Hawthorne’s Little Pearl in The Scarlet Letter: A Premier Child Advocate of Children’s Rights in the Context of American Puritanism

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Résumé

Nathaniel Hawthorne, one of the greatest American authors of his time, is renowned for his highly stylized writing. Among the themes developed in his fiction appear issues related to children’s living conditions, which are worth investigating. Relying on reader-response criticism this study explores children’s rights in Hawthorne’s masterpiece, The Scarlet Letter, with the view of showing how Pearl, an adulterous little girl who is abandoned by her Puritan father, claims her rights and those of other children by confronting him with his own contradictions.

Mots-clés

The Scarlet Letter, children, rights, advocacy, Puritanism.