What Are The Similarities Between The Crucible And The Scarlet Letter

Throughout time, the play, The Crucible by Arthur Miller, and the book, The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne, have been regarded as two of the most reputable works of literature in their eloquent uses of similar themes that describe the human tendencies that can be found in historical events and characteristics of Puritan society. The Crucible, a play by Arthur Miller, makes a connection to the times “Red Scare” to the parallel of the Salem witch hunts of the 1680s. In the book, the Scarlet Letter, Nathaniel Hawthorne tell the tragic story of sin of Heater Prime and the Puritan society in which she lived view of her crime. Similar themes, such as sin, repentance, and forgiveness, and different things that these themes affect or are affected

As sin was such an enormous causality in a person's life, the repercussions based on theses sins were junomous. There were many similar, but different forms of punishment based on different sins in both the Crucible and the Scarlet letter. Two contrary forms, however, were the punishments for the adultery of both Hester from the Scarlet Letter, and John Proctor form the Scarlet Letter. In both stories, these characters were arrested and put in jail and punished for their sins. However, their punishments that followed were two different things. Hester form the Scarlet Letter was forced to publicly stand on a stage and intergogated about her lover and publically eliminated by having to wear a scarlet letter A on her clothes. Proctor, on the other hand, was jailed for the sin of adultery and for denouncing God. Nearing the end of the play, he is interrogated about his sins finds that he cannot lie about his repentance in order to save his life. He then argues about the publicly of his sins and the rest of the towns, as he believes that penitente can be with God and the sinners own soul. “I have confessed myself! Is there no good penitence but it be public? God does not need my name nailed upon the church! God sees my name; God knows how black my sins are! It is enough!,” says Proctor while arguing to Danforth. While Proctor believes

When Hester originally withhold his name from public and this public shame, Dimmesdale goes and says that it is better for shame out in public then secretly in the hearts of the sinner. On the balcony, Dimmesdale says: 000000000000 “Be not silent from any mistaken pity and tenderness for him; for, believe me, Hester, though he were to step down from a high place, and stand there beside thee, on thy pedestal of shame, yet better were it so than to hide a guilty heart through life. What can thy silence do for him, except it tempt him—yea, compel him, as it were—to add hypocrisy to sin? Heaven hath granted thee an open ignominy, that thereby thou mayest work out an open triumph over the evil within thee and the sorrow without. Take heed how thou deniest to him—who, perchance, hath not the courage to grasp it for himself—the bitter, but wholesome, cup that is now presented to thy lips!” 000000000000. This is very different from Hester and Proctor as both of these characters admit to their towns of their sins and do not suffer the mental illness that Dimmesdale suffered throughout the story on accordance of his sin. In relation to this illness, Dimmesdale often seems to want to confess his sin but withholds because the timing is not right. He is one scene, is driven through remorse to stand on the stage where Hester once stood as a “mockery of