Crucible And The Scarlet Letter example essay topic

There are many similarities in The Crucible and The Scarlet Letter. Though similar in many ways, these two pieces of literature greatly contrasted each other. Three important elements, which exemplify this juxtaposition, are theme, setting, and the protagonists. Both The Crucible and The Scarlet Letter contain several examples to further support these three elements. The themes of The Crucible and The Scarlet Letter change throughout the course of each literature piece. One major theme in both of these is revenge.

The character from The Scarlet Letter who is out for revenge is Chillingworth. Chillingworth is angry when he finds out whom Hester committed adultery with. When he realizes it was Dimmesdale, he decides to secretly torture Dimmesdale for what he has done. An example of Chillingworth's revenge from the book is: He now dug into the poor clergyman's heart like a miner searching for gold; or, rather, like a sexton delving into a grave, possibly in quest of a jewel that had been buried on the dead man's bosom, but likely to find nothing save mortality and corruption. (125) This exemplifies Chillingworth's sought for revenge. By the narrator saying this, the reader gets insight on what Chillingworth plans to do to Dimmesdale, which is dig into his soul to find out Dimmesdale's hidden sin.

Chillingworth's plot for revenge is very similar to that of Abigail Williams in The Crucible. In this play, John Proctor has an affair with Abigail Williams only out of lust but Abigail still wants him. He wants to move on and forget about her but Abigail wants the exact opposite, meaning she wants John Proctor for herself. Because of this, she decides to turn in Elizabeth Proctor for conjuring the devil. This is evident by the following quote: She thinks to dance with me on my wife's grave! And well she might, for I thought of her softly.

God help me, I lusted, and there is a promise in such sweat. But it is a whore's vengeance, and you must see it... (1146) In both The Scarlet Letter and The Crucible, it is apparent that the characters Chillingworth and Abigail were out to get revenge, which in the end destroys them, yet their means of seeking revenge, differ. Chillingworth does it in a secretive manner whereas Abigail chooses to falsely accuse Elizabeth in public and openly risk Elizabeth's life.

Another point of comparison within The Crucible and The Scarlet Letter is the setting for each. For both of these literary pieces, the setting is in Massachusetts. More specifically, for The Crucible, the setting is in Salem Massachusetts. Evidence for this is at the beginning of Act I where it states "A small upper bedroom in the home of Reverend Samuel Parris, Salem, Massachusetts, in the spring of the year 1692".

(1089) This is very similar to the setting of The Scarlet Letter, which is in Boston, Massachusetts. This is evident at the beginning of Chapter 2: The grass plot before the jail, in Prison Lame, on a certain summer morning not less than two centuries ago, was occupied by a pretty large number of the inhabitants of Boston... (47) The Crucible is also set in 1692, whereas the specific year of the setting of The Scarlet Letter is unknown, it is known that it takes place in the late seventeenth century. These two settings are very similar in that they both are in Massachusetts and also in the late 1600's. These settings differ in that The Crucible is in Salem and The Scarlet Letter is in Boston. Also, The Crucible occurs within a time span of several months, whereas The Scarlet Letter takes place during many years.

The protagonist of The Crucible, John Proctor, is very similar to the protagonist of The Scarlet Letter, Hester Prynne. Both of these characters have committed adultery. John Proctor has committed adultery with Abigail Williams, and Hester Prynne has committed adultery with Reverend Dimmesdale. When Proctor is asked to state the Ten Commandments, he says them all but the one about adultery. Elizabeth assists him in remembering the one about adultery and then in the stage directions it says, "Proctor, as though a secret arrow had pained his heart". (1122) The fact that Hester committed adultery is much more obvious, although not outright stated, than that of John Proctor's.

The Scarlet Letter is based around Hester's sin, which is how the book gets its name. In the second chapter is evidence support Hester's sin of adultery: On the breast of her gown, in fine red cloth surrounded with an elaborate embroidery and fantastic flourishes of gold thread, appeared the letter "A". (51) In the sense that both protagonists committed adultery, they are very similar. They differ, however, in that Proctor's sin is not publicly known and Hester's is. By Proctor keeping his sin a secret, he is guilt stricken. On the contrary, Hester's sin has been publicized and therefore she overcomes this and later becomes an influential figure in the Puritan society.

In The Crucible and in The Scarlet Letter, there are several elements, which can be juxtaposed. These include theme, setting, and the protagonists of each piece of literature.