Internal conflicts take over the entire community as pandemonium erupts. Character conflicts of their own, including personality traits, created many lessons to be learned by the reader still try to find the easy way out and try to put the blame on someone else rather than themselves. Pride, leads to destruction and truly the tale of two tragedies . The setting of these two works of literature, are comparable. Both are in the area now known as Massachusetts, The Crucible being in Salem, and the Scarlet Letter in Boston. Each was set in the seventeenth century. Both are small communities where religion is the basis of government. But to understand these comparisons and contrasts, both stories have to be thoroughly read and understood. .
The crucible's main antagonist is Abigail Williams who is infatuated with a man named John Proctor who is considerably older than her, but she had a sexual relationship with him and she feels that he still feels the same way about her. In turn Abigail tries to do away with John's Wife Elizabeth by crying "witch" on her. This was the beginning to the Salem Witch Trials. .
The Scarlett letter, set approximately fifty years earlier is the story of Hester Prynn and her sin of adultery. Hester's husband was thought to be dead and Hester, in he loneliness, had a relationship with a minister named Arthur Dimmesdale. Hester, now pregnant, is caught in her sin and because of the child, is saved from execution. Although Hester's adultery is not revealed until the very end. The story shows Hester's hardships and how she overcomes them throughout Pearl, Hester's daughter, new life.
Although there are many more comparison and contrast the most apparent comparison is that they are both tragedies. .