Comparing the Crucible and the Scarlet Letter

In The Scarlet Letter and the Crucible have the feminist approach by portraying women as villains in the situations, but are also stronger than many may think. For instance, Abigail Williams, the antagonist of the Crucible is a manipulative, cunning and vicious person, and having the ultimatum to getting married to John Proctor. Even though she knew that John Proctor was a married man, she still pursued after him; her intentions with the adultery affair unjustified. Abigail knew what she was getting into, and she did whatever she needed to have John Proctor for herself despite all the other characters suffering from her decisions. On the other hand, Hester Prynne, the main character of The Scarlet Letter gets

In 1952 a play was written by Arthur Miller, about events that happened in Salem in 1692. The play was about affairs, accusations, and innocent people being accused of witches. In The Crucible by Arthur Miller, Abigail and Mary Warren are introduced as two separate people. Although people might see Abigail and Mary Warren as two separate people and nothing alike, they are more alike than meet's the eye. Abigail and Mary Warren have three things in common; they are both are deceitful, they both dishonest, and they are both apprehensive.

The edgy tale of The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne is comparable in many ways to Arthur Miller’s haunting play The Crucible. Both are set in Puritan New England in the 17th century and revolve around the harsh law enforcement of the time. However, The Scarlet Letter tells the story of a woman as she deals with her heavy Puritan punishment, whereas The Crucible follows hysteria as it spreads throughout an entire town. Hester Prynne, the main character of The Scarlet Letter, was found guilty for adultery and sentenced to wear a red letter A on her chest to inform people of her sin. Similarly, The Crucible’s main character John Proctor admits to having committed lechery and is sent to jail for this and for being a

Both Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter and Edith Wharton’s Ethan Frome provide an insight into the moral ideas that have shaped New England. One major theme of The Scarlet Letter that helps to portray this is the theme of Puritanism. The religious nature of the morality shaped the society’s reaction to Hester’s affair. A major theme of Ethan Frome that helps to portray this is the theme of duty and morality vs. desire. Ethan feels he has a moral duty to remain with his wife, Zeena, even though he truly desires to run away with Mattie. The ideas of morality presented in The Scarlet Letter and Ethan Frome are similar in that they both portray adultery as greatly immoral; however, they differ in the reason behind these ideas of morality.

“The Scarlet Letter” written by Nathaniel Hawthorne and “The Crucible” written by Arthur Miller are two pieces of literature written around the same era. They were written in the early days of the Massachusetts colony. Both of the pieces of literature have many similarities including the theme, setting, conflicts, and some major plot elements. But the two pieces of literature are also very different. They both use have a common theme but are completely different stories. Each of the plays tell a different portrayal of the effects of sin on the protagonist, how they deal with the situation, and also how they will be effected by their choices made throughout the play.

Abigail Williams and Hester Prynne are similar because they are both adulterers. Adultery is an affair between a married person and a person who is not his or her spouse. Hester Prynne’s has an affair with Arthur Dimmesdale and it is known publicly. A baby was made because of the affair and Hester gets shunned from the town. Hester has to wear an “A” on her chest that means Adulterer because of her sin. Abigail Williams is in love with John Proctor even though he is married. Abigail also has an affair. Abigail and Hester are both very different also Abigail Williams is a teenager who is a liar. She convinces the whole town that people are witches. While Hester is a very honest character. Hester’s affair with Arthur Dimmesdale was accidental because she thought her husband was dead. She did not intend to cheat on her husband. Abigail’s affair was on just lust and on purpose. Hester’s sin only affected her child. Hester was the only one punished because of her sin. Abigail’s sin affected many people including her friends, John Proctor, the innocent townspeople, and Elizabeth Proctor. Abigail

The quote “To belong is to understand the tacit codes of the people you live with” from Michael Ignatieff is explaining that with every group of people in society, there is a certain set of logical unspoken rules that are not written rules. The understanding and following of these rules will allow you to belong in most groups. Unspoken rules are what make a group who they are. The Crucible and The Scarlet Letter both have perfect examples for the relationship between unspoken rules and belonging. Also, these works take place in the 17th century around the same area. This creates almost the same setting for both stories where the unspoken rules will be almost identical. The knowledge and ability to follow the unspoken rules will lead to

Nathaniel Hawthorne and Arthur Miller both used their writings to comment on the state of the world at their current times. Miller’s Play The Crucible and Hawthorne’s novel The Scarlet Letter both share several similar concepts, despite the fact that they were written just over one hundred years apart. The Scarlet Letter is about a Puritan woman by the name of Hester Prynne, who has an illegitimate child (called Pearl) with the religious leader of the town, Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale. The Crucible is a play featuring the Puritan town of Salem, which is suffering through a hysterical, supernatural paranoia started by a vengeful adulteress named Abigail Williams. The similarities between these two texts have been compared and explored by many before, and three such explorations are investigated over the course of this paper.

