The Pearl
The meaning of the pearl is ambiguous. At the start, the narrator dreams of finding his lost ‘Pearl’ and the reader assumes it is some sort of monetary item. However, when he falls into his dream he meets a young maiden known as ‘Pearl’. The pearl then takes on the form of a partner or loved one that the narrator has lost. By then time the poem ends, the reader learns the pearl is actually the narrators infant daughter who died.
Christianity
The maiden that the narrator meets, speaks of Christ’s sacrifice and the salvation of humanity. She tells the narrator that she is covered in the blood of Christ’s sacrifices and that he should lead his life devoting himself to the mercy of God. Indeed, she even states that he may have a chance of entering the city of God but before the narrator can cross the stream to enter, he wakes up.
Loss
Loss is the main theme throughout the poem. The man grieves the loss of his ‘Pearl’, which we later learn to be the death of his daughter. It is loss that drives him to see the maiden, who tells him to succumb to God’s will in order to be whole again. Indeed, after realizing that he can be reunited with his daughter if he is devout to God, the man wakes up from the dream with a new vigor for life.
