The Crucible is the story about how Salem started the witch trials, written by Arthur Miller. The story says that the young girls were practicing witchcraft when the Rev. Parris found them. The town believed the girls that there was more witches in Salem and started to place blame on almost everyone. The main girl was in love with a farmer that she had committed adultery with, so she found a way to blame his wife of witchcraft from the start of the trials. The girls knew that known of the accused actually did witchcraft and as did the ones hang. The Crucible is filled with pride that hides the secrets of the town.
Arthur Miller, the writer of The Crucible, wrote it to inform the readers of how the people learned from the actions that were
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The judges now how to choose on rather or not they would own up to the facts or live in denial. Danforth was the main judge that believed the girls and was the one that put the townspeople into the jail. When he heard that the girls were lying about the witchcraft; he response was “And do you know that near to four hundred are in the jails from Marblehead to Lynn, 3 and upon my signature?”. He was reassuring that what he was going to be the statement to place the blood on his hands. Danforth did not want to be the one that was blamed for hundreds in the jail. His pride clouded his logical mind. Another effect of pride was during Act four with John Proctor. He was given the choice of living with lies or dying with his pride. His name was basically his pride in this case. When asked to give more names of the innocent he would not; he said “Because it is my name! Because I cannot have another in my life! Because I lie and sign myself to lies! Because I am not worth the dust on the feet of them that hang!... “. He’d rather die with knowing that he did not blacken his name and not accuse the ones around him, than be the one that cause more the hang. John Proctor did not want to “rat” out the people of his town just to he would live. He knew that his name would pass down to his sons and so forth. His pride lead him the way to the person that hung …show more content…
The theme was created by the characters personalities and actions. When John Proctor placed his life on the line just so his name will be cleaned, that was a very noble and prideful action to do. Pride was also known when Danforth did not want to admit he was wrong for the people that he had placed into the jail. Both men did not was to blacken their name but went different ways about it. Goody Proctor and Rev. Parris both lied in court by keeping something that would make their families look bad. They both did it for the love they have, but Goody Proctor wanted to save her husbands while Rev. Parris just wanted to save his own
During act 4 Proctor feels ashamed of himself for having sign a paper of him confessing to witchcraft but danforth want to nail that confesion to the church doors and Proctor to ashamed with himself does not give back the confession and says “I have confessed myself! Is there no good penitence but it be public? God does not need my name nailed upon the church! God sees my name, God knows how black my sins are! It is enough.”(the crucible act 4 Arthur-miller) here shows that proctor trying to keep his name is too ashamed to have it posted for all to see then he says “Because it is my name! Because I cannot have another in my life. Because I am not worth the dust on the feet of them that hang! How may I live without my name? I have given you my soul, leave me my name!” showing that he wants some dignity when this is
The Crucible is set in this mass hysteria in Salem, Massachusetts during the mad witch hunts in the late 17th century. It tells a true tale about a town, after accusations from a few girls, which begins a mad witch hunt for witches that did not even exist. In result, many townspeople were hanged on charges of witchcraft. The Crucible demonstrates the cruelties people face when society turns their back upon them.
The Crucible is set in Salem, Massachusetts, 1692. One night, a bunch of girls were caught dancing in the forest and people in the village start accusing the girls for being witchcrafted by a witch. In the progress of finding who the witch is, people start blaming on each other and lie. These lies and false witnesses confuse the entire town. Arthur Miller, the author of The Crucible, uses irony and paradox in the stories.
Arthur Miller was borne on the 17th of October 1915 in New York City. Miller believed that tragedy was not confined to the rich and important but that the ordinary man’s failure was just as moving and terrible. The play ‘The Crucible’ was first produced in 1953 in the middle of the McCarthy political witch hunt in America. Millar decided to write the play as an allegorical text and a parallel between the two events.
The Crucible, written by Arthur Miller, focuses on the Salem witch trials and the extreme behavior that follows the trials. Miller shows how the dark desires and hidden agendas provokes such extreme behavior. The Crucible was written in a time when the anti-communist movement was strongly protested. During the Salem witch trials, a person was guilty until he proved himself
Honor, dignity, and integrity are traits that are becoming more and more rare in our society. The Crucible, a play written in 1952 by Arthur Miller, is based on the Salem witch hunts of 1692 and parallels the Red Scare and McCarthyism in the 1950s. In the play, Miller attempts to focus his themes around traits such as honor, dignity, and integrity, and as a result, the theme "is it better to die honorably or live dishonorably" becomes vital to the story and well conveyed throughout it. The characters that exemplify this idea are John Proctor and Giles Corey, both of whom die by the end of the play, and Reverend John Hale and Abigail Williams, who live through the trials.
The Catholic Church considers pride to be a sin because pride is about “me”, “myself” and “I”, they only worry about themselves and no one else. Although people might not believe it, today’s society is filled with pride; from being proud of your heritage to being proud of your sexuality, pride is all around. However, the Catholic Church believes that pride is the foremost among the seven deadly sins because all a prideful person thinks only of himself, and that is the exact opposite of what the Catholic Church teaches. The Catholic Church wants them to forget about themselves and go out and help others. In Arthur Miller’s The Crucible, Reverend Hale, Elizabeth and John Proctor all have a great deal of pride which in each case eventually decided their fate.
