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Religious aspects of the crucible
The crucible argument/character analysis essay
Character analysis essay the crucible
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In The Crucible, Miller explores different implications of good and evil and, there are many that can be found in religious aspects of the story since the setting is in one of the most religious towns Salem, Massachusetts. Since the society in this story is very traditional and patriarchal, the struggle of power revolved around the different class statuses; they wanted the control to maintain at the top of the hierarchy however, they didn’t anticipate how the power shifted to the control of single women who were considered as inferior in the society. Besides the struggle of power, the townspeople also had this ‘holier than thou’ attitude which was influenced by the belief that God had already chosen who deserves salvation and because of this, they treated it as a competition of whom amongst them deserves to be saved. In the story, Elizabeth “Goody” Proctor is only a victim of Abigail Williams who accused her of practicing witchcraft and, she was also victimized by her husband John Proctor for committing adultery with Abigail when she was sick. Although it may seem like she has this inner anger at Abigail which was shown by how she acted with contempt towards her, Elizabeth Proctor managed to forgive her husband and she only has pure intentions of protecting her family which …show more content…
She was mainly portrayed as this kind and benevolent loving wife who made a sacrifice by forgiving and staying with her husband John Proctor, which shows that she has always been good and faithful to him. The choice to forgive her husband was a sacrifice because the sin that John Proctor had committed was against the Bible and considered as immoral. Also, by forgiving her husband, it shows that she truly is a follower of God since forgiveness is one of the most important teachings of the
‘The Crucible’ is a great example of morally ambiguous characters. A plethora of characters with blurry ethics exist within the world of ‘The Crucible’, this makes it difficult to distinguish who is truly good and who is evil. Arthur Miller has a fantastic approach to how he displays his characters and their moral standpoints. Adultery, lying, and even the suspicion of witchcraft, within the community brings out the worst in the townspeople. John Proctor is an example of how thin the lines are drawn between a complete saint and a damned sinner.
Corruption has always existed in our society since the beginning to present time due to conspiracies such as the witch trials and the communism era. The Crucible by Arthur Miller was written during the era of communism to mere the hysteria. The Crucible is about the Salem witch trials in Salem Massachusetts in 1692. It’s a corrupt witch trial in Salem that’s due to false accusations of witchcraft for personal gains. John Proctor is the protagonist in the story The Crucible who goes through the ultimate test by choosing his reputation over integrity. He also had an affair with a young girl named Abigail who is the antagonist and is the main reason the bloodshed is occurring in Salem. Initially, Proctor hesitates to deal with his sin, but as the play progresses, he begins to understand its effects; this ultimately leads him to find goodness in himself as he stands for the truth.
The statement,“The Crucible is essentially about courage, weakness, and truth,” is proven true numerous times, throughout the play. The Crucible was written by Arthur Miller, about the true events that happened in Salem, Massachusetts, between the years 1692 and 1693. The Salem witch trials consisted of many hangings, lies, and complete mass hysteria. The citizens of Salem followed the religion of Puritanism, and the ideas of predestination. The root of the mass hysteria comes from their belief in the sense that in something happens then it must have been planned by God. In Miller’s portrayal of the story, Abigail Williams was the ringleader of the witch trials, and she used the idea of predestination to cover up her own sins. Abigail was a very manipulative girl and ruined many lives. John Proctor, Mary Warren, and Elizabeth Proctor were just a few of the victims in Abby’s game. John, Mary, and Elizabeth exhibit the traits courage, weakness, and truth, whether it was in a positive or negative way.
Evil is defined as being profoundly immoral and malevolent. It is characterized by suffering, misfortune, and a force in nature that governs and gives rise to wickedness and sin. In Puritan times, all sins against the church were considered illegal and wicked. Sins such as adultery, vengeance, and manipulation were some offences considered to be immoral in the town. The Crucible not only touches upon these committed sins but also creates a character who is guilty of almost all of them. Abigail Williams, a seventeen year old young woman in the town of Salem, Massachusetts, finds herself tied up in a lie surrounding her use of witchcraft. In venture to rid the town of Elizabeth
Fear, resulting in chaos, and overturned lives affected the personal decisions of John Proctor, thus creating inner conflicts, as well as desperation in the story. In Arthur Miller's The Crucible, John Proctor's stand in a society where opinion drove fate created ignominy towards him and his beliefs. At first he hid his horrible sin inside, fearing the consequences. When he finally did, he was placed in a tangled labyrinth of feelings as to what his next action should be. Lastly, it's Proctor's defiance and integrity in his own self that proved him stronger than the entire community of Salem. Proctor's tremulous feelings and general unease of the situation built up to his defining point of confession. Theocracy came together to take coerce control Salem and it's actions. Proctor saw this and feared, for diabolism was a practice unheard of. Danforth states, "You must understand, sir, a person is either with the church or against it, there be no road between. We live no longer in the dusky afternoon and evil mixed itself with good and befuddled world. Now by God's grace the good folk and evil entirely separate"(63).
"Power tends to corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely" - Lord Action. In "The Crucible" composed by Arthur Miller control, power, fear and greed were the main factors that began the Salem witch trails. Power brings out the true nature of a person and we see that happening to Abigail throughout the play. That brings me to my next point fear, Abigail used the fear of accusing people of being witches to gain power and control. It all started with Abigail misunderstanding lust for love. John Proctor thought softly of her and she began dreaming of replacing his wife willing to go to any needs necessary.
