- Published: November 16, 2021
- Updated: November 16, 2021
- University / College: University of Texas at Austin
- Language: English
- Downloads: 34
The Scarlet Letter, and the Crucible are two literary works set in the early days in the rand sass’s and sass’s of Massachusetts colony.
During this time period, many people had their town rules, were highly religious, and believed that things that could not be explained by normal means of witchcraft. Hester Prying and Abigail Williams of the Scarlet Letter and Crucible are very similar in the ways they both committed sins in their societies. However, both women committed the sin of adultery but that was Hester single sin, Abigail Williams had multiple sins and none of which are comparable to Hester Prune’s. In The Crucible, by Arthur Miller, Abigail Williams- the main character- is a wicked, confident girl who lies to get what she wants. Abigail defends her name and her life through evil means. The Crucible is most forcefully portrayed through Abigail Williams. Evil is shown through Abigail in many ways. Abigail utilizes three main ways to complete her evil desires.
Abigail shows her evil through harlotry, lunacy, and accusations. Abigail Is a harlot, and from such harlotry stemmed the evils of The Crucible. Her relationship with John Proctor and her animosity towards Elizabeth Proctor all stem from her evil ways of lechery. Ballad loved John, but John only had lust for her because of strains in his marriage.
This lust became evident. She makes her story plausible by using spectral evidence against the accused. John Proctor knows he did wrong and has repented his ways, however Abigail refuses to forget and repent; she wishes to runaway with John and stay with him. Abigail continued to lie and make threats towards others further showing her lunacy, and therefore her ties to the Devil through sins. Abigail accusations begin to go too far when she turns on the judge of Salem and infers that he, too, is controlled by the Devil. When Mary Warren suggested that they should confess to dancing in the woods. Abigail knowingly gave herself to John Proctor- even though he was marled-, which shows that Balls lust for John Is the lust of a common where for worldly pleasures.
Ballad’s accusations of witchcraft cause chaos In Salem, as a result many of the accused are condemned to death by her evil and vengeful lies of accusation. Soon Abigail begins accusing respectable men and women of being witches. John Proctor signing his name on the paper confessing to witchcraft is a symbol of him basically giving up his freedom and the last few shreds of dignity he has left. He knew if he signed this, he would be treated as an outcast in their society, which was a punishment almost as bad as death itself. He tears up his confession paper, which is hemolytic to him breaking free of the chains that bind him, and not giving away his life to be used as an example. In The Scarlet Letter, the scarlet letter “ A” embroidered on Hester gown was a symbol that we learned to recognize quite well throughout the story. The scarlet letter represents Hester sin and everyone in Boston sinner, and her child was basically an offspring of the devil’s desires.
Hester learns to live with this letter, even though that she can feel the searing heat of it burning on her chest, or otherwise her conscious.