Comparison In Characters From “The Crucible” And “The Scarlett Letter” Essay, Research Paper

Scarlet Letter

In The Scarlet Letter, by Nathaniel Hawthorne, there are many characters that are similar to the characters of Arthur Miller’s The Crucible. They might not be similar physically or mentally, but they share the same attributes and feeling towards things that effect their reputations. Hester Prynne of The Scarlet Letter acts about the same as John Proctor of The Crucible, when they say that there was something against them, either religion or the community. Reverend Dimmesdale, the father of Hester’s daughter, is similarly related to Elizabeth Proctor of The Crucible; both of them tried to hide their identity and the truth in order to save themselves.

Ironically, Hester and John are both guilty of committing adultery. The thing that separates Hester and John’s attitudes is the fact that Hester has to publicly display her sin while John confessed to show a friends innocence. Both of these individuals were afraid to show what they had done at first, but once everyone found out they stood up and confessed. Hester knew what she did was wrong but she wasn’t going to let that get in her way of being free to do as she please. To show people that she owned herself and that she wasn’t going to let this ruin her life she “elaborately embroidered…. A gold-threaded, scarlet ‘A’ (51)” onto her garments.

John didn’t embroider a bright “A” onto his clothing but he stood in front a courtroom of people and confessed that he had committed adultery. Their motives of confessing were different but they both accepted the fact that they had done something wrong.

Dimmesdale and Elizabeth were both afraid of revealing the truth. Dimmesdale’s reason for holding back the truth was to keep his honest reputation as a reverend. He was the father of the child that Hester had; he is the man Hester committed adultery with. Dimmesdale, like Elizabeth, was afraid of what the community would think of him if they knew the truth. Eventually both Dimmesdale and Elizabeth told the truth but both their lives ended when the truth came out.