Charles Caleb Colton coined the phrase “imitation is the sincerest form of flattery”, and Arthur Miller must have taken this to heart when he wrote his play, The Crucible. The story arc of John Proctor, the male protagonist from The Crucible, has many striking similarities to that of Reverend Dimmesdale, the male protagonist from Nathaniel Hawthorne’s magnum opus, The Scarlet Letter. The Crucible tells the story of John Proctor, a farmer who gets caught up in the Salem Witch Trials after he has an affair with a young woman from the village, Abigail Williams. The Scarlet Letter follows Hester Prynne, an adulteress living in Boston who has a child with the town’s minister, Reverend Dimmesdale. She is forced to wear a red letter “A” on her bosom
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Some of the main similarities between John Proctor and Reverend Dimmesdale are their affairs that form the basis of their respective plots, the repentance they feel for their sins, and how they both admit to their sins shortly before they die.
The events that take place in both The Crucible and The Scarlet Letter are set in motion because of the main male characters of each story committing the sin of adultery. Before the The Crucible starts, John Proctor, the male protagonist, has an affair with the play’s antagonist Abigail Williams. Abigail becomes infatuated with John and this leads her to grow a hatred for John’s wife, Elizabeth. Abigail and other young ladies of the village are led into the forest by Tituba, a slave owned by Abigail’s uncle, Reverend Parris. While in the forest, Tituba leads the girls in dancing and concocts a witch’s brew of sorts. Abigail “drank a charm to kill John Proctor’s wife!” (175). The play opens with Reverend Parris calling Reverend Hale to investigate the girls, and the Salem Witch Trials begin. The Scarlet Letter opens with …show more content…
In The Crucible, John Proctor feels so awful about his affair with Abigail that he admits the truth to Elizabeth. When Elizabeth learns of this, she proceeds to fire Abigail from being their servant. To try and make amends with Elizabeth, Proctor promises not to see Abigail again. When Proctor tells Abigail of this decision, she lashes out during the trials, and Elizabeth is “somewhat mentioned”(196) in the court. Proctor feels that it is his fault that she has been put in this situation, and goes to the court to try and help her. In The Scarlet Letter, after overseeing the death of a highly thought of governor, Reverend Dimmesdale meets with Hester and Pearl on the pillory where Hester stood seven years earlier. While on the pillory, Dimmesdale promises that one day he will “stand with thy mother and thee one other day, but not tomorrow.” (149) He meets with Hester again in the woods where they profess their love for each other and decide to sail away together, away from Chillingworth, who at this point has all but figured out that Pearl’s father is Reverend Dimmesdale. The guilt that both men feel is so powerful that it makes them seek some kind of repentance, Proctor cleans his conscience by telling Elizabeth, whereas Dimmesdale holds his secret within him. Because he holds in his secret, Dimmesdale’s physical and mental health suffers greatly. Dimmesdale fasts for long periods of time, and flogs himself
Some of the main similarities between John Proctor and Reverend Dimmesdale are their affairs that form the basis of their respective plots, the repentance they feel for their sins, and how they both admit to their sins shortly before they die.
The events that take place in both The Crucible and The Scarlet Letter are set in motion because of the main male characters of each story committing the sin of adultery. Before the The Crucible starts, John Proctor, the male protagonist, has an affair with the play’s antagonist Abigail Williams. Abigail becomes infatuated with John and this leads her to grow a hatred for John’s wife, Elizabeth. Abigail and other young ladies of the village are led into the forest by Tituba, a slave owned by Abigail’s uncle, Reverend Parris. While in the forest, Tituba leads the girls in dancing and concocts a witch’s brew of sorts. Abigail “drank a charm to kill John Proctor’s wife!” (175). The play opens with Reverend Parris calling Reverend Hale to investigate the girls, and the Salem Witch Trials begin. The Scarlet Letter opens with …show more content…
In The Crucible, John Proctor feels so awful about his affair with Abigail that he admits the truth to Elizabeth. When Elizabeth learns of this, she proceeds to fire Abigail from being their servant. To try and make amends with Elizabeth, Proctor promises not to see Abigail again. When Proctor tells Abigail of this decision, she lashes out during the trials, and Elizabeth is “somewhat mentioned”(196) in the court. Proctor feels that it is his fault that she has been put in this situation, and goes to the court to try and help her. In The Scarlet Letter, after overseeing the death of a highly thought of governor, Reverend Dimmesdale meets with Hester and Pearl on the pillory where Hester stood seven years earlier. While on the pillory, Dimmesdale promises that one day he will “stand with thy mother and thee one other day, but not tomorrow.” (149) He meets with Hester again in the woods where they profess their love for each other and decide to sail away together, away from Chillingworth, who at this point has all but figured out that Pearl’s father is Reverend Dimmesdale. The guilt that both men feel is so powerful that it makes them seek some kind of repentance, Proctor cleans his conscience by telling Elizabeth, whereas Dimmesdale holds his secret within him. Because he holds in his secret, Dimmesdale’s physical and mental health suffers greatly. Dimmesdale fasts for long periods of time, and flogs himself