"The Crucible" (Arthur Miller) and The Scarlet Letter (Nathanial Hawthorne): Accepting Sins Now Leads to Less Consequences Later

Essay by DuVc2002High School, 11th gradeA+, January 2004

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Individuals from both The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne and "The Crucible" by Arthur Miller exhibit comparable qualities. Through analyzing the conflicts, temperament, responsibility, and consequences; character similarities present themselves. Although the two stories have completely different plots, characters such as Hester Prynne and Abigail Williams display like characteristics, even if Prynne had to publicly admit her sin and Abigail made a clean getaway. John Proctor and Reverend Dimmesdale share a common predicament as well even though Proctor even though their personas are almost completely different. Both of these stories are written almost two centuries apart but still have distinct similarities in theme.

Hester accepted her sins in full, and tried to move on with her life as best as she could. She accepted her unorthodox actions and took responsibility for them. She wore the Scarlet A with pride, and even managed to make it stand for "able" rather than adulteress.

Not only did she gain respect back from the Puritan city, but she was able to establish a successful business of embroidery and tailoring for the communities needs. "Her needle work was seen on the ruff on the Governor; military men wore it on their scarfs, and the minister on his band; it decked the baby's little cap..." (Hawthorne 73). Hester also tried her best to stay as religious as possible, another quality that Abigail lacked. "To Hester Prynne it might have been a mode of expressing, and therefore soothing, the passion of her life. Like all other joys, she rejected it as a sin" (Hawthorne 74).

Abigail's sins were numerous and climbing exponentially as "The Crucible" proceeded. The number of Abigail's wrongdoings does not even compare to Hester. Abigail drank blood to curse Goody Proctor, performed adultery at the age of seventeen with John Proctor, framed Goody...