Two men of close age that live in towns with similar religious values have a secret that can ruin their reputation. One is a minister that has earned great respect from his town while the other has built up his family name by working hard and being an honest, good natured man. In comparing John Proctor from Arthur Miller’s The Crucible and Arthur Dimmesdale from Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter the two men appear exceptionally similar since they both commit adultery, both are tormented out of jealousy, and both hide their secret until they are overcome with guilt.
John Proctor and Reverend Dimmesdale both have an affair but one is out of love while the other out of lust. John’s wife was ill when he had the affair with Abigail, his servant
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Reverend Dimmesdale’s physical condition diminishes the longer he keeps his sin a secret. He feels so guilty, he tortures himself by fasting and whipping in addition to feeling like a hypocrite when his gives sermons. Reverend Dimmesdale expresses, “Happy are you, Hester, that wear the scarlet letter openly upon your bosom! Mine burns in secret!” (Hawthorne 107). He tells her she is lucky that she feels no remorse even while wearing a symbol that stands for her sin, meanwhile he is holding himself accountable which is effecting his health. He worked himself up so much that once he confessed to the town, he died a few minutes later. On a different spectrum, John Proctor’s guilt troubles him mentally since he is sitting in a jail cell with nothing but his thoughts. When the court says he may confess to witchcraft to save his life, he refuses to sign the document, “Because it is my name! Because I cannot have another in my life. Because I am not worth the dust on the feet of them that hang! How may I live without my name? I have given you my soul, leave me my name!” (Miller). He thinks too much about guilt and reputation while in jail that he would rather die than blacken his name. The domino effect of events from the affair, to fixing a relationship and guilt, to confessing lead to death for Arthur and
If someone were to give you negative feedback and positive feedback on something you've done, which one would you care about more? According to “Praise is fleeting ,but it brickbats we recall from New York times; “our brains are more prone to remember the negative associations more than the positive ones,’’ This is the theme of The Crucible. The characters, John Proctor and Abigail Williams make decisions that ruin their reputations. John proctor who is a husband to Elizabeth and a father to 3 children; was once know as a hardworking, goodman, caring, and a responsible individual to many.
In this moment, he does not want the rest of the community to think poorly of his name. Proctor’s character continues to grow as the trials take over the small town of Salem. John Proctor then was forced to make an impossible decision about his fate and honor. In his grand act of selflessness, he made the choice to die rather than falsely confess to witchcraft. Before this display
John proctor had the good type of pride , He had the type of pride that led him to sacrifice himself to preserve his name and honor. When John tears up his fake confession of being with the devil , he is allows himself and other to get hanged , but he his also forgiving himself for all of the wrong that he did to himself and his family, John Proctor wanted to live but he didn’t want to be another name added to the list of confession of witchcraft ,for
Would you give up your life to let someone else keep theirs? In Arthur Miller’s play The Crucible, which was written in the late 17th Century, in Salem Massachusetts, the play is an allegory of Salem witch trials of 1692. John Proctor, a farmer from outside town, is married to Elizabeth Proctor. In the town where they lived in, 19 were chosen to be prosecuted because they were blamed for doing witchcraft and he was part of it too. In the play, he has to make the hardest decision, whether to die of sin or to keep his integrity and be hanged.
