Similarities Between The Scarlet Letter And The Crucible

Puritan Essay

Love can be pure, powerful, dreadful and even destructive. It is proven that even viewing a picture of a loved one can relieve any pain you are feeling. In the novel Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne, the main character Hester Prynne commits a sinful gesture due to the lack of love with her husband. This later led into a catastrophe, which was a perfect representation of a love downfall. As for The Crucible by Arthur Miller, there was also a love downfall that happened between characters Abigail and Proctor after they had an affair and he found out about her double life. Both of the Puritan Literatures, The Scarlet Letter and The Crucible, both proved that love can be a pure and destructive force at the same time.

Love led

to the downfall of Hester Prynne because she never truly loved her husband Chillingworth which pushed her to commit a sinful gesture. Chillingworth was Hester's husband who sent Hester to America while he was handling his affairs in Europe, which Hester was unaware of. While Chillingworth was attempting to flee he was caught by Native Americans and was unable to return back to Hester for a long time, causing Hester to lose love for him. When Hester moved to America she met Dimmesdale, who was a man she was able to share pure love with. Hester's love for Dimmesdale was self destructive because what it did was make her life more challenging. The love Hester had for Dimmesdale made her commit to adultery, which was the act of her sleeping with Dimmesdale when she was still legally married to Chillingworth. After Hester had her daughter, Pearl, her whole village seemed to be after her. Hester got a letter “A” put onto her chest, which made her live with her sin every single day (Scarlet Letter). Hester getting punished for adultery and getting mobbed by the people in her village shows about the nature of love that, love makes you do anything. Hester did not care that she would have to live with her letter for the rest of her life, as long as she got to live her life with her one true love, Dimmesdale.
In the second book we read, The Crucible, there was also a love downfall. The love downfall that happened took place between the characters John Proctor and Abigail. What happened was Abigail and Proctor had an affair together. This later led to Abagail being fired by Proctor's wife, Elizabeth. In the crucible lust was a huge reason for Abigail's downfall. Abigail still desired Proctor even after she got fired, but he told her that the foolishness had to stop with the other girls. This drove Abigail to go on a rampage that only Proctor took the challenge to stop. He finally bursted out and called Abigail a “whore” (The Crucible). This is not something you do to someone that you love. The love that Abigail had for Proctor was a destructive type because she just kept getting hurt. Abagail set herself up for failure going after Proctor because she knew that they could not be together, yet she still tried.
Both of these books are a clear representation on how powerful love is and how love can lead to the downfall of individuals. What this all shows about love over time is despite if it is pure love or destructive love, love still has an impact on lives. For an example, in Scarlet letter over time positive love had an effect on Hester's life which later blessed her with a beautiful baby. Then negative love also had an effect on her which was the letter being on her chest and having to live with the guilt people tried to make her feel. Not only did she have to suffer over time from the people but Pearl did too because she was a walking, breathing and eating representation of her mother's mistake that happened because she loved Dimmesdale. As for the crucible it showed nature of love over time because at first Abigail and Proctor had an affair and it was a positive outcome. Then after a while he found out who she really was and wanted nothing to do with her meanwhile she still wanted her. This was and outcome of negative love over time.
Overall, love takes a huge toll on life whether it is positive or negative. Love had a huge impact on both The Scarlet Letter and The crucible because they were both stories that had some type of man and woman that committed a sin which lead to love. Just in Scarlet Letter it led to positive love and in The Crucible it led to negative. Love is a huge part of nature over time because we all go through it at some point. Both of the Puritan Literatures, The Scarlet Letter and The Crucible, both proved that love can be a pure and destructive force at the same time.