Similarities Between The Crucible And The Scarlet Letter

The Crucible, written by Arthur Miller, there were countless crucial similarities and differences amongst the charters. Abigail Williams and Elizabeth Proctor were characters whose actions for a man molded their reputations. Abigail’s reputation was destroyed while Elizabeth had a positive reputation; they tried intensively to preserve it since they wanted a good name.

Both literary works were written about the same time period, the Puritan era, hence their strong views on women and their roles in Puritan society, though one is a larger extreme than the other. Arthur Miller and Anne Bradstreet both have God as a main theme in their works. Though the writers have Puritan life as a major theme they also have many differences in their writing styles. The Crucible was not written in the Puritan era, the story was written as an allegory to Communism (The Communist Witch Hunt); because in the 1950’s Arthur was accused as a Communist spy. Rather than Anne Bradstreet who lived in this time period. Also in Bradstreet’s writings she largely focuses, with her Puritan-related works, on more of the familial side of the Puritan lifestyle. When Arthur Miller writes more closely relate to the Puritan woman's relationship with her husband and the corruptness of Puritan society. In Bradstreet’s portrayal of the Puritan woman in her poem Upon the Burning of Our House, is an attached woman, to her memories in her possession and with reason she figures out that God is the only that is constant and everlasting in her life. Arthur Miller portrayal of the Puritan are at opposite spectrums of the Puritan, the loyal Elizabeth’s; which her husband knows when he says, “ That woman will never lie, Mr. Danforth.”(Miller 85), or

Imagine the panic when there is the possibility that anyone around who looks no different than everyone else is relaying information to the enemies. Having no idea if the neighbors who have lived there for 15 years are actually spies. Having no idea if there was a real threat of danger right around the block. This is the type of concern spread by Senator Joseph McCarthy, in his hunt to blacklist and profile as many “communists” in America as possible. Abigail Williams, in The Crucible by Arthur Miller, plays a similar type of role as she starts the wave of accusations against nearly every female in town. The

Throughout history all world leaders pushed the blame onto others by using scapegoats as a way to justify their own wrongdoings. A scapegoat is something or someone people use to avoid the repercussions of their wrong doings. McCarthyism was the time in which many people were accused of being communists while The Salem Witch Trials were when many people were accused of being witches. One group led by McCarthy and another group led by a young group of girls, both had a great impact during the time period and caused a lot of chaos. Even though the time in which The Crucible and McCarthyism took place are very different, they were similar in the way that citizens were treated, the fears they had, and the accusations that took place. This all

The Crucible and The Great Gatsby have each been read by millions. Both have factors of love and death, which make them exciting. Abigail Williams and Gatsby are two characters who are very similar, but different at the same time.

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.

Both The Scarlet Letter and The Crucible have many similarities between them, including theme, setting, conflicts, and plot elements. Despite these similarities, these two pieces are very different, each one beginning with a common theme, but developing it into a completely different story than the other. A common element of both of these works is the main conflict. In The Crucible, John Proctor had an affair with Abigail Williams, and Abigail tries to get revenge on John by trying to get his wife tried as a witch. In The Scarlet Letter, Hester Prynne cheats on her husband, Roger Chillingworth, with one of the ministers of the town, Dimmesdale, and has a child through their relationship.

Communism. Witchcraft. These two highly controversial topics are either feared or adored by people. There are numerous similarities and differences between both, yet one thing is prominent: they both incite hysteria. The Crucible by Arthur Miller is an allegorical play mirroring 1950’s America during the Red Scare. “McCarthyism” is the act of accusing someone of an act of treason without substantial evidence. It relies on the uncertainty and the fear of the unknown among people, which in turn, incites hysteria. Joseph McCarthy accused many people of being communists without much evidence or reason. The accusations in The Crucible also are proposed without evidence and cause much hysteria among the town. Since The Crucible was written as an

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

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

The Scarlet Letter and The Crucible are two stories both set in the early days of the Massachusetts colony. Both of these stories have many similarities between them, including setting, situations, and conflict. The two stories were also very different. The effects of sin on the characters, how they deal with their sin, and the consequences of their actions are different in each story. The Crucible and The Scarlet Letter are different works and although they deal with similar conflicts the consequences and end results are very different.

“A trial without witnesses, when it involves a criminal accusation, a criminal matter, is not a true trial.” - Bill McCollum. ‘The Crucible’ was a play written by Arthur Miller in 1953. It portrayed the obvious similarities between McCarthyism and The Salem Witch Trials. McCarthyism was a campaign against potential communists in the 1950’s led by Joseph McCarthy. The accused were blacklisted from their jobs even though the majority were innocent. The witch trials that took place in Salem, Massachusetts was the accusation and prosecution for witchcraft that took place between 1692 and 1693. The Salem witch Trials resulted in the execution of 20 people. There are many similarities between McCarthyism and ‘The Crucible’ including completely false accusations, a refusal to lie and confess to these accusations, and there is a clear lack of evidence in both the play and the trials.

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

Thomas Brooke says the following, “Pride grows in the heart with the decrease of other sins and thrives on their decay. Satan is subtle. He will make us proud of our very graces. He will make us proud that we are not proud.” Today, there are many religions all over the world, spanning to Christianity to Buddhism to Judaism, all of those mentioned and all of those not mentioned have evolved over the course of hundreds to thousands of years as everything began here on Earth. A handful of them are different, while a few of them are so alike that the two religions might as well be the same from then on out, but everybody tends to separate themselves from others because, well, the sects believe in different bits of information than from the other one. However, in saying this, what was religion like a long time ago when the people were expected to follow a church because those were the rules, which cannot be broken. Puritans were the main focus when the British originally arrived in the Americas, Puritans were a group of English Reformed Protestants, so not exactly Christian, more of a Catholic type of people. For the purposes of analysis, Nathaniel Hawthorne’s Scarlet Letter and Arthur Miller’s “Crucible” will be compared and contrasted in the ways that are, adultery, witchcraft, and finally the symbolism of the forest.

Many people have heard and written about the Salem witch trials. Margaret Atwood and Arthur Miller are two authors who wrote very significant pieces about the Salem witch trials. Atwood and Miller wrote about the Salem witch trials in similar, yet very different ways. The Salem witch trials occurred in colonial Massachusetts between 1692 and 1693. During this time over 200 people were falsely accused of witchcraft and at least 20 innocent people were executed. Later the colony took the blame and admitted that the trials were a huge mistake. While Atwood and Miller both seek to reveal the injustices incurred by the victims of the Salem witch trials, Miller focuses on the effects of hysteria and religious zealotry on society, while Atwood aims to commemorate the excruciating experience of a single victim.