Chapters 5&6 Lesson

By: Miranda Mast and Zack Trela

Chapter 5 and 6 consists of Hester’s time after

prison. It begins by describing where she lives, what she does to support herself, and how she interacts with the rest of the Puritan town. It also describes Hester’s child, Pearl. She is beautiful in every way and at times a mirror of Hester herself. Even though Pearl is innocent, she shares the fate of her mother by being shamed and an outcast of the Puritan town.

Summary

Hester and Pearl lived on the outskirts of town. She was a seamstress for a living. Her work was popular but she was never asked to make a wedding

dress because of her sin. She made very elaborate dresses for Pearl despite it not being the

Puritan style. After Hester got out of prison, she could have moved to another

town or back to England but instead chose to stay. Hester gave money and clothes to the poor that insulted her. She never said anything back to people who would insult her. She believed that she could see other people’s sins because of her

own sin. She named her child Pearl because of the great price she paid for

her.

Hester

Pearl was born an outcast even though she was innocent. She has Hester’s moodiness, passion, and defiance. Her and Hester are both subject to the cruelness of the townspeople. First object she became aware of as a child was not her mother’s smile,

but the scarlet letter. Pearl seemed to torture Hester by knowingly touching the scarlet letter. She pestered Hester at an early age about who her father was. Hester had a hard time controlling her so she allowed her to practically

run free. Pearl is a reminder of Hester’s sin but is still her greatest treasure. She is sometimes thought to be a demon offspring, or a sprite because

of her crazy spirit and perverse actions. Pearl is fascinated by the scarlet letter and has an intelligence about it

that causes Hester pain.

Pearl

Perfect societies are never really perfect. Everything you do has consequences.

Themes

The scarlet letter

- represents sin of Hester- form of human punishment- represents human sexuality

Pearl- Human representation of Hester’s sin- mirror of Hester’s personality- physical representation of sexual transgression- is a blessing- represents spirit and passion that inspires Hester to keep fighting

Hester’s needlework- represents that beauty can come from something that’s not perfect

Symbols

Metaphor- “the scarlet letter flaming” Irony- Even though Pearl was a product of sin,

she was still lovely. Foreshadowing- “We may speak further of it

hereafter.” Tone/narrative voice- Hawthorne doesn’t

believe in the puritan idea that Hester should be severely punished for her sin because she is given a beautiful child.

Literary Devices