Character Similarities Between The Scarlet Letter And The Crucible

The main characters from the book, The Scarlet Letter, and the play, The Crucible, can be closely related. John Proctor (The Crucible) and Arthur Dimmesdale (The Scarlet Letter) share very similar character traits and the storyline emphasizes these traits. John Proctor was a farmer and highly respected townsman who lived outside of town with his wife, Elizabeth. Arthur Dimmesdale was a well respected reverend. Both of these characters shared a hidden sin, adultery. Both characters lived in the same time period but very different eras. This was a time period where religion had a huge influence on the government and acts such as Adultery were illegal. Both men had a high social status and would be ruined if such a secret were to emerge from hiding.
Both men are strikingly similar due to not only their physique but also their situation, having both committed what was in their time period, a sin. Both men are in their thirties baring moderate attractiveness and good physical condition.
They both committed adultery. Proctor committed these acts with his servant, Abigail Williams. Dimmesdale with a woman named Hester Prynne. Dimmesdale is a massive hypocrite because he tells people to repent their sins even though he is hiding one himself. They both hold high stature in their communities and if their secret were to come out they would both pay the price for it. Proctor was around during a time where people believed in anti-communism. Anyone who was suspected to hold belief in Communism was banished. Similarly to the Puritan age however, acts such as Adultery were not held in high respect to the community. Both men feared losing their social status but Dimmesdale would also potentially lose his life. Both men are deeply burdened by their sins and both Abigail and Hester are not. The women with whom assisted in the crimes were not at all emotionally burdened like the men who had to harbour all the pain inside themselves. Even though they are so similar, there are certainly some differences as well. The first of which being that John Proctor committed adultery solely out of lust whereas Arthur Dimmesdale was in love with Hester. The person who assisted in breaking down their walls was different as well. In the Scarlet Letter it was Roger Chillingworth who emotionally broke Dimmesdale but in The Crucible it was Abigail herself. But the reason they choose to break the men
down is the same, jealousy. Nevertheless the reasons that they are similar highly out way the reasons that they are different. I strongly believe that the man are much more alike than they are different. The storyline itself is different, The Crucible focusing more on witchcraft, but the essential sin and effect of that sin is the same. Adultery drove both these men to death not because they committed the crime itself but because they hid it within themselves. Arthur Dimmesdale however has a healthier attitude towards sin because he committed adultery out of love not lust. He was just following his heart which came with nasty consequences, Proctor on the other hand could not control his urges. John Proctor is psychologically healthier because he was not in love with Abigail so he doesn’t also harbor the guilt of having her face the punishment alone. Dimmesdale loved Hester and so when she was convicted and punished it wrecked his soul even more because he knew in his heart that he should have been there too receiving the same pain. Both Arthur Dimmesdale and John Proctor share many same qualities and handled almost the same situation in a similar way.