The Scarlet Letter And The Crucible

In society today, men are often in a position of power over women. Sometimes it even gets to the point where women no longer have the power to decide their own future. However, in the Scarlet Letter and The Crucible, the female characters place themselves in positions of power. Puritan society was very strict in their time, and was very controlling. In a way, the Puritan Society’s strict rules prompted the women to rebel and gain power for themselves, breaking away from their social standards.

One chooses the face that one puts on into the world. What is acceptable to others often affects one's behavior. For example, the way one demonstrates oneself in front of a person of power is different from the way one presents oneself to a close friend. Arthur Miller’s play The Crucible takes place during the Salem witch trials, when each character has to make the choice of which face to show the world. Nathaniel Hawthorne's novel The Scarlet Letter centers around the choice between being the person one truly is and the person one feels forced to be. In both texts, The Crucible and The Scarlet Letter, the authors, Arthur Miller and Nathaniel Hawthorne, employ duality to reveal how a person's personality changes based on the societal or cultural

Short Response Answer the following questions based on your knowledge of the drama. Write a response on a separate sheet of paper.

The literary works, The Scarlet Letter, a romantic work of an American writer, Nathaniel Hawthorne, and the Crucible, a play written by an American playwright, Arthur Miller both show two different narratives of the Salem Witch Trials. The Scarlet Letter is mainly on adultery, meanwhile, The Crucible is about witchcraft. Amongst these two literary works, there are several similarities and contrasts: setting, sin, reasons behind committing the misdemeanor, guilt, and loyalty of the Puritan people to their appointed officials. Although there are several similarities and comparisons, the greatest controversy is how the authors portray the female characters. Women get treated differently than men; it is the idea of women being inferior creatures and lesser human beings.

This lack of emotion shown by Hester is completely reversed when analyzing the antagonists involved in these works. The main similarity between the two villains is that they both have great emotions towards the main characters. “[Abigail] thinks to dance with [John] on [his] wife’s grave!” and wishes to once again win his love (Miller 106) The main emotion held by Abigail Williams is therefore lust. In contrast, Roger Chillingworth wishes for Hester to suffer for her sin. “Even if I imagine a scheme of vengeance, what could I do better for my object that to let thee live, – than to give thee medicines against all harm and peril of life, – so that this burning shame may still blaze upon thy bosom?” (Hawthorne 62) Another large difference between Abby and Roger is how they react with the other characters in their separate tales. Abby’s popularity is crucial in The Crucible. If she were not to have had the support of the other young girls of the town and the trust of Danforth and Hale, then Miss Williams never would have been able to accomplish as much as she did. On the polar opposite end, Chillingworth’s reclusiveness is a defining factor within The Scarlet Letter. His image as “The Leech” helps to demonstrate

What is the significance of the scene between Elizabeth and John Proctor? What does it reveal about their relationship and about their characters?

The Crucible is a play constructed on conflict, lies and deception, written by Arthur Miller in 1952. The key theme of this theatrical four-act drama is ‘Wheels within wheels’. Set in Salem, in the heart of puritan Massachusetts, in 1692, the plot follows a community of villagers plagued by accusations of witchcraft. Amidst the executions of their friends, the remaining villagers turn to religion, rumours and secrets to alleviate the tragedy, and gravity of the circumstances unfolding on their doorsteps. Throughout the play, we become progressively responsive to the fact that sex/sexual repression are the motives behind a significant volume of

Abigail Williams and Hester Prynne were two very different characters in books about the same Puritan religion. The two had many differences and even a few ways they were alike. Their views on society and their reaction on how they reacted to the way they were treated by the Puritans. Hester feared society and thought that it was something to be avoided, while Abigail long to be the center of attention. While Hester attracted further into herself as she was being judged for her adultery, Abigail resorted to lying to protect herself. Their natures could not have been more different, but they did have some things in common. They both wanted more power

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.

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

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

The Crucible and The Scarlet Letter share many characteristics and differences in their view of society and religion through Puritan America. Both stories take us through the journey of those accused of adultery and the true test of faith and honesty. While the stories of the characters are similar, the way things are handled and the beliefs they uphold are different.

Throughout American history, no matter what time period, humans have been categorized, discriminated against, and treated according to their class, financial status, and race. Many concrete and obvious examples of this have appeared throughout the years, ranging from the Salem witch trials in the late 1600’s, all the way to the recent civil rights movements in the 1950’s and 60’s. Social history uses personal stories to show how class/status and race played a part in the way people were treated in America.

​(hook) Though nearly 100 years separate the two works of classic American fiction, the similarities between Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter (1850) and Arthur Miller’s “The Crucible” (1953) extend far past their close to identical settings in 17th Puritanical Massachusetts colonies. As is to be expected, the events of both works can likely be attributed to the daily stress and tension each character feels (to varying degrees) caused by living in an isolated village where life is constantly under scrutiny that could result in banishment, loss of stature, and even a horrific death. This constant battery of external pressures and expectations conflicts with the inescapable fact that humans are, by nature, fallible, leading those who wish to live a happy, uneventful life and potentially even become pillars of their community to cultivate an outward-facing identity to protect them from exposing their true selves, and thus flaws, to an unforgiving community of “strangers”. The concept of characters being plagued by two conflicting identities, or wearing more than one face as Hawthorne would describe it, is present in many lead characters in both “The Crucible” and The Scarlet Letter and results in themes of hypocrisy, reputation, and isolation that function as plot shows throughout the narratives.