It was easier for them to blame the devil for the problems of society than fix the problems of their own strict way of life. So the girls involved with Abigail, like Mercy Lewis and Mary Warren, named many people in the town as witches. These people were put in jail and would be hanged if they did not confess to the crime of devil worship or witchcraft. Another part of the developing plot is that John Proctor knows Abigail and her friends are lying, but he is afraid to say anything because eight months before he had an affair with Abigail and did not want to be seen by the town as a lecher, which means wife cheater. So, Mr. Proctor has to fight with himself to come out and tell the truth, or his wife might die because of Abigail saying she was a witch.
As accusations arose, the town became so focused on getting confessions and holding trials they forgot to look for tangible evidence of guilt. Instead, even if people were innocent, they would still have to confess, so they wouldn’t die. For example, there was no way for Proctor to escape death other than confessing, even though he was innocent. Danforth’s question to Proctor showed the mindset Danforth and others in the town had. Danforth asked Proctor, “Will you confess yourself befouled with Hell, or do you keep that black allegiance yet?...”(119). In other words, Proctor needed to confess he was guilty of witchcraft or he would die, still considered guilty. Many characters knew in their hearts ...
All through the play of Crucible, pride showed to be an overwhelming factor that lead to persecution. John Proctor was a man that was accused of witchcraft and for his life to be saved he needed to confess. The awful thing was he needed to confess in writing and for that Proctor didn’t want to ruin his name and pride forever. In result, Proctor ripped the confession and got hung for it. Another example of pride in the play was when Giles Corey had gotten pressed to death because he wouldn’t tell the name of the man that accuses Thomas Putnam for trying to steal people's land. I thought that Proctor’s pride was really important because after he signed his confession, Proctor rips up the paper and defies Danforth’s plan to nail the confession
In Arthur Miller’s “The Crucible”, Reverend Parris has a reputation of being greedy. He also is scared of conspire against him. He is paranoid and suspicious of everyone around him. He is motivated by self-interest, so he lets the witch trails go on to save face even with him knowing it is lies.
The Crucible tells the tale of the famed Salem Witch Trials of Salem, Massachusetts; though Miller himself admitted that many parts of the story, such as an ill-fated romance crucial to the plot, are fictionalized, most plot points are true to a modern understanding of historical fact (qtd. in Burns). The driving force in Miller’s work is accusations of witchcraft stemming from an incident where young girls danced in the woods nude. Generally, this would not be seen as a major problem; however, one scared girl faking unconsciousness leaves all of Salem to believe the group of clothesless cavorters “trafficked with spirits in the forest” and took part in “some obscene practice” (Miller 1093). In an effort to avoid retribution, more girls begin faking afflictions; soon after, the entire town goes on a literal witch hunt against whomever the girls choose to accuse. This conflict ultimately stems from an overarching theme throughout the entirety of The Crucible: oppression of rights. Due to the societal stigma against enjoying themselves, the partying girls feel forced to invent lies to be spared from the male-dominated society’s anger. It is this that ultimately leads to the conflict of the witch
The Crucible is a 1953 play by Arthur Miller. Initially, it was known as The Chronicles of Sarah Good. The Crucible was set in the Puritan town of Salem, Massachusetts. It talks of McCarthyism that happened in the late 1600’s whereby the general public and people like Arthur Miller were tried and persecuted. The Crucible exemplifies persecutions during the Salem Witch Trials. The people were convicted and hung without any tangible proof of committing any crime. Persecutions were the order of the day. When a finger was pointed at any individual as a witch, the Deputy Governor Danforth never looked for evidence against them or evidence that incriminated them; he ordered them to be hanged. This can be seen through his words “Hang them high over the town! Who weeps for those, weeps for corruption!” (1273), the people were persecuted aimlessly. The four main characters in the play, John Proctor, Abigail Adams, Reverend Hale and Reverend Parris, are caught in the middle of the witchcraft panic in the religious Salem, Massachusetts in late 1690’s. Persecution is the most important theme in the Crucible, the leaders and citizens of Salem attacks and persecutes one of their own without any tangible evidence against them.
The Crucible is a 1996 film written by Arthur Miller, inspired by the Salem witchcraft trails. Around 1962 in the small village of Salem Massachusetts, a group of girls fell ill falling victim of seizures and hallucinations. In the extreme religious Puritan England, people became frightened that the occurrences were related to the devil or his people. The sicknesses urged fears of witchcraft and a lot of tension arouse in the atmosphere of who was involved. The Crucible was written as a symbol for McCarthyism, when the US government shuns people for being communists. The film focuses on Salem’s witch trials and the extreme behavior that can result from dark desires and hidden secrets. Before The Crucible became a film it was originally a play
The Crucible is a famous play written by Arthur Miller in the Early 1950’s. It was written during the “Red scare, when McCarthyism was established. Many anti-communists wanted to prevent communism from spreading just like in The Crucible many wanted to get rid of witchcraft. Many would accuse others of witchcraft in order to not be accused just like many would accuse people of communism. In The Crucible witchcraft would be punishable by death. Many were scared to be accused; therefore many would admit practicing witchcraft in order to save their lives. The Crucible is considered a good play because it is based on real life events during the Salem witch Trials and shows how fear played a role in the individual’s life just like during the “Red” scare.