Puritan communities are extremely stiff and strict. Their belief system was built upon the fear of sin. They attempted to oust sin from their societies entirely which is nearly impossible. This resulted in a society obsessed with punishing sinners and filled with hypocrisy. In the novel’s The Crucible by Arthur Miller and The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne the authors express their opinions on the faults in this belief system.
Hawthorne and Miller share an extremely close viewpoint of “the outsider” within both novels. They believe that an outsider is someone who is rejected by the community without just reasoning. In Hawthorne’s novel this is evident through Hester Prynne’s circumstance. She is shunned by her community for committing
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In both books a character is persecuted for sinning which in puritan societies is unredeemable; sin is sin. Hawthorne uses his book to refute this ideology while Miller, who is disgusted by sin, allows for some sort of forgiveness. In The Scarlet Letter Hawthorne uses Dimmesdale and Prynne’s circumstances to show this contrast. Prynne who confesses to her sins and lives a life helping other feels the slow, gentle redemption that follows while Dimmesdale who privately scolds himself for his sin falls apart. In chapter twelve the narrator states “Poor, miserable man! What right had infirmity like his to burden itself with crime? Crime is for the iron-nerved, who have their choice either to endure it, or, if it press too hard, to exert their fierce and savage strength for a good purpose, and fling it off at once” (Miller 101). Dimmesdale is a weak character and the narrator is commenting on how he cannot foist the blame upon himself because of this. This results in the collapse of Dimmesdale’s spirit and well-being. On the other hand, Prynne is a prime example of the philosophy the authors both support. That is the redemption from sin through good work and grace. In The Crucible sin is feared and viewed …show more content…
In both novels they use the idea of how it is human nature to be accepted no matter the cost. One key character who exemplifies this trait is Dimmesdale in Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter. During a sermon at the beginning of the novel he states, “What can thy silence do for him, except to tempt him---yea, compel him, as it were---to add hypocrisy to sin?”(Hawthorne 47). Dimmesdale knows, off the bat, the consequences that will be bestowed upon him if he endures his sin in secret but he is too weak of a man to confess. He goes to the church and preaches about how awful sin is but his need to be accepted and adored by his town shadow his duty to God. The seven years of mental torture and physical breakdown that follow are because of his own doings. Dimmesdale is selfish and knows that no secret punishment self-inflicted will gain him forgiveness but he continues for a temporary feeling of relief. As Dimmesdale craves acceptance from his town despite the lies he holds so does Mary Warren in Miller’s The Crucible. This is clear in the scene when Governor Dansforth is talking to her about the truth in court and she replies "I cannot lie no more. I am with God, I am with God," (Miller 95). Mary only tells the truth when she is under pressure and she is truly in belief that she has changed but this is just a mirage. When Abigail denies Mary’s claims and begins to accuse her of witchcraft, Mary hollers,
In the Crucible Reverend Parris is a selfish Minister who only cares about money and is a greedy selfish man. In The Scarlet letter Reverend Dimmesdale committed adultery and actually feels guilty for what he did and has humility, the only problem with him is him not admitting he is the father of Pearl and sees how Hester Prynne is tormented. The main characters in The Scarlet Letter are guilty and see how
In the novels, The Scarlet Letter, by Nathaniel Hawthorne, and The Crucible, by Arthur Miller are similar in the fact that they are both small towns from Massachusetts. Their society is both the same in reaction to when a person commits a sin. All of the community members support the idea of how they punish the “criminals”. Such as in the adultery that was committed in both stories by characters, the people’s way in punishing these crimes was persecution.
In Arthur Miller’s The Crucible, and in Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter, there exists a common theme of adultery, a sin according to the commandments of the Puritan church. The stories center around the adulterers- John Proctor in The Crucible, and Hester Prynne in The Scarlet Letter. Both are members of early Puritan communities that are known for their very devout faith. Each character shows different reactions and feelings towards the sin, and each must face different consequences. A common theme that brings the two characters together is that they are given a chance to escape their sin and move on with their lives.
Both Authors portray a character who is so guilt ridden that they start to take it out on themselves. This is largely based on the characters own doings, they feel so bad that they end up making choices that affect them for the rest of their lives. Because of this self-inflicted cruelty, they only have one option in their minds for how this guilt can be fixed. In “The Crucible '', John Proctor's only way to get rid of his guilt about his affair is to confess, and in The Scarlet Letter, the only way for Arthur Dimmesdale is to admit his sin of adultery. Both instances begin to build up in the characters until they can no longer take it and they break.
