Similarities Between The Crucible And The Scarlet Letter

Thou shall not commit adultery. The seventh of the Ten Commandments is an integral part in both The Crucible by Arthur Miller and The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne. Though very different, John Proctor of The Crucible and Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale of The Scarlet Letter are affected similarly through committing this sin. Dimmesdale, his town’s minister, and Proctor, a farmer rarely found at church, a pair of people never expected to be connected, are. Throughout both of their stories, both men have comparable experiences in the aftermath of their lechery and are even restored by the end of their journeys.
As his story starts out, Arthur Dimmesdale is just a simple minister unsuspected of any immoral activity and even looked up to. “His eloquence and religious fervor had already

given the earnest of high eminence in his profession” (71). Although Hawthorne does not tell us of Dimmesdale’s sin in the beginning, there are many signs. “Mr. Dimmesdale who, leaning over the balcony, with his hand upon his heart, had awaited the result of his appeal” (74). Dimmesdale repeatedly holds his hand over his heart, the same place his fellow-sinner bears the letter “A” as a representation of her sin, as a type of connection to her. Proctor is also a venerated man in his community as stated in upon his first entrance, “Proctor, respected and even feared in Salem, has come to regard himself as a fraud” (176). This line also helps show the inner turbulence happening within John Proctor. Both admired men have committed the same sin and appear normal despite the fact that they each have internal dilemmas.
Further into the stories, both men start to improve in different ways. John Proctor begins to love his wife better. He states,“‘I mean to please you Elizabeth’” (192) and then, “‘My wife will never die for me! I will bring your guts into your mouth but that goodness will not die for me’” (205).He tries to tell his wife that he only means well and then shows how he would do anything to keep her unharmed. Dimmesdale becomes a better minister, giving some of his best sermons. “They heard it all, and did but reverence him the more. They little guessed what deadly purport lurked in those self-condemning words” (140). Through his sin and struggle, he can relate more with ordinary people and is a better minister as a result. Both men begin healing and are finally healed in the end of their stories.
Neither man could live with his inner demons forever.

Proctor, who in an effort to clear his wife’s name, confesses. “God help me, I lusted, and there is a promise in such sweat” (221). Just as John did, Dimmesdale confesses. “The law we broke!--the sin here so awfully revealed!--let these alone be in thy thoughts” (239). Both men admit to their sin publicly and it helps them perform the last step of their purification and gives them the peace they need to move on. Dimmesdale states “had either of these agonies been wanting, I had been lost forever! Praised be his name! His will be done! Farewell” (239). This the last thing he says before his death. John has been convicted of witchcraft and rather than giving a false confession to save his life, he agrees to be hanged and his wife states, “He have his goodness now. God forbid I take it from him” (240).
Through the experiences of Arthur Dimmesdale of The Scarlet Letter and John Proctor of The Crucible, Nathaniel Hawthorne and Arthur Miller illustrate how good can come out of sin. They also demonstrate how people can be connected by more than just a mutual sin and use the act of adultery to show similarities between unlike

characters.