Pearl, from Nathaniel Hawthorne's "The Scarlet Letter"
Darley illustrates Hawthorne's "The Scarlet Letter, A Romance" (published 1850). His drawing was reproduced in 1879 as the third print of twelve "Compositions in Outline." Set in seventeenth-century Boston, the story explores the consequences of a liason between Hester Prynne and the Puritan pastor Arthur Dimmesdale. When Hester becomes pregnant, she refuses to identify her child's father, is imprisoned, and forced to wear a red letter "A" on her dress (to mark her as an adultress). Upon release, she lives in an isolated cottage and supports herself as a seamstress while raising her daughter Pearl. This image responds to text in chapter 6 which decries the cruelty of local children towards the girl who, like her mother, is shunned by the community. As Hester leads her daughter away from town, they endure verbal abuse and physical threat–one girl holds and prepares to throw a stone. See 14.111.1,.2,.4.,.5 for other drawings from the set.
Artwork Details
- Title: Pearl, from Nathaniel Hawthorne's "The Scarlet Letter"
- Series/Portfolio: Design for Plate 3 in "Compositions in Outline from Hawthorne's Scarlet Letter by F. O. C. Darley," Boston, Houghton, Osgood & Company, 1879, printed in heliotype.
- Artist: Felix Octavius Carr Darley (American, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 1822–1888 Claymont, Delaware)
- Author: Related author Nathaniel Hawthorne (American, Salem, Massachusetts 1804–1864 Plymouth, New Hampshire)
- Date: ca. 1879
- Medium: Pen and black ink with graphite and pale blue wash
- Dimensions: Sheet: 15 5/8 x 21 in. (39.7 x 53.3 cm)
- Classification: Drawings
- Credit Line: Gift of W. A. White, 1914
- Object Number: 14.111.3
- Curatorial Department: Drawings and Prints
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Felix Octavius Carr Darley
Felix Octavius Carr Darley
ca. 1859
Felix Octavius Carr Darley
Felix Octavius Carr Darley
1845
Multiple artists/makers
1849–50
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