Pandora's Box

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The central idea is that curiosity can lead to serious consequences, but Hope remains even after suffering enters the world. The story shows how the opening of the box releases troubles, yet also brin…

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Pandora is a girl sent from a far country to be Epimetheus's playmate and companion. She is intensely curious about the mysterious box, and her curiosity leads her to open it. She is not shown as wick…

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Epimetheus is a boy who lives alone in a small cottage without parents. He receives the mysterious box from Quicksilver with instructions not to open it. He becomes responsible too because he stays si…

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Quicksilver is Hawthorne's name for Mercury or Hermes, the messenger of the gods. He brings the mysterious box to Epimetheus and leaves without explanation. His smiling, intelligent look suggests divi…

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The Troubles are dark, bat-winged, long-stinging creatures that burst out of the box. They represent the evil Passions, Worries, Sorrows, Diseases, and all the miseries human beings have suffered sinc…

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Hope is the one good and comforting being in the box. She is bright, sunny, and healing. She comforts Epimetheus, promises never to desert humanity, and shows that sorrow is not the final truth of lif…

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Hope is important because she gives comfort when suffering cannot be removed. She heals wounds, brightens the cottage, and promises to remain with humanity through all trials. This makes her the stron…

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The world before Pandora is golden, Edenic, and paradise-like. Food grows on trees without farming, children never quarrel, and there is no disease, sorrow, or worry. It is a peaceful world before suf…