Reichenbach

The theme of confession came up several times during our Harkness. We talked about how both Dimmesdale and Proctor confessed to having an affair and how Proctor considered confessing to being a witch to avoid being hanged. Dimmesdale died immediately after admitting he had had an affair and Proctor was hanged for refusing to confess to being a witch. Their choices involving confession both resulted in their deaths, although they confessed (or didn't) to different things. A similarity between their confessions of adultery was the public nature of the confessions. Dimmesdale was in front of the town and Proctor was among people of the court.

(some spoilers for Sherlock season 2 sorry)

Sherlock shares aspects of both Dimmesdale's and Proctor's characters. In the Reichenbach Fall, Sherlock stands on top of a building preparing to jump off. Like Dimmesdale, he is greatly admired by the public; however, prior to jumping, he calls John to tell him that his genius is fake. This mirrors Dimmesdale admitting that he is not as good as people percieve him to be. Another parallel is the separation between Sherlock and everyone else. He is standing on top of a building where everyone can see him in the same way that the town can see Dimmesdale. While Proctor is not separated in this way from everyone else in the court, he is still under public scrutiny. A link between Proctor and Sherlock is the false nature of their confessions (Proctor's confession to witchcraft, not adultery).