When the topic of a Puritan society is raised, most people think of a strict, conservative, and highly devout society. While this may have usually been the case, it was not always the case. Puritan society was also known for not acting out of Christian love, but for lashing out cruelly against those who sinned or were deemed unfit for society. Two literary works that show both aspects of this society very accurately are The Scarlet Letter, by Nathaniel Hawthorne, and The Crucible, by Arthur Miller. The Scarlet Letter shows a society that treats two people very differently who commit the sin of adultery together. The woman, Hester Prynne, admits her sin, is forced to always wear a scarlet A on her chest and is ostracized by society. The man, Reverend Dimmesdale, hides his sin from the world, is almost revered by the townspeople, but is filled with the shame of his actions. Hawthorne illustrates how callous a Puritan society can be towards those who admit their wrongdoings. The Crucible is a play that tells the story of the famous witchcraft trials in Salem, Massachusetts. In the story, Abigail Williams, the orphaned niece of the town minister, Reverend Parris, is the main person who accuses people of sending their spirits into her and the other girls. What begins with children dancing in the woods leads to the accusation and execution of many innocent people for witchcraft. The two literary works have very similar qualities, including the setting, conflict, and general aspects of the characters, while there are also specific parallels between characters, such as Abigail and Hester, and Parris and Dimmesdale. The settings in both The Scarlet Letter and The Crucible are similar in many ways... middle of paper... lately. Because of this precision, they naturally have many parallels. Both have similar conflicts, settings, and characters. The fact that they have so many parallels is probably why they are both considered exceptional literary works. Both contain the same element of truth and accuracy of Puritan society and will most likely survive as great literary works. Works cited and consulted Abel, Darrel. The Picturesque Moral: Studies in Hawthorne's Fiction. West Lafayette: Purdue, 1988. Hawthorne, Nathaniel. The Scarlet Letter. New York: St. Martins, 1991. Hayes, Richard. “Hysteria and ideology in the crucible.” Commonweal 57. February 1953. November 11, 1999. Miller, Arthur. The Crucible. New York: Viking, 1953. Scharnhorst, Gary. Critical response to Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter. New York: Greenwood, 1992.