Both of these plays called The Crucible and Death of a salesman can be compared with many dissimilarities and alikeness in their themes, plots, and characters. In both plays, both main characters (Proctor (Crucible) and Willy (DoaS)) both had affairs with younger women which led to tension in both of the families and caused the main characters to become troubled. Both had tragic endings, both Willy and Proctor lost their lives. Some dissemblance between these two is that the Crucible had a more fast-past story were the DoaS was very slow at multiple times. Another difference between them is the plot for the Crucible was placed over a couple months, while the DoaS plot only took about two days. The Crucible took place during 1692 in Massachusetts located in a village in Salem, way before the DoaS which had taken place during the 1920’s in New York. Both main characters seem to have very little similarities til’ you look at both personalities, like Willy Loman, he was an older, businessman, where John Proctor was a younger mid-age man, and a farmer.
When you look into their personalities they share some common traits. Both Proctor and Willy had regrets about their affairs and what they could have been able to have done for their families, neither one’s death was an accident. Proctor and Willy both consciously choose to die, which is a similarity both men shared.
Both of the men’s wives were very important roles in the plays. Nevertheless, Linda Loman (Willy’s wife) didn’t know about Willy’s affair, unlike Elizabeth (Proctor’s wife) knew all about John’s affair and was able to be forgiveful. Also, a difference is that we knew Willy’s kids (Happy and Biff), where Proctors children didn’t get introduced as characters but kind of like backstories of how long John has been married to Elizabeth. The theme and conflicts in DoaS are about Willy who is a businessman who wishes to be very successful and to be well liked by everyone, and how he wishes to be wealthy like his older brother. Because he is so caught up in his wishes it makes him mentally unstable and tries to kill himself by driving the car but eventually succeeds, he also talks to his memories that he believes is the present. Where The Crucible is about John Proctor and how the villages youth girls are pretending to have been bewitched by some of the elderly in the village and pretend to see the Devil and feel the Devil’s presence and Abigail who John had an affair with accuses his wife out of jealousy.
John fights against it because he doesn’t believe the young girls, but Elizabeth was not going to hang because she was of child, but John had taken her place to die and was given the chance to live but refused to give the names of others, and he does admit to his false confessions, Goodie Proctor attempted to persuade John but then refuses because she has realized and understands he wants redemption, and another reason why John refuses to sign the confession is because he realizes that it can ruin his name for his three sons. In conclusion, The Crucible and DoaS are much alike and yet different, too. Arthur Miller did a very good job on both of the plays. This is why these plays are very comparable in multiple ways but still had differences. Arthur Miller is an amazing playwright in the end and did many great plays.