The Pearl Necklace in Pride and Prejudice and Pittsburgh: Symbol Analysis

The Pearl Necklace: A Tangible Link to Selfhood in Pride and Prejudice and Pittsburgh

In Rachael Lippincott’s novel, a single piece of jewelry—a thin gold chain holding a teardrop pearl—carries the weight of Lucy Sinclair’s past, her mother’s love, and the future she dares to claim. The necklace first appears in Chapter 36, when Martha, the housekeeper who has raised Lucy, presents it to her in Miss Burton’s dress shop. It is not a plot device that drives action, but a quiet, recurring emblem of identity and choice. By tracing its appearances and the meanings Lucy attaches to it, we see how the necklace transforms from a relic of maternal hope into a badge of self-determination.

What the Necklace Is and Where It Comes From

The necklace is described as “a thin gold chain with a single teardrop pearl” (Chapter 36). It belonged to Lucy’s mother, and Lucy recognizes it immediately because it appears in her mother’s portrait—the same portrait she gazes at in the library when she reflects on her mother’s belief that Lucy would marry for love (Chapter 2). The pearl is not ornate or flashy; it is simple, elegant, and deeply personal. Martha has kept it, likely for years, and chooses the moment before Lucy’s wedding to give it to her.

The giving scene is charged with emotion. Martha has just reminded Lucy of a childhood story—how Lucy, as a six-year-old, ruined an expensive dress but then charmed her father’s business guests with her wit. Martha’s point is that Lucy has been forced to “disappear” under her father’s control, but that Audrey’s arrival has brought parts of her back. She tells Lucy: “Don’t quiet all those parts of you. Be the person you were when your mother was here. When Audrey was here. Even if they no longer are. Even if you must be wed. Because, Lucy, that is who you are.” The necklace is the physical embodiment of that plea. It is not just a gift; it is a directive to remember who she was before her father’s expectations smothered her.

Recurrence and Shifting Meaning

The necklace appears explicitly only in Chapter 36, but its presence lingers through the novel’s climax and resolution. After Martha gives it to Lucy, Lucy wears it as she goes through the motions of preparing for her wedding to Mr. Caldwell. The narrative does not dwell on it again, but we can infer that she wears it on her wedding day in Chapter 38, when she stands at the altar and declares, “I am choosing myself.” That act—publicly rejecting the marriage her father has orchestrated—is the ultimate fulfillment of Martha’s words. The necklace, which had been a reminder of her mother’s hope and her own lost self, becomes a witness to her reclamation of that self.

In the epilogue, set one month later, Lucy has fully embraced her new life in 2023. She works at the corner shop, studies for her GED, and performs at a local bar. The necklace is not mentioned, but its symbolic work is complete: Lucy no longer needs a physical object to remind her of who she is, because she has become that person. The pearl, once a token of a future she feared, now represents the future she chose.

Character Connections: Martha, Lucy, and Audrey

The necklace is a conduit between three key relationships.

Martha is the giver. She has been Lucy’s caretaker since infancy, and she sees the girl Lucy used to be—the one who laughed, rebelled, and spoke her mind. Martha’s gift is an act of love and resistance against Lucy’s father’s control. She knows Lucy is about to be trapped in a marriage to a man she despises, and she offers the necklace as a way to keep a piece of Lucy’s true self alive. Martha’s role as a surrogate mother is underscored by the fact that she gives Lucy the mother’s necklace, passing on a legacy of love that Lucy’s biological mother could not physically deliver.
Lucy is the wearer. For her, the necklace is a double-edged sword. It brings her mother’s memory and Martha’s encouragement, but it also intensifies her pain because she feels she cannot act on that encouragement. In Chapter 36, she thinks, “Despite how much Martha’s advice touches me, it’s useless in the end. All I can do is stand there in my mother’s wedding dress, now my wedding dress, and pretend I haven’t changed at all.” The necklace thus initially represents the gap between who Lucy is and who she is forced to be. Only when she chooses herself at the altar does the necklace become a symbol of congruence—she is finally the person the pearl represents.
Audrey is indirectly connected. Though she never touches the necklace, Audrey is the catalyst for Lucy’s reawakening. Martha notes that Audrey’s presence has brought back parts of Lucy that had been buried. The necklace, given in the same chapter where Martha speaks of Audrey’s influence, becomes a link between the two women. When Lucy later chooses herself, she is also choosing the possibility of a life with Audrey—a life where she can be her authentic self.

