Similarities Between The Crucible And The Scarlet Letter

The main character, Abigail, of Arthur Miller's book, "The Crucible", and Hester of Nathaniel Hawthorne's book, "The Scarlet Letter", have many common and distinct characteristics. Both beautiful and young, full of and secrets and sin, and fall in love with people they can't be with. But differ in the way they were punished, what they have done, and their relationship with their lovers.
Let's talk about the similarities between Abigail and Hester. Beauty is the most common similarity between the two. Abigail, being the youngest, was around the age of 17. Hester, a little bit older than Abigail, in her 20's. Both young and fully developed made them such beauties in the stories told. Another obvious similarity between the two was that they both
kept secrets of their sins. For example, Hester, kept the secret identity of her lover, Arthur Dimsdale, so that he wouldn't have to suffer for his sin. And Abigail kept her secret love affair she had with John Proctor because he was married and that meant adultery. This leads to another great similarity. They both fall in love with people that can't be with. Like mentioned earlier Abigail falls in love with John Proctor, but can't be with him because he was already married. Hester is the opposite way around, she had an affair with Arthur Dimsdale, but she is married to Chilingsworth. Both Abigail's and Hester's love for them creates major problems in the stories.
Now since the some of the examples for the similarities have been shown to you lets talk about the differences. Even though Hester and Abigail were sinners, Hester was

the only one that got truly punished. Hester, in the beginning of "The Scarlet Letter", was punished with the letter "A", for adultery, across her chest and humiliated in front of everyone. While Abigail was accused for witchcraft, but got by through lies saying she was a victim of witchcraft rather than being a witch. She got away with everything in the end and decided to leave Salem and did not get punished. This also leads to another great difference between the two. Hester was accused of the sin of adultery for having an affair with another, Arthur Dimsdale, while she was married. Abigail being accused of witchcraft for dancing in the woods naked with her little sister, Betty, who doesn't wake up the next day. And last but not least, the relationships they had with their lovers. Hester was in love with Dimsdale and still saw him even after she committed the sin of adultery. And in the other hand, Abigail was in love with John Proctor and tried seeing him after, but Proctor refuses to do anything with her anymore because he loves his wife. Those are the similarities and differences make Hester and Abigail the characters they are in their stories, but there are so many more in the stories. Hester and Abigail are the strongest characters in their stories, this makes them so similar but different. And they are what made, "The Scarlet Letter", and , "The Crucible", such great books.