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Theme of reputation in the crucible essay
The crucible danforth
Why Danforth in the Crucible is innocent
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The Crucible is a great example of the importance of reputation but the most paramount theme remains to be the staggering roles of hysteria. Hysteria is defined as, “an overwhelming fear and excitement that overrides all logic, and is often enhanced and intensified by the presence of others who are acting out on that fear.” (Campbell). Hysterically in Act 3, “She [Mary Warren] and all the girls run to one wall, shielding their eyes. And now, as though cornered, they let out a gigantic scream, and Mary, as though infected, opens her mouth and screams with them." (Miller, Act 3). The role of hysteria is the main theme throughout the play and it’s represented within the characters Danforth, Abigail, and Proctor.
Danforth is the Deputy Governor of Salem, and as well as adding to hysteria, he believe that Abigail
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“Danforth was a big part of the actual trials and his court system was very brutal and uncivilized, in fact he said, "If you are not with the court, you are against it" which essentially can be inferred as, if a defendant is on trial and they don't believe what the court believes then they are guilty.” (Witchcru).
"I want to open myself! I want the light of God; I want the sweet love of Jesus! I danced for the Devil; I saw him; I wrote in his book; I go back to Jesus; I kiss His hand—I saw Sarah Good with the Devil! I saw Good Osburn with the devil! I saw Bridget Bishop with the Devil!" (Miller, Act 1, Page 48). Mass hysteria is created from many of the accusations such as these. Abigail takes advantage of this and uses it against her gossiping enemies, but it doesn't always work out for her. “Mass hysteria is the most obvious theme in the story. Mass hysteria is represented everywhere trouble was.” ("Themes of "The Crucible" by Arthur Miller."). Abigail Williams is the niece of Reverend Parris, both of her parents died when she was younger. Abigail is a deceitful girl
In Arthur Miller’s play, The Crucible, Miller demonstrated that it was Abigail William’s flaws – mendacity, lust, and arrogance – that led her to be responsible the most for the tragedy of the witch hunt in Salem, Massachusetts. Driven by lust, Abigail was able to lie to the Salem community in hopes of covering her and her friends’ deeds and gaining the attention of John Proctor. Her arrogance enabled her t0 advance her deceit.
A maniacal pariah masquerading as “a good (and) proper girl” pg. 45, Williams’ fraudulent accusations act as the catalyst for the apprehensive dread deftly filtering through the tight knit community of Salem. Miller often emphasises Williams’ gender, age and size, drawing attention to the juxtaposition of her petite image against her violent words and actions. Miller instils this concept through the names given to Williams by the other characters, as she is repeatedly referred to as ‘child’ or ‘girl’, thus belittling her stature. However, Miller’s thoughtful utilisation of characterisation, allowed the character of Abigail Williams to possess a flair of malice, consequently creating depth in the character. This is evident in Williams’ domineering behaviour to her peers, to which she callously and carelessly threatens, “let either of you breathe a word, or the edge of a word, about the other things, and I will come to you in the black of some terrible night and I will bring a point reckoning that will shudder you. And you know I can do it.” pg. 26. Miller’s development of the character ‘Abigail Williams’ efficaciously highlights the distinct undercurrents of the Puritan culture The Crucible is based on. Puritans’ core beliefs are reliant on the complete submission of personal desires to fulfil