The Crucible and The Scarlet Letter Final Essay
Character flaws are problems that affect a character directly and prevents the character from being functional. Everyone has flaws and we see flaws throughout both The Scarlet Letter and The Crucible. Both stories are placed during the Puritan time period which is from 1564 to 1660 in Massachusetts colony. And the stories have similar themes about lust, sin, and the punishment of sin.
In The Crucible by Arthur Miller and The Scarlet Letter …show more content…
He cannot forgive himself for committing adultery with Abigail and everyone knows he is a respectable man in the village. But what really makes him feel guilty is that he loves his wife Elizabeth. The guilt ultimately leads John Proctor to acknowledging his sin of adultery. "Trembling, his life collapsing about him: I have known her, sir. I have known her" (Miller, p. 1145). This displays how John admits to his wrongs and rids himself of some of his guilt he felt. We also see in guilt in The Scarlet Letter because Hester has to live with her guilt of committing adultery when she has a daughter by her lover and gets released from prison into the public for the first time. “When the young woman—the mother of this child—stood fully revealed before the crowd, it seemed to be her first impulse to clasp the infant closely to her bosom; not so much by an impulse of motherly affection, as that she might thereby conceal a certain token, which was wrought or fastened into her dress. In a moment, however, wisely judging that one token of her shame would but poorly serve to hide another, she took the baby on her arm, and, with a burning blush, and yet a haughty smile, and a glance that would not be abashed, looked around at her townspeople and neighbours. 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.” (Hawthorne, 61) Unlike John Hester has to live with the product of her sin of adultery which is her daughter Pearl. And Hester cannot hide her sin like John did because she had become pregnant. Another factor that made both John and Hester’s character flaws distinct was that both stories took place during the puritan time period. And during this time period the puritans believed that God wanted them to live their lives following his scriptures. And the puritans wanted
Character flaws are problems that affect a character directly and prevents the character from being functional. Everyone has flaws and we see flaws throughout both The Scarlet Letter and The Crucible. Both stories are placed during the Puritan time period which is from 1564 to 1660 in Massachusetts colony. And the stories have similar themes about lust, sin, and the punishment of sin.
In The Crucible by Arthur Miller and The Scarlet Letter …show more content…
He cannot forgive himself for committing adultery with Abigail and everyone knows he is a respectable man in the village. But what really makes him feel guilty is that he loves his wife Elizabeth. The guilt ultimately leads John Proctor to acknowledging his sin of adultery. "Trembling, his life collapsing about him: I have known her, sir. I have known her" (Miller, p. 1145). This displays how John admits to his wrongs and rids himself of some of his guilt he felt. We also see in guilt in The Scarlet Letter because Hester has to live with her guilt of committing adultery when she has a daughter by her lover and gets released from prison into the public for the first time. “When the young woman—the mother of this child—stood fully revealed before the crowd, it seemed to be her first impulse to clasp the infant closely to her bosom; not so much by an impulse of motherly affection, as that she might thereby conceal a certain token, which was wrought or fastened into her dress. In a moment, however, wisely judging that one token of her shame would but poorly serve to hide another, she took the baby on her arm, and, with a burning blush, and yet a haughty smile, and a glance that would not be abashed, looked around at her townspeople and neighbours. 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.” (Hawthorne, 61) Unlike John Hester has to live with the product of her sin of adultery which is her daughter Pearl. And Hester cannot hide her sin like John did because she had become pregnant. Another factor that made both John and Hester’s character flaws distinct was that both stories took place during the puritan time period. And during this time period the puritans believed that God wanted them to live their lives following his scriptures. And the puritans wanted