The Scarlet Letter

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   gbeatty Teacher
   College - Freshman

   There are many allusions presented in Hawthorne's great novel. One that runs throughout the novel is the meaning of Pearl. A pearl is a precious gem, but also the product of irritation. (A foreign object lodged in an oyster causes it to produce a pearl.) Thus far, Pearl would be "merely" symbolic—but there is also the pearl of great price in the Bible, the object so great that humanity should sell everything to get it.

   The rosebush in the first chapter is also both a symbol and an allusion (to Anne Hutchinson).

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   Posted by gbeatty on Tuesday May 13, 2008 at 4:32 PM
   
   

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