First of all, is Hester and Dimmesdale certainly loved each other, less shamefully and more definitely than Proctor and Abigail. Despiter this, however, “Hester is dehumanized for her sin, while Dimmesdale is still thought to be the almighty minister.” (Comparison Between The Crucible And The Scarlet Letter by Essay Mania) When one examines the protagonists, in Scarlett Letter, the central character is Hester, whereas in Crucible it is Proctor, one female and one male; the antagonists are male in Scarlett Letter, but female in Crucible. With jealousy and revenge, there are several similar themes, however, in one, it is the jealous adulterer, yet in the other, it’s the jealous spouse.
Secret Sin and Guilt In the book The Scarlet Letter which was written by Nathaniel Hawthorne descried Adultery in a different and extraordinary way. By writing about a woman named Hester Prynne who was compelled of Adultery. And Hawthorne also included a minister named Rev. Dimmesdale. And how Dimmesdale also has a secret sin that he can no longer bare in his heart, so he tells his congregation.
A single mistake can wholly compromise an individual’s ability to accomplish their dreams. Hillary Clinton’s blunder in handling the United States’ confidential emails could very well have cost her the presidency. Knowing the possible consequences if the truth of the situation was released, she fabricated lies in hopes of maintaining her political power. Similarly, throughout both The Scarlet Letter, a fiction novel written by Nathaniel Hawthorne, and Arthur Miller’s historical fiction play, The Crucible, people are willing to go to great lengths in order to maintain their statuses. Transpiring in 17th century New England, The Scarlet Letter follows a woman by the name of Hester Prynne who endures unrelenting ignominy after giving birth to
Many United States philosophies still linger around in today’s society. Puritanism is the thought that God was right and you needed to follow God on everything. The Deists thought that God is good, but one should go to nature to search for answers. The Transcendentalists believed that you can go to nature and search for answers if that is what you desire and need to do.
In The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne, Hester Prynne perseveres through the struggles and adversities thrown in her path. Although, this tale of sinful passion does not hold the same truth/fate for every character. Arthur Dimmesdale is a weak and feeble individual. He is a desperate and miserable man. The minister is physically fragile.
In Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter, Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale commits a mortal sin by having an affair with a married woman, Hester Prynne. As a man of the cloth in Puritan society, Dimmesdale is expected to be the embodiment of the town’s values. He becomes captive to a self-imposed guilt that manifests from affair and his fear that he won’t meet the town’s high expectations of him. In an attempt to mitigate this guilt, Dimmesdale acts “piously” and accepts Chillingworth’s torture, causing him to suffer privately, unlike Hester who repented in the eyes of the townspeople. When Dimmesdale finally reveals his sin to the townspeople, he is able to free himself from his guilt.
Power for women is not much back in the 1600s. Women had no power at all in the government, and as natural they find power in other effects. A lot of them did it in marriage. In the works, The Crucible by Arthur Miller and The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne demonstrated the control of women in the Puritan times. Even though in both The Crucible by Arthur Miller and The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne, women have less power in the society than men, in The Crucible women have a better say in the action of the society than the women in The Scarlet Letter.
The Crucible also known as the Salem witch trials and the duke lacrosse case were both a turning point in history for America. Both of the events harmed many people in a number of ways. Although the crucible was a lot harsher, they both compare and differentiate in a plethora of ways. For example, they compare because of the lack of evidence used and the false accusations told upon the people. They contrast because of the way the accusers were treated at the end of it, and because of all the lies told.
The hypocritical society is blinded by how they should punish Hester that they are not showing kindness to Hester. Hawthorne creates the book to show how an individual spirit must overcome the difficult obstacles in the society cultural
In this essay, we will focus on the effects this ideology had on the treatment of Hester and Dimmesdale, and the effects it had on Dimmesdale after he confessed to committing adultery. The Puritans’ treatment of women is blatantly evident at the beginning of the book where Hester is awaiting conviction upon the scaffold for her act of adultery. The townspeople present at the trial presented a very negative sentiment towards Hester,
In The Scarlet Letter, Hawthorne effectively conforms to the conventions of the gothic genre for the purpose of characterizing the Puritan society as oppressive, portraying the hypocrisy found within the society and highlighting the consequences for not confessing