However not all pride in these two books is bad. In The Crucible, John Proctor has so much pride that not only did it cost the life of others but it also cost him his own and in The Scarlet Letter the minister, Arthur Dimmesdale’s pride also caused him to perish. On the other hand, Hester Prynne’s pride in the book made her a hero and a strong character to admired by readers. In The Crucible, John Proctor is
John Proctor demonstrates this sense selflessness during the entire course of Salem’s witch trials. From the beginning of the hearings and at his own expense, he strives to reveal the truth about the children’s stories and to expose the underlying motives behind their false accusations. When Mary Warren’s testimony fails to convince Judge Danforth, he goes as far as to publicly admit to his adultery: “God help me, I lusted... But it is a whore’s vengeance, and you must see it.” (P.110)
A single mistake can wholly compromise an individual’s ability to accomplish their dreams. Hillary Clinton’s blunder in handling the United States’ confidential emails could very well have cost her the presidency. Knowing the possible consequences if the truth of the situation was released, she fabricated lies in hopes of maintaining her political power. Similarly, throughout both The Scarlet Letter, a fiction novel written by Nathaniel Hawthorne, and Arthur Miller’s historical fiction play, The Crucible, people are willing to go to great lengths in order to maintain their statuses. Transpiring in 17th century New England, The Scarlet Letter follows a woman by the name of Hester Prynne who endures unrelenting ignominy after giving birth to
In the novel The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne, Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale suffered greatly from his internally kept sin of adultery. One of the most prominent themes in this novel seems to be the struggles an individual has with his/her identity, when faced with society’s harsh judgements. The declination of Dimmesdale’s physical and mental state throughout the novel is a prime example of this effect of society on an individual. His internal suffering damaged him more than it would if he were to announce his sin to society; this was detrimental to him—he needed to confess his sin before it could internally destruct him any more, but could not bring himself to tell this judgmental society. His position, as a young minister who is known
Fear, it causes people to be blinded by the truth. People can’t tell right from wrong. Arthur Miller wrote The Crucible to show how no one could see what was right. During the 1950’s communism was spreading throughout Europe like a wildfire, then it slowly made its way over to the U.S. This was known as The Red Scare.
In Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter, Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale commits a mortal sin by having an affair with a married woman, Hester Prynne. As a man of the cloth in Puritan society, Dimmesdale is expected to be the embodiment of the town’s values. He becomes captive to a self-imposed guilt that manifests from affair and his fear that he won’t meet the town’s high expectations of him. In an attempt to mitigate this guilt, Dimmesdale acts “piously” and accepts Chillingworth’s torture, causing him to suffer privately, unlike Hester who repented in the eyes of the townspeople. When Dimmesdale finally reveals his sin to the townspeople, he is able to free himself from his guilt.
The Crucible - Conflict Analysis John Proctor Internal: John Proctor’s most eminent internal conflict is over the sin he has committed, adultery. Proctor cheated on his wife with Abigail Williams, and this makes Proctor feel incredibly guilty because in the town, he is “respected and even feared” (19). He tried very hard, and succeeded, with keeping this moral crime to himself. He still walked about Salem as if he was “an untroubled soul,” (21) however, avoiding the sin again would be a difficult task. Abigail flirts with him, in attempt to have him for one last night, and it’s obvious Proctor has an arduous time pushing her away.
In the short story “The Minister’s Black Veil” and the novel The Scarlet Letter, Nathaniel Hawthorne tells the stories of two men who keep their sins secret and are hurt deeply. In The Scarlet Letter, Reverend Dimmesdale does not reveal his sin to the community and experiences far more pain than Hester, whose sin is revealed. Years after the original sin, Hester has healed and is accepted by the community, while Dimmesdale still feels guilty, as can be seen when he mounts the scaffold. Dimmesdale’s experience is similar to that of Reverend Hooper, who covers his face after a secret sin and is eschewed by the community. When we refuse to admit our faults, we will feel guilty
Millions of people are in unhealthy relationships, which can be identified in certain ways. In the tragedy, The Crucible by Arthur Miller, John Proctor, and his wife, Elizabeth Proctor have issues in their marriage. John has an affair with a girl named Abigail Williams while Elizabeth is sick. As a result, this breaks her trust in him, making her come off as cold and reserved. The nature of John and Elizabeth’s relationship is unhealthy because their words and actions towards each other reveal a sense of hostility, mistrust, and lack of affection.
When people think of the play, “The Crucible”, they usually picture the witch trials and women being hanged, but Arthur Miller depicts the witch trials in a completely new light. He shows through a story that the witch trials were much more than just people calling others witches. There was deceit, pain, greed, and more. Through the play, we follow the character, Abigail, observe her actions and their consequences. We witness the lives of people she impacts, what happens to them, and how many times she lies to get her way.
This sin, a sin of passion, unites them as one. Dimmesdale has lived his life for the past 7 years with terrible guilt, for he has only confessed his sin to God. His parishioners think he speaks as if “a tongue of Pentecost were speaking”(Hawthorne, 188).Dimmesdale has been holding on to his sin alone, while Hester wears it openly, for the Scarlet Letter is indeed a sign of her guilt and shame to anyone who sees her. Hester knows that they both need to leave in order to do God’s will in another place. Hester knows that Dimmesdale will be able to, “Preach! Write!