In conclusion, there is a substantial difference between the forces of good and evil in the play. The forces of good always tried to do what was best for everybody, even if it meant breaking some Puritan laws. The evil group did whatever was best for themselves. They were greedy, and had no consideration for others. It is always hoped that the good will prevail over the forces of evil but this was not to be in The Crucible. In the end, Abigail had succeeded in her wrongdoing, and had killed Proctor. Once again, evil emerged victorious...
The Crucible was a rather strong book, it had battles both internal and external, there were also betrayals and vendettas… but a few stuck strong to their morals of what was wrong, and what was right. After the girl’s acts were, undoubtedly, in the eyes of the law, seen as entirely real, people who would not otherwise have been accused of witchcraft were now eligible to be under Satan’s spell. One John Proctor, saw himself above the nonsense, that witches could not exist in Salem, his wife, his children nor him; But, when Mary Warren said to the court that he used his spirit to drag her into court to testify against the girls, the judges deemed her word more truthful than his. After actively and repeatedly denying the claims, he was sentenced to death, for only a witch could lie in the face of god.
The Crucible is a famous play written by Arthur Miller. This play centers around the witch trials that took place in Salem, Massachusetts. In Act II, Abigail and her friends accuse several innocent people of witchcraft. Once they leave the court, Reverend Hale goes to John Proctor’s house to inform Elizabeth Proctor that people in the court have mentioned her name. Then officials of the court, Herrick and Cheever, arrive at the Proctor’s house. They claim to have a warrant for Elizabeth’s arrest because the court declares she practices witchcraft. After, Herrick and Cheever take Elizabeth to jail. Injustice in Act II prevails because of the inability to see the truth. Reverend Hale and John Proctor illuminate the theme that closed-mindedness
Elizabeth Proctor was a stay at home wife and mother and was very loyal to her husband John Proctor. Although John had cheated on her in the past she didn’t let that interfere with the love she had for him. Elizabeth represents the frigid wife in “The Crucible”. Even though she loved her husband that didn’t keep her mind from wonders of evil thoughts. “Even seven months after Proctor’s confession of adultery, Elizabeth is unable to
When Abigail Williams and a group of young girls begin to accuse innocent people of witchery out of their own fear and evil, the devout Christian residents of Salem village in 1692 joined the mass hysteria. Ultimately, the prosecutions of innocent people resulted in twenty deaths, which included the execution of John Proctor. Although the faith in religion and fear of witchery blinded most of the citizens, John Proctor’s affair with Abigail allowed him to discover the lies the girls were telling. The coexistence and duality of good versus evil in the novel The Crucible by Arthur Miller is portrayed through the deception of Abigail. The multi genre presentation project illustrates the major theme of good versus evil in The Crucible and incorporates
The Crucible: A Play in Four Acts) fits into the stereotypes of the time period of the 16th century. In the time period Elizabeth Proctor lived, the Salem Witch trials were taking place. Elizabeth fits into this because she was an innocent women accused of witchcraft. About 200 people and even some animals were accused during this time. Elizabeth Proctor was of Puritan religion. Puritans did not agree with the common European viewpoint that women were more evil then men. Women were believed to have a bond with the devil because of the biblical belief in Eve's first sin, which makes them more susceptible to sin, according to (“Gender Roles in the Salem Witch Trials"). Elizabeth is very religious and she goes to church even though her husband does not, because the puritans were strict with obeying the Sabbath. She is also similar to this time period because of her husband’s affair. During some research, I found that women of this time period were excepted to tolerate it when their husband had an affair. If a women was caught having an affair, her husband would take her to court. If the wife were found guilty, she would be scented to death. The puritan women married for love. There was no arranged marriages. ("Puritan Women's Rights”). This is similar to Elizabeth because she loved her husband, John. John did some bad things but Elizabeth loved him and tried to understand why he chose
Elizabeth Proctor is used in The Crucible to illustrate the powerful strength of what manipulation has over any living mortal. Typically an honest person under their religious faith would believe in telling the truth, but not while having an evil thoughts being whispered in your ear disguised as manipulation. Already knowledgeable of her husband’s previous affair with Abigail Williams, Elizabeth fears of ruining the Proctor name in the town of Salem, Massachusetts due to John’s affair and since John is a high authority figure in the church, it would ruining his name and people would not respect him as a preacher anymore. So in the process of saving the Proctor name, regardless of John admitting the truth by making the court aware of the recent affair he had with Abigail, Elizabeth denies those allegations because she fears that John will be upset to the utmost point, so she sacrifices herself to protect the Proctor name, even though she fears that she hopes that she made the right decision, as shown when she tried to clarify all statements be...
An American is somebody who can overcome anything. No matter what problem comes in front of an American they can always face it head on and be successful. Corruption is something commonly found in the reading we have done in class, for example in the story The Crucible , people overcome corruption in many ways. Salem would become corrupted with rumors of witchcraft. All of the girls in the town take the opportunity to take over the city, as they chose who lives and dies. Nobody wants to follow in the footsteps of the unfortunate accused witchcrafters. So the entire town points fingers with girls causing chaos throughout the town. Although it seems like many people won’t stand up for the accused people, John Proctor and others would stand
In the play the crucible anyone can be tempted by the devil in the bible. The first two created human beings by god were tempted by the devil. Their names were Adam & Eve she was tempted to eat the fruit from the tree & she gave it to Adam. It reflects human beings of how week they are when the devil overcomes them. According to the 17th century it is described as witchcraft in the crucible by author Miller. Fear is operating in the witchcraft accusations and tension between humans from Salem’s residency. In the godly town of Salem, good is overcome by evil which reveals people inherent wickedness.