I chose these pictures from various productions of The Scarlet Letter. In all of them, Pearl is dressed in a bright red dress. This detail shows that Pearl is "...the scarlet letter in another form; the scarlet letter endowed with life!" (92). I thought it was interesting that all of these productions of the play chose to give Pearl such a bright dress.
Images from:
http://www.austinchronicle.com/arts/2012-11-23/the-scarlet-letter/
http://www.slugmag.com/articles/3476/Classical-Application-Plan-B-and-The-Scarlet-Letter.html
http://seattletimes.com/html/thearts/2013338640_scarlet05.html
I think it's interesting that Pearl is in red for the reasons you said above because it shows her connection of her mother to her. I also think it's interesting and important to have her in red because of her name. Pearl sounds innocent and its color it is almost white (which is seen as pure and innocent). In the plays her dresses are a clear contradiction between her sinful mother and her pure, 'pearly' self. In a way, it shows she will always be connected to her mother although she can be her own, innocent self.
ReplyDeleteI think that the scarlet dress also symbolizes the "devilish" act that Pearl came from. Red is generally the color for the devil and hell, so the red dress could either show that Pearl is seen as "evil" by the townspeople, or it could symbolize the sin that her mother committed and that Pearl can never have her own reputation. Either way, the scarlet dress mirrors the way Pearl is seen in the community. She is seen as evil because of her own acts and her mother's sin.
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