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 townıs 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 qualities, including setting, conflict, and general aspects of the characters, while there 
are also specific parallels between characters, such as Abigail and Hester, and Parris and Dimmesdale. 
The settings in both The Scarlet Letter and The Crucible are similar in many ways. The Scarlet Letter takes place 
around the 1640s, as the The Crucible occurs in 1692. The time period is very important in both pieces, because it is 
a time of religious intolerance and a conservative attitude pervades in New England, where both works of literature 
take place. This Puritan setting is also very important in both works of literature. The reason behind the townspeople 
persecuting sinners is because of the Puritan beliefs of the time period. This is the driving force between the actions 
of the characters. The setting of a religiously intolerant village is also the main reason behind the conflict that lies in 
each plot. 
The conflicts in both works of literature are also similar. They are both caused by the same thing, the excessively 
devout town in which the setting takes place. The conflict in The Scarlet Letter that occurs between Dimmesdale, 
Hester, and Chillingworth is caused by the townıs intolerance for sinners. Hesterıs life is spent in complete 
loneliness because of the way the town treats her. Chillingworth, Hesterıs past husband, is like most of the 
townspeople, because he feels the need to punish and inflict pain on sinners, especially those who have personally 
harmed him. Chillingworth tries to gain revenge on Dimmesdale, the man who commits adultery with his wife. The 
townıs desire to seek out and personally condemn sinners is also the source of conflict in The Crucible. In The 
Crucible, the townspeople hunt out the witches in the community as an attempt to rid the town of evil. In both, the 
conflict is caused by the townıs self appointed right to rancorously persecute a! 
nd punish anyone who is found sinning. The conflict is also similar because both towns are generally the same. They 
are both located in the same general area of America, which causes the people to have similar beliefs and traditions. 
This includes the townspeople, and the general aspects of the characters. 
The general aspects of characters are also similar in both The Scarlet Letter and The Crucible. Both have a main 
antagonist, who wishes to punish sinners. In The Scarlet Letter, this person is Roger Chillingworth, who wants to 
gain revenge on Dimmesdale, and in The Crucible, the antagonist is Abigail Williams, the girl who mainly accuses 
the people of being witches. Also, both works of literature include ignorant townspeople who contribute to the main 
conflict. In The Scarlet Letter, these people are the ones who loathe Hester, but love Reverend Dimmesdale. The 
people in Reverend Parrisı home while his daughter is sick, and the people in court in The Crucible are similar to the 
townspeople in The Scarlet Letter. Part of this is due to the Puritan setting. This affects the way the people think, 
and how they view sinners. One other similarity between the characters are the similar town figures in each. In The 
Scarlet Letter, there is a minister, Dimmesdale, a political! 
figure, Billingham, and one family that the plot focuses on, which is Hester's, who go through many problems 
because of Hesterıs sin. The Crucible has a similar Reverend, Parris, political figure, and it also focuses on one main 
family, the Proctors who go through many problems due to the witch hunt. Other than the general similarities 
between characters, there are also many specific parallels. 
One specific parallel between characters is that of Reverend Parris and Dimmesdale. One obvious similarity is that 
they are both ministers in the towns they live in. However, more parishoners like Dimmesdale in The Scarlet Letter 
than Parris in The Crucible. Yet, both ministers are concerned with their image. In The Scarlet Letter, Dimmesdale 
hides his sin to prevent punishment, but this was not the only reason. He also does not confess because he still wants 
the Puritans to idolize and venerate him, which they do to an extreme. Parris is also very much like Dimmesdale in 
The Crucible, because he also cares greatly about public image. He does not want people to think his daughter 
actually signs the Black Manıs book, and wants to hide her mysterious illness from the parishioners. Also, he fears 
John Proctor, because Proctor does not like him. Parris feels that anyone that does not like him will become a threat 
to his authority as the minister. That is one reason he p! 
resses the execution of John Proctor. Another reason he presses the executions is because he cannnot bear the 
thought of witches in his parish. If there are witches, this would prove he is not performing his job as he should. 
Besides the parallel of ministers, there are also other parallels between characters in these two works. 
Another parallel is between Hester Prynne in The Scarlet Letter and Abigail Williams in The Crucible. While Hester 
is considered the protagonist in The Scarlet Letter and Abigail is considered the antagonist in The Crucible, both are 
startlingly similar in many ways. For one thing, both go through the same types of problems, because they are both 
very much alone in their lives. Hester is shunned by society and lives on the outskirts of town. Abigail is an orphan, 
and considering she is never really part of a family, she probably has a feeling of loneliness for all of her life. 
Another similarity between the two is that they are both adulteresses. Hester is a married woman who is unfaithful 
by sleeping with another man, Dimmesdale. Abigail is not married, but also commits adultery by sleeping with a 
married man, John Proctor. Both sins are essential to the plot of both works of literature. However, Hester pays the 
price of this sin, while Abigail does not. 
The Scarlet Letter and The Crucible are written in two different time periods, but are still similar in many ways. 
Both demonstrate the true aspects of a Puritan society very accurately. Because of this accuracy, naturally they are 
similar and have many parallels. Both have similar conflicts, settings, and characters. The fact that they have so 
many parallels is probably the reason why both are considered outstanding works of literature. They both contain the 
same element of truth and accuracy of the Puritan society and will most likely survive as great works of literature.