A Comparative Study Of The Similarities In The Crucible And The Scarlet Letter

Arthur Miller (1915-2005) and Nathaniel Hawthorne (1804-1864) were most famous American writers in the history of world literature. Miller's The Crucible(1953) and Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter(1850) are masterpieces in the history of American literature. Although these two works were written in different times, they have many similarities in the authors' writing backgrounds, in the setting of religious backgrounds, in the characters, in the themes, etc.So far, many critics have studied The Crucible and The Scarlet Letter from diverse aspects both at home and abroad. However, it seems that few of them have ever specially touched upon the comparative study of the similarities between these two works.These two works were both set in 17th century Puritan New England society. New England played a decisive role in the development of American culture. This thesis will do a comparative study of the similarities in the authors' writing backgrounds, in the setting of religious backgrounds, in the characters, and in the themes to make the readers have a further understanding of 17th century Puritan New England society.