John Proctor And Hester Prynne: A Comparison

John Proctor and Hester Prynne: A Comparison

Life has a way of making us stare ourselves down and evaluate who we are morally. Most of the time we look for flaws and try to improve them. What usually eludes us is noticing how far we have come in respect to our character. In the case of John Proctor from the play The Crucible and Hester Prynne from the book The Scarlet Letter, both of these characters accomplish the changing of themselves. They make decisions that benefit their conscience. Although those decisions cause different outcomes in their lives, John and Hester live in similar ways. Through the works of the play and the novel, John Proctor and Hester Prynne overpower their past and break through the wall of crisis that surrounded them

due to the sins they committed. Therefore, John and Hester restored their moral righteousness, and in the process left themselves in a better state of mind.

At the start of both stories, John and Hester lead the same role as an outcast living on the edges of their respective villages. Proctor is a farmer who is in his mid-30s, and “powerful of body, even-tempered, and not easily led” (175). Before the play’s plot, John committed the sin of adultery. This sin commanded high punishment in the 1600s. John cheated on his wife with Abigail Williams, a young woman in the local village of Salem. His marriage can be described as streaky, due to the fact that his wife Elizabeth is well aware of the affair he had. Furthermore, it is observed that John is in a land dispute with a fellow villager, Thomas Putnam. “That tract is in my bounds, it’s in my bounds, Mr. Proctor” (181). Meanwhile, Hester has a past with her minister, Reverend Dimmesdale. She is a “tall young woman” who mothers a daughter because she slept with Dimmesdale, and names her Pearl. In a parallelism, both John and Hester are affected by the adultery they committed. Hester was marked with the Scarlet Letter “A” on her chest, and John’s guilt from the infidelity continued to burden him, to the point where he “had come to regard himself as a kind of fraud” (176). Hester wears the letter in plain sight, and is ridiculed by her peers. “This woman has brought shame upon us all, and ought to die” (59). She is jailed for her adulterous sin, a common punishment for such a crime in 15th century Boston. However, she is soon released from jail. Her and John Proctor start to become more involved the current village issues.

Towards the center of the plot timelines in The Crucible and The Scarlet Letter, we notice that John Proctor and Hester are making a larger impact on their local people. John becomes involved in the witch trials, once rumors erupt of his wife being a witch. He is in a troubled place, because it is former mistress who accused his wife. “Spoke or silent a promise is surely made. And she may dote on it now - I am sure she does - and thinks to kill me, the to take my place” (197). Now that Abigail had mentioned Elizabeth, Elizabeth resurfaces John’s relationship with her, and it is soon made evident the degree of silence he wishes to bring to the subject, “There is a promise made in any bed-” (197). Meanwhile, Hester is making a living embroidering fabric, “Much of the time which she might readily have applied to the better efforts of her art, she employed in making coarse garments for the poor” (87). This is ironically the same method that the scarlet letter “A” is attached to her clothing. She is suggesting that her past is not entirely overwhelming her, and she is trying to mend herself back into society. What both situations are portraying is that both John and Hester are now at the point of no return, where they know that they have done wrong in their past, and are vying to conquer the troubles that envelop them.

On the cusp of the book and the play, both characters are bringing their past to the light of the public.

It is in these times that crucial decisions are made by the pair of characters that permanently affect their lives. In John’s case, he approaches the court and confesses his affair with Abigail, so that her charge of witchcraft on his wife may be dropped. “I have known her, sir. I have known her” (220). Although this tactic initially seems effective, the court questions Elizabeth about the confession, “Your husband, did he indeed turn from you?” (223). She denies it, but only because of the phrasing that the magistrate used in his questioning, where he used present tense instead of past tense. Once that is handled, John is soon accused to witchcraft and is soon to hang. However, he decides to confess to the art, and signs his confession. When told his notice will be hung on the church door, he states “I have confessed myself! Is there no good penitence but it be public? God does not need my name nailed upon the church!” (239). At this point John knows that he has done plenty to please God and making sure that his identity is spared. “I have given you my soul, leave me my name!” (240). John now understands that he is a changed human being that has come full circle from what he was to the replenished man he is now. He accomplished his biggest goal, and that was to save his dignity. Sadly, in the eyes of his peers, that is not enough to repent his sins. Eventually, John is hanged. On Hester's side, she reconnects with Dimmesdale in the forest, “She undid the clasp that fastened the scarlet letter, and taking it from her bosom, threw it to a distance among the withered leaves” (192). Her faith and spirit is reinvigorated after she disposes of it. “The stigma was gone, Hester heaved a long, deep sigh, in which the burden of shame and anguish departed from her spirit” (192). She decides to take her chance and escape to Europe, leaving behind her past. Also, Hester

is emotionally healthy because she knew God had forgiven her sin, allowing her to walk faithfully into her future. “He hath proved his mercy, most of all, in my afflictions” (239).

With certainty, it can be concluded that Hester Prynne and John Proctor took their reputations and created a rags-to-riches ideal within themselves. For The Scarlet Letter, Hester transitions from a girl of silence and shame, to a woman filled with pride and peace. The scarlet letter gone, she moves on to a brighter side in her life. In The Crucible, John Proctor overcomes his remorse from his affair and confronts his sin, rebuffing Abigail and ensuring his wife will be safe for some time. Through becoming more involved in their community, and having enough courage to stand to their colleagues and be honest with their sin, both characters rebuilt an internal conflict and ended their stories in a fashion that was deemed suitable in the pair’s eyes.