Thematic Resonance

The necklace weaves through several of the novel’s central themes.

The tension between duty and desire: Lucy’s duty is to marry Mr. Caldwell to secure her family’s status. Her desire is to love freely, as her mother believed she would. The necklace is a physical reminder of that desire, and Lucy’s decision to wear it even as she prepares to fulfill her duty shows her internal conflict. When she finally rejects the marriage, she resolves the tension in favor of desire.
The search for authentic self-expression through art: Lucy is not an artist like Audrey, but she expresses herself through small acts of rebellion—ordering a lilac dress in secret, maintaining a friendship her father disapproves of. The necklace is another such act, a personal choice that has no practical purpose but immense emotional meaning. It is a way for Lucy to hold onto her identity in a world that demands she conform.
The constraints of societal expectations on love and identity: The necklace is a private object in a public world. Lucy’s society expects her to marry for wealth and status, not love. The pearl, given by a servant and tied to a mother who believed in love, is a quiet defiance of those expectations.
The importance of being truly seen and understood: Martha sees Lucy for who she is, and the necklace is a testament to that vision. Audrey also sees Lucy—she is the first person who makes Lucy feel “more open, more vibrant, more, well… like yourself” (Chapter 22). The necklace symbolizes the act of being seen and the courage to let oneself be seen.
The courage to take risks for love and self-determination: Giving the necklace is a risk for Martha, who could be punished for encouraging Lucy’s rebellion. Wearing it is a risk for Lucy, as it ties her to a mother who defied convention. Ultimately, Lucy’s decision to object at her wedding is the greatest risk of all, and the necklace is the talisman that gives her strength.

Study Questions and Answers

1. Why does Martha give Lucy the pearl necklace at that specific moment?

Martha gives it just before Lucy’s wedding to Mr. Caldwell, when Lucy is at her lowest point—about to be bound to a man she does not love. Martha wants to remind Lucy of her mother’s belief that she would marry for love, and of the spirited girl she used to be. The necklace is a tangible way to say, “Don’t lose yourself completely.” It is a last-ditch effort to keep Lucy’s true self alive, even if she must go through with the marriage.

2. How does the necklace’s meaning change from Chapter 36 to the wedding scene in Chapter 38?

In Chapter 36, the necklace is a source of painful hope—it reminds Lucy of what she cannot have. She wears it while pretending she hasn’t changed, and it feels like a mockery of her situation. By Chapter 38, when Lucy declares she is choosing herself, the necklace becomes a symbol of that choice. It is no longer a reminder of a lost self, but a marker of the self she has reclaimed. The object itself hasn’t changed; Lucy’s relationship to it has.

3. What does the necklace reveal about Lucy’s relationship with her mother?

Lucy’s mother believed Lucy would marry for love, a belief Lucy calls “foolish” after her father’s pressure (Chapter 2). The necklace is the only physical connection to that belief. It shows that Lucy’s mother saw her daughter’s potential for a fulfilling life, and that Lucy carries that vision even when she doubts it. The necklace is a legacy of maternal love that Lucy must learn to accept and act upon.

4. In what ways does the necklace connect to Audrey’s role in Lucy’s life?

Martha explicitly links Audrey to Lucy’s reawakening: “with every day that passed, I saw parts of you, slowly, come back and also new parts of you I had never seen before” (Chapter 36). The necklace is given in the same breath as this observation, suggesting that Audrey, like the pearl, is a catalyst for Lucy’s self-discovery. Audrey helps Lucy see that she can be the person her mother hoped she would be—and the person Martha knows she is. The necklace, then, is not just a symbol of Lucy’s past, but of the future she can build with Audrey.

A Final Note

The pearl necklace is a masterful example of how a small object can carry immense narrative weight. It is never over-explained or melodramatic; instead, it appears at a pivotal moment and then recedes, allowing its symbolism to resonate through Lucy’s actions. By the end of the novel, the necklace is not just a piece of jewelry—it is a testament to the power of memory, love, and the courage to choose oneself. For readers, it serves as a reminder that the most meaningful symbols are often the quietest ones.