...Dimmesdale vs. John Proctor Heroes are often thought as the superior and perfect people in society. However, The Scarlet Letter and The Crucible illustrates that everyone, including sinners, can be a hero in certain situations. The Scarlet Letter, a book about the consequence and change of identity after committing adultery between the main characters, Hester and Dimmesdale, has many similarities with The Crucible, a story about an unfair witch-hunt in Salem, Massachusetts. In the two books, Dimmesdale and John Proctor are depicted as heroes despite their critical flaws in their lives. Nathaniel Hawthorne and Arthur Miller, the authors of The Scarlet Letter and The Crucible, portray contrasting symbolism such as hypocrisy and justice through similar but different characters: Reverend Dimmesdale and John Proctor. Identified as an adulterer in the story, Dimmesdale’s hypocrisy is clearly shown through the context. The story starts off with the punishment of Hester for her sin, adultery that she had committed with Dimmesdale. As Hester does not blurt the name of the child’s father when questioned about the crime, Dimmesdale as a Reverend, the holy man, speaks up. He states, “though [the man that has sinned] were to step down from a high place, and stand there beside thee, on thy pedestal of shame, yet better were it so, than to hide a guilty heart.” (Hawthorne 58). He continues that the “silence” of Hester is just “[adding] hypocrisy to sin.” (Hawthorne 58). Ironically, his statements...
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...The Scarlet Letter and The Crucible are two literary classics that portray excellence in expounding the importance of life. Both written works encompass striking similarities in aspects such as the setting, plot, and major conflicts. However, The Scarlet Letter and The Crucible bare conspicuous differences such as in The Scarlet Letter solid evidence for the crime of adultery is distinctly manifested while in The Crucible the court possesses no tangible evidence for the crime of witchcraft. In addition, The Scarlet Letter is a novel while The Crucible is a play. The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne and The Crucible by Arthur Miller have pronounced similitude, such as the common conflicts, and the setting, and also bare an impactful distinction between the resolutions of the two written works and the characters. The major conflict in...
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...Parallels of The Crucible and The Scarlet Letter The Crucible and The Scarlet Letter share common themes that create interesting parallels between the two texts. Although they were written in different time periods by means of two different authors, they both show striking similarities in many categories, including overlapping themes and settings. Interesting parallels among both texts include, but aren’t limited to, public confession, public humiliation, adultery, and setting. First, public confession is presented in each text. In Arthur Miller’s The Crucible, John Proctor is the epitome of this idea. Proctor asks “Why must it (his confession) be written?” to which Danforth “Why, for the good instruction of the village, Mister; this we shall...
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...guilt and sins are human creations. Guilt, the result of shameful mistakes, is associated with infirmity, cowardice, and self-centeredness due to the fear of exposure. These three mesmerizing works, The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne, “The Pie” by Gary Soto and, “The Crucible” by Arthur Miller, address the theme of guilt and the consequences of concealing one’s guilt. The Scarlet Letter considered one of the most famous of Nathaniel Hawthorne’s novel, is set in the1850s in Boston, Massachusetts. The plot revolves around a Puritan community and a woman named Hester. “The Pie”, written in Fresno, California in 1991, is an autobiographical narrative that illustrates Soto’s sin when he steals a pie from the grocery store and experiences the feeling of guilt along with a few other consequences. “The Crucible” was written in 1953 and exposes the truths about the Salem Witchcraft trials, in Massachusetts. Ultimately, through their respective protagonists’ acts of aggression and violations of boundaries, authors Hawthorne, Soto, and Miller illustrate that the guilt derived from sin itself, especially if concealed from society, can cause emotional and mental torture, leading to everlasting internal punishment, and an increase in remorseful feelings. In The Scarlet Letter, Hawthorne depicts the consequences of concealing transgression through Hester by showing the internal punishment she faces and overcomes. Hawthorne opens this novel with a depiction of Hester’s punishment where...
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...ENG3U1-05 November.11.2015. The Crucible: Is John Proctor truly a tragic hero? A tragic hero is a person with admirable qualities yet they have a tragic flaw that leads them to their downfall. In Miller’s play “The Crucible,” the protagonist, John Proctor, is a tragic hero known for his good reputation yet commits adultery with Abigail thus making it a tragic flaw that leads to his death. John Proctor is a tragic hero because he is a well-mannered person that has a good reputation. John strongly believes in Elizabeth’s good morals by proving his honesty and bond towards Elizabeth and speaks up for her as he tries to get her and his friends’ wives out of jail. He tells Danforth...
