... what befell them, the Puritans built up "such personifications [and] marvelous interpretations"32 as to reveal their own morbid fascination with the unnatural. Arthur Miller's The Crucible best illustrates this hypocritical attraction-abhorrence nature of the Puritans. They believe that the forest was "the Devil's last preserve."33 ... does with the Black Man, which "is a traditional American name for the Devil."44 In The Scarlet Letter, Hester Prynne commits adultery with Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale. She is discovered and forced to wear a mark of shame, the scarlet letter A, on her dress...

• Word Count: 3126
• Approx Pages: 13
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School