The Scarlet Letter

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The Scarlet Letter

When the topic of a Puritanical society is brought up, most people think of a rigorous, conservative, highly devout
society. While this may have usually been the case, this was not always so. The Puritan society was also known not
to act out of brotherly, Christian love, but to cruelly lash out on those who sinned or were deemed unfit for society.
Two works of literature that display both aspects of this society very accurately are The Scarlet Letter, by Nathaniel
Hawthorne, and The Crucible, by Arthur Miller. The Scarlet Letter displays a society that treats two people very
differently who commit the sin of adultery together. The woman, Hester Prynne, admits her sin, is forced to always
wear a scarlet letter A on her bosom, and is ostracized from society. The man, Reverend Dimmesdale, hides his sin
from the world, is almost worshipped by the townspeople, but is filled with the shame of his action. Hawthorne
illustrates how insensitive a Puritan society can be t!
o those who admit their wrong doings. The Crucible is a play that tells the story of the famous witchcraft trial in
Salem, Massachusetts. In the story, Abigail Williams, the orphaned niece of the town¹s minister, Reverend Parris, is
the main person who accuses people of sending their spirits on her and the other girls. What starts as children
dancing in the woods leads to the accusation and execution of many innocent people for witchcraft. The two works
of literature have very similar...

Submitted by: digitalessays
Date Submitted: 03-23-08 2:43am
Category: English
Words: 1327
Pages: 5.31