rd fear of her daughter, she also holds a natural maternal love for her. Hester spends all her spare time putting her natural talent to good use- she makes beautiful garments for Pearl with the richest materials she can afford. In some way she is attempting to hide the scarlet letter that she has unconsciously scarred onto Pearls own bosom. She is attempting to hide the sin that Pearl was born into with costume - this is something that Pearl is used to, as we see by the way in which she plays with such imagination and intelligent use of props. Notably, we are reminded of the eccentric way in which Hester sews the scarlet letter onto her breast –she does the same thing here with pearl. We could argue however that Hester is afraid nothing good can come from her sin and fears that Pearl will be retribution for her passion. Here Hawthorne comments on the fact that to any unprejudiced observer – (such as the reader) Pearl would look just as beautiful in dirty rags.
             Pearl has a manipulative nature and can come across both angelic and devilish. She can force her Mother to stand aside, permitting her to do as she pleases. It is partly because of this ability the fact that she is compared to a witch, affecting the way in which she interacts with the other children. She's shown a very aggressive and abnormal attitude towards them when they approach her – by screaming and even throwing stones at them There is a certain spiritual aspect to Pearl's character, something almost magical about the way in which she plays:
             "It reflected a perfect image of her little figure, with all the brilliant picturesqueness of her beauty, in its adornment of flowers and wreathed foliage."
             However this beautiful image of the little girl is later contrasted:
             "Seen in the brook, once more, was the shadowy wrath of Pearl's image, crowned and girdled with flowers but stamping its foot, wildly gesticulating, and, in the midst of all, still pointing its small...