John Locke: The Enlightenment Period

“The most perfect education, in my opinion,is…to enable the individual to attain such habits of virtue as well render [her] independent” (Doc D). The Enlightenment was a time period from the early 17th century to the late 18th century. There were many philosophers who contributed to making The Enlightenment. John Locke was a man who wanted freedom of government during 1690 (17th century) in England. He wanted this because he believed everyone was born with natural rights and the government should respect them and whoever didn’t, the people would have the right to impeach them.

In Nathaniel Hawthorne 's The Scarlet Letter, Hester Prynne gives birth to a daughter through an affair and makes an effort to lead a new life of repentance and self-respect. Meanwhile, Arthur Miller 's The Crucible, set in the same Puritan society of Salem, tells a dramatized story of the Salem Witch Trials. Abigail Williams, an intelligent and manipulative young woman, covets a married man, John Proctor, and tries to get his wife, Elizabeth Proctor, killed in the trials. To begin with, both Hester Prynne and Abigail Williams are beautiful, independent women who have a thirst for life and are driven by a noble emotion: love.

In the vindictive play, The Crucible, Arthur Miller writes about accusations of witchery, unfaithfulness and assumptious judges that lead to undeserved deaths. There are many different characters with many different motivations for what they did. John Proctor is a tormented man because he cannot forgive himself for the things he had done to his wife. Preceding the actual play, John Proctor and his servant, Abigail, had an affair.

Throughout time, the play, The Crucible by Arthur Miller, and the book, The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne, have been regarded as two of the most reputable works of literature in their eloquent uses of similar themes that describe the human tendencies that can be found in historical events and characteristics of Puritan society. The Crucible, a play by Arthur Miller, makes a connection to the times “Red Scare” to the parallel of the Salem witch hunts of the 1680s. In the book, the Scarlet Letter, Nathaniel Hawthorne tell the tragic story of sin of Heater Prime and the Puritan society in which she lived view of her crime. Similar themes, such as sin, repentance, and forgiveness, and different things that these themes affect or are affected

In Arthur Miller’s The Crucible, and in Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter, there exists a common theme of adultery, a sin according to the commandments of the Puritan church. The stories center around the adulterers- John Proctor in The Crucible, and Hester Prynne in The Scarlet Letter. Both are members of early Puritan communities that are known for their very devout faith. Each character shows different reactions and feelings towards the sin, and each must face different consequences. A common theme that brings the two characters together is that they are given a chance to escape their sin and move on with their lives.

In The Scarlet Letter, Nathaniel Hawthorne pinpoints various effects of sin on individuals within a strict, Puritan society. To shed a negative light on Puritan attitudes toward sin and lack of forgiveness, Hawthorne paints vivid pictures of freedom and imprisonment, relief and regret, through the juxtaposition of Hester Prynne and Arthur Dimmesdale, and the characterization of the two lovers. Hester undergoes major character growth through her years bearing the scarlet “A,” "so fantastically embroidered and illuminated upon her bosom," introduced in the narrator’s shifting viewpoint of the young mother. The Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale on the other hand, shoulders his guilt, in spite of the physical manifestation of his inner turmoil in his

John Locke was a philosopher and political scientist. He had many interests and produced a number of writings that influenced future leaders. One of these leaders was Thomas Jefferson, who was involved with the aid of America and the act gaining independence from Britain. The Declaration of Independence and Locke’s views on government contain many similar aspects. These ideas includes the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness (natural rights); the protection that is provided by the government for these rights; and the altering or abolishment of government if it fails to provide and protect the rights of the people.

“The Crucible” is a novel by Arthur Miller that focuses on what fear and ignorance can do in society. This book is a tragic tale in which the other woman, Abigail Williams, seeks vengeance when her lover, John Proctor, turns from her and back to his wife, Elizabeth. Abigail is the most responsible for the deaths that occurred during this time because she was the ringleader of all the young girls during this witchcraft escapade. Although she is guilty for these crimes, she does not feel remorse for it, except perhaps her lover getting caught in the crossfire. Reverend John Hale, the self proclaimed witch expert, feels the most guilt due to the fact that he was the one who signed off on the death warrants.

The period during the Salem witch trials in early America was of overzealous, rampant, and malicious accusations. Nathaniel Hawthorne forebear had been a judge, sentencing the accused to death. As a rejection of contemporary puritanical culture and his own forefather, Hawthorne wrote the The Scarlet Letter in 1850. The Scarlet Letter is set Salem, Boston, it follows the progress of Hester Prynne, her daughter Pearl, a sinful minister Arthur Dimmesdale, and the antagonist, Roger Chillingworth. Hester and Dimmesdale commit the sacrilegious act of adultery and the christian influence of the Puritan society drives fervent responses, from both the townsfolk and Chillingworth.

The Enlightenment, a movement in which thinkers try to apply principles of reason to every aspect of life. Enlightenment philosophers shared ideas which had an impact on the American Democracy & French Revolution. John Locke, montesquieu, voltaire, etc all were a part of this development, they all believed in different things. Locke believed in the natural rights. Voltaire believed and fought for religious tolerance.

The Crucible by Arthur Miller is a play involving numerous conflicts and relationships between multiple characters with the setting of Salem, Massachusetts 1692 during the Witch Trials. The most prominent one of them all is between the protagonist, John Proctor, and the antagonist, Abigail Williams. Their relationship changes drastically throughout the four acts due to Abigail’s actions. This then leads to John Proctor becoming aware of her true personality and intentions. Before the play, John was on much better terms with Abigail, seeing as they had an affair, but in Act 1 those feelings seem to be a lot more muted.

In the “Scarlet Letter,” Nathaniel Hawthorne portrays hypocrisy of the Puritan society, where the protagonist Hester Prynne face many consequences of her actions and the how she tries to redeem herself to the society. During the seventeenth puritans believe that it is their mission to punish the ones who do not follow God’s word and it is their job to stop those from sinning. Therefore, the hypercritical puritan society punishes Hester harshly for committing adultery, but in Hester’s mind, she believes that what she did was not a sin but acts of love for her man. Eventually, she redeems herself by turning her crime into an advantage to help those in need, yet the Puritan society still view her as a “naughty bagger.” (Hawthorne 78)

As teens rebel against their mothers, so to did America rebel against the British during the 18th Century. However, also like children they followed their mother’s footsteps. Oliver Cromwell led a revolt against the Staurt monarchy and similarly colonists revolted against the British. During this time, an English philosopher named John Locke wrote works on political philosophies, mainly against the Stuarts. John Locke would have believed that the American colonists justified their resentments against the British especially, since the British stole their fundamental rights of liberty, property, and life.

Introductory Paragraph (description of theory) John Locke (29 August 1632 – 28 October 1704) is a English philosopher and physician regarded as one of the most influential of the Enlightenment thinkers and known as the "Father of Classical Liberalism”. Locke got a scholarship to Oxford University where he spent 30 years at Oxford, studying, tutoring, and writing. He wrote influential political science and philosophy. Locke 's famous theory had to do with the Social Contract theory. The Social Contract covers the origin of government and how much authority a state should have over an individual.

The Virtue of Hester Prynne In Nathaniel Hawthorne’s highly acclaimed novel, The Scarlet Letter, a Puritan town’s reaction is described after Hester Prynne raises a scandal that goes against the town’s religious views. The Puritans believe the Bible should be translated into their life and that God should be the center of it. Many of them think of Hester as a sinful woman without virtue. They treat her as an outcast and consider that she is somehow affiliated with the Devil.