Why is it that people feel threatened, when their beliefs are challenged? Most societies have a code of conduct, which sets certain behaviors meant to keep harmony. Those that question authority are perceived as dangerous and most often, end up being silenced. Opinions and ideas can cause doubts in a government, resulting in the loss of control and power over the people. The Scarlet Letter written by Nathaniel Hawthorne and The Crucible by Arthur Miller depict those same societal issues. The Scarlet Letter explains the consequences, that a women has to face on her own after she committed adultery in a Puritan society. The Crucible follows the Salem witch trials and the mass hysteria of the people in, an also, Puritan society. Both The

Both The Scarlet Letter and The Crucible revolve around the puritan culture of 17th century America. Written against the backdrop of the self-perplexed puritan culture, emotions of pain and pleasure are similarly highlighted amongst themes of religion, reputation and injustice in both The Scarlet Letter and The Crucible.

Most people agree that Nathaniel Hawthorne changed his last name from “Hathorne” to “Hawthorne”. This is one of the many signs that suggest that Hawthorne was ashamed of his Puritan past and tried to do anything to remove that “black mark” on his past. Furthermore, it can be seen through the themes and symbols in his play that Arthur Miller was no fan of Puritanism as well. Both Miller and Hawthorne take negative stances against Puritanism. This can be seen in their works The Crucible and The Scarlet Letter. The Scarlet Letter deals with the Puritan intolerance of those who committed a sin. In Hester Prynne’s situation, her adultery with Reverend Dimmesdale seemed to have sparked a particular hatred for her within her community. The Crucible deals with the Puritan fight against witchcraft. Many people in the town are accused of being witches and are forced to confess in order to save their lives. The intolerance that the Puritans show to witchcraft symbolize Miller’s complete dislike of Puritanism and their strictness. Both Miller and Hawthorne’s negative views on Puritanism are strongly seen in their respective works of literature. Also, both authors seem to think that the outsider is treated quite brutally. Miller’s take on the Puritan way of forgiveness of sins is somewhat painless compared to Hawthorne’s version of forgiveness. Hawthorne’s novel highlights hypocrisy and its detrimental impact. Miller similarly writes about hypocrisy and how it can destroy society as a

Over 200 accused, and 19 hanged--that is the number of people that were wrongly accused of witchcraft during the Salem Witch Trials between 1692 and 1693. These numbers are extremely outmatched when compared to the Red Scare of 1951, but the circumstances were almost identical. In both instances, figures devoured the fear of the common people and began bringing it close to home. In 1692, the people of Salem feared sin and wrong-doing. When the first young girls showed any signs of acting different than what is considered normal for their puritan society, they were automatically accused of witchcraft.

According to Smithsonian.com, “more than 200 people were accused of practicing witchcraft. . . and 20 were executed” during the Salem witch trials (Blumberg). The Crucible is a play written by Arthur Miller based in Salem, Massachusetts, and it is about the Salem witch trials. The Scarlet Letter is a book written by Nathaniel Hawthorne set in Boston about a woman committing adultery and the consequences she faced afterwards. The Scarlet Letter and The Crucible have similar themes, but they are also very different from one another. Both The Scarlet Letter and The Crucible have the theme of sin and consequence. Church and state affairs were the same in both pieces of literature. However, The Scarlet Letter

Puritans may have tried to give themselves the appearance of a perfect society, but it was really just as corrupt and full of sinners as any society today. In the Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne, The Crucible by Arthur Miller and “To My Dear and Loving Husband” by Anne Bradstreet, there is evidence for this. In Puritan literature, although they try to hide it, sin is very common, in that Puritans do the opposite of what they preach, but still harshly punish those who sin.

Nathaniel Hawthorne was a man who was both plagued and absorbed by the legacy of the Puritans in New England. He was related to John Hathorne, a Puritan judge during the infamous Salem Witch trials of 1692. In The Scarlet Letter, his fictional account of mid-17th century Boston presents an opportunity to examine different themes commonly associated with Puritans. Particularly the nature of sin, personal identity and the repression of natural urges are themes that appear repeatedly through the novel. While his account of this time period may not be completely historically accurate, it is indicative of the persistent thematic influence of Puritan culture on American and New England society.