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...The definition of crucible is a situation of severe trial, or in which different elements interact, leading to the creation of something new. John Proctor had several incidents where he would have to make very important decisions that would be based on his morals and he managed to stay above and do the right thing. He can easily be identified as the character that defines the word “crucible” because he realizes the most important decision is to fight for one’s moral truth, no matter how harsh the repercussions may be. When John and his wife, Elizabeth discuss the happenings in the town, he only somewhat confesses about his lechery to her, in which he can be condemned for. She doesn’t take it the way he thinks she will and she leaves everything...
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...individual conscience over religion is clearly shown through their use of Pathos and Logos in their books The Scarlet Letter and The Crucible respectively. I personally also agree with the argument in which they have presented. First off, Pathos was used by both authors to show their argument by showing how unjust the characters were treated to help make the reader sense the injustice that has occurred in the story. In the Scarlet Letter, author Nathaniel Hawthorne showed Hester as a kind-hearted woman that helps out the less fortunate, but afterwards he would tell the reader that “If they were resolute to accost her, she laid her finger on the scarlet letter, and passed on...
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...The Crucible and The Scarlet Letter are two books that are similar, but also different. Both books are set in early America and the main religion is Puritan. They also have characters who are “rebels” and do something against society’s standards. There are also differences in the books such as, the characters who rebel against society changing their ways and becoming better people vs. characters who don’t change their ways. There is also a difference in how the towns treat the people who sin. The two books have similarities and differences, which I will discuss in this paper. The Crucible and The Scarlet Letter are both set in a Puritan community in early America. “...the people of Salem developed a theocracy, a combine of state and religious power whose function was to keep the community together…” (Miller). “...at a later period in the history of New england, the grim rigidity that petrified the bearded physiognomies of these good people...” (Hawthorne). The Puritan standards are very rigid. They believe that if you commit any sin you should be put in jail or killed. Both books contain characters who are accused of a sin that wouldn’t be as big of a deal now - and punishments that would be considered cruel and unusual punishment now - such as public shame and hanging. Abigail in The Crucible and Hester Prynne in The Scarlet Letter both commit similar sins. Abigail is intimate with a married man and Hester is intimate with someone who isn’t her husband. “I look for John Proctor...
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...A tragic hero is a character that is destined for a downfall or defeat. In the play, The Crucible by Arthur Miller, there is a debate going on about if the main protagonist, John Proctor, is a tragic hero. Some say he is because of the way he died to save the dignity of his name, yet others say he is not because of the sins he had committed. Proctor is a tragic hero because he learned from his flaw to become a better person and died to save the dignity of his name. During the play, Miller talks about a flaw that Proctor has that is the cause of his downfall. Miller talks about a girl by the name of Abigail Williams who worked for Proctor and his wife, Elizabeth Proctor. She wouldn’t be working for them for too long because Williams and Proctor had an affair. When Elizabeth Proctor finds out, she fires Williams and since then John Proctor has used this flaw to learned from it. For example, in Act III, Proctor confesses his sin publicly to the court. By doing this, Proctor shows his goodness and also has learned how to forgive himself and not live with the guilt. Even though John Proctor has sinned, he tries to keep his name a clean as possible. For example, at the end of Act III, Proctor is arrested for being a witch after the girl who works...
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...In the play “The Crucible”, written by Arthur Miller, he introduces a character named John Proctor who has many things in common with the character Arthur Dimmesdale in the novel, “The Scarlet Letter”. Both characters go through trying to find how to live with themselves after committing adultery. John Proctor was a very well respected man throughout the town of Salem. He was known as a strong Christian man. He was married to Elizabeth Proctor and together they had three sons. His wife had been sick for quite a while after giving birth to their last son. She became distant for a little while and John started to lust after another woman named Abigail. John had an affair with Abigail. He soon later deeply regretted the affair and stopped his relationship with Abigail. Abigail did not want to end her relationship with John. She claimed that she had fallen in love with him and how he loved her, “You loved me, John Proctor, and whatever sin it is, you love me yet! John, pity me, pity me!”(24) John Proctor loved his wife and his family and he knew that he had made a mistake. Elizabeth does find out about the affair and forgives John, but there is still a part inside her that is still upset with him. Throughout the play, the reader can see John Proctor struggling with the guilt that he feels from committing adultery. Through most of the play John is...
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...In the novels, The Scarlet Letter, by Nathaniel Hathorne, and The Crucible, by Arthur Miller, committing a sin was frowned upon and anyone who was to commit a sin would be punished. With society being as strict as it was, those who had committed a sin would try and keep it hidden to save themselves from being punished or have their reputation ruined. Over time, society views and social views have changed in becoming more accepting of this sin. In the novel, The Crucible, John Proctor had an affair with Abigail Williams. This action was taking because of the jealousy that Abigail had built up towards John´s wife. ¨Abigail: She is blackening my name in the village! She is telling lies about me! She is a cold, sniveling woman, and you bend to her¨ (Miller 23). Although Elizabeth, John´s wife, had done nothing wrong, Abigail plots her revenge by trying to get the town to believe that Elizabeth is a witch. This being said, Elizabeth would be hanged and Abigail would have John all to herself. In Hawthorne's novel, The Scarlet Letter, Hester Prynne had an affair with Reverend Dimmesdale. Chillingworth decides to plot revenge as well by prying through Dimmesdale´s guilty conscious. ¨It was the constant shadow of my presence! The closest propinquity of the man whom he most vilely wronged! And who had grown to exist...
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...Individuals, subject to human frailty and motivation, exhibit inconsistencies among the greater collective human experience. In turn, preconceived notions of the audience are challenged by the exposition of humanity’s complexity to invoke personal assessment and reflection. As such, it is presented within Arthur Miller’s tragedy, “The Crucible”, and Nathaniel Hawthorne’s romantic fiction, “The Scarlet Letter”. Both works explore the contradictions of judgement and consider the inconsistencies of personal integrity, encapsulated under the guise of Puritanism within New England America, political agenda, and historical calamity. Therefore, audiences foster introspection and reflection by developing nuance surrounding the inconsistencies of human...
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...John Proctor from “The Crucible” written by Arthur Miller and Arthur Dimmesdale from “The Scarlet Letter” written by Nathaniel Hawthorne are two very similar characters that lived in the same time period. John and Arthur were highly respected men in their villages, but served different roles in their communities. Despite their highly regarded place in society and their morals they both commit the sin of adultery, choosing different paths of dealing with their sin. In the conclusion of the two pieces both characters face death; however John is executed and Dimmesdale dies freely. Although Proctor and Dimmesdale prove to be very similar, they appear to possess many differences. Arthur Dimmesdale is a respected local minister with no family...
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...Imagine people being wrongly justified for false accusations that you told. Would you feel bad about it and confess that you lied or would you let the person be charged? You have now started a lethal trend. The Crucible written by Arthur Miller and The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne have similar and different characteristics. Both dramas discuss sinful adultery, steamy romance, and deadly confessions. To start off, The Crucible has attributes like adultery, hidden romance, and toxic confessions. The people in Salem, Mass. started to believe that witchcraft was existent in their communities. This turned the world upside down for some and others use this as a scheme to get back at others. Some characters were very aware that this insane....
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...Megan Jones English III AP DC Cy Woods Mr. Barckholtz December 2, 2012 Arthur Miller Research Essay Arthur Miller was an American playwright who wrote plays such as “The Crucible” and “Death of a Salesman” because he thought theatre could change the world. He wrote his works based on friends, his own life, and family. People believed he was a man of integrity and a hero because of the ways he portrayed himself. He was born in 1915 in Harlem, New York and raised in a very wealthy household by his parents, Isidore and Augusta Miller. After high school Miller worked lots of jobs to save up enough money to attend the University of Michigan, where he wrote his first paper that turned into his first play, called “No Villain”. Once he realized what he was good at, he moved east to start his new career. There he met his first wife Mary Slattery, but their relationship did not last long, and three weeks after the divorce he married actress Marilyn Monroe. This relationship was very good look for him because of what Marilyn Monroe’s career was at the time. He “divorced Monroe after five years”, and several months later “got married to Inge Morath”, whom he had two children with, Rebecca and Daniel Miller. There was one flaw about this family though, that “Miller excluded his son Daniel out of their lives” for the longest time. Miller did not want Daniel around because Daniel was diagnosed with Down syndrome, but Miller’s daughter, Rebecca, was married to a wise man...
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