Frees Comparing The Crucible and The Scarl Essay Example For Students

Frees Comparing The Crucible and The Scarl Essay et Letter comparison compare contrast essaysComparing The Crucible and The Scarlet Letter Two American authors, of two distinctly different time periods had one very similar task, to turn a piece of American History into a believable tragedy. Arthur Miller with The Crucible and Nathaniel Hawthorne with The Scarlet Letter. Perhaps one might wonder which author did a better job in doing so, but with such different pieces of work, this is hardly a question that can be answered. Millers the Crucible was written in the nineteen-fifties, with a definite purpose, to remind Americans of the horrible witch trials that took place in Salem, even before the American Revolution was a thought. It served as a tool to warn against the same thing happening with the Communist hearings going on in our country at the time it was written. Miller wrote a play, which was not well received by the first audiences to witness it, but none the less is now recognized as one the finest pieces of literature written by an American. Hawthornes the Scarlet Letter was written in the eighteen hundreds, with no other purpose but for Hawthorne to write a novel. Hawthorne perhaps chose this dark subject to convey his contempt for Puritanism. He was a man preoccupied with the hidden sin which is illustrated in not only the Scarlet Letter, but also in The Ministers Black Veil. One might even say that Hawthornes ancestry (Hathorne) is what he might consider his own Pearl, and this is why he changed his name. Like Millers the Crucible, The Scarlet Letter takes place in Puritan Salem and has a tragic hero, but these are the only similarities between the two great works. In Millers play, the tragic hero is John Proctor, a man whose pride causes the demise of many women, tried as witches. Had Proctor chosen to reveal his sin of lechery with Abigail Williams before the problem got out of hand, he wouldve saved several women from being hanged. But Proctor, instead chose to keep quiet about it until it was his own wifes destiny at stake, and then it was too late. In Hawthornes novel, The tragic hero is Dimmesdale, who wouldnt admit to being the father of Pearl. But Dimmesdales silence, and that of Hesters lead only to his own demise. Pearl went on to live a very productive life full of luxury, marrying nobility as well as inheriting riches of her own. A person reading Millers play and Hawthornes novel one right after the other might be tempted to say that the two are similar but this is very much a debatable subject. Although in both works, forbidden love is absolutely central to the plot, the actual concrete similarities beyond that are few. If these two works could be associated, one could associate any two works with a dead guy at the end and love society wont allow in the middle. For example, the musical West Side Story, The tragic hero is Tony, a young man who has hated Puerto Ricans his whole life, until Maria. They meet, fall in love and plan a life together all in two nights, but alas Tonys forbidden love for Maria and his loyalty to his friend, Riff, is the cause of his own demise. What person would associate this story with The Scarlet Letter? The similarities between the two are just the same as those between The Crucible and The Scarlet Letter. Both West Side Story and The Scarlet Letter have a tragic hero, as well as a climactic ending where the reader (or the auditor) actually thinks things may go as planned. But, in the end the hero dies and the heroin is left alone. No one would ever think to associate a musical with such an icon in American Literature, and in turn, shouldnt associate the Crucible with it either. To say they are so very similar due only to the setting is as juvenile as saying two people must be twins since they are wearing the