsfor
her motherin the town, or fromher forminga few casual
acquaintanceshipswithotherpartiallyoutcast children(every
villagehas morethanone pariah), or fromherhavingto submit
or fromany
to religiousinstructionby some officialinstructor,
otherinconspicuousbut regularand plausible child-activities.
ofPearl as symboland characteris

The clue to interpretation
that she is an accommodationofthe Wordsworthian, " Roman-
tic " conceptionof the Child of Nature to the Calvinist con-
ception of the moral constitutionof the world. Artistically,
Pearl is a failure. She serves her author's ideas too well to
assume a convincinglifeof her own.
Purdue University
29 From Wordsworth's" Elegiac Stanzas, Suggestedby a Picture of Peele Castle."

Hawthorne's Pearl - Symbol and Character.

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Hawthorne's Pearl: Symbol and Character

Author(s): Darrel Abel

The child Pearl is the most ambiguous characterin The

SYMBOL: Lucy, THE CHILD OF NATURE AS IDEAL

Turningto Pearl, we firstconsiderherin relationto the same

The mother's impassioned state had been the medium through

so forminga whole which is independentof the world,for neithernature nor the

Your childrenare bornwitha corruptednature,pervertedby

that Nature quickenedthe Child's sensibilities,so that moral

Library. London, 1913), p. 75. Hawthorneread Aids to Reflectionin 1833.

CHARACTER: PEARL, THE WILD INFANT

Pearl's importanceto the plot of The ScarletLetterhas been

Like Pearl, he is an outcast fromsociety,exceptforthe shelter

ofPearl as symboland characteris

29 From Wordsworth's" Elegiac Stanzas, Suggestedby a Picture of Peele Castle."

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