Pearl as the Romantic Hero of the Book

I think that Pearl is the Romantic hero of The Scarlet Letter. First of all, Pearl had a noble purpose in the work in that she is attempting to bring Hester and Dimmesdale back together and free Dimmesdale from his torturous guilt in this. Pearl is obviously a child at seven years old and possesses a childish innocence in her character. She is the only person in the book that is not marred by guilt or sorrow. As Hester said, “If thou hadst a sorrow of thine own, the brook might tell thee of it.”(pg. 182) Pearl was connected with nature in significant ways. She played in the woods and all the creatures loved her and treated her with kindness. Even the mirror image of Pearl in the brook was described as making Pearl, “more refined and spiritual than reality.”(pg. 204) This quote also leads to the quality of Romanticism that breaks away from a “dull reality” into a more spiritual view, which Pearl does in this book. Pearl is also more comfortable isolated from society than when she is in the midst of people, yet another characteristic of Romantic heroes. Although Pearl has not made any significant actions or heroic deeds in the story thus far, she has portrayed the concept of Romanticism and the Romantic hero the most effectively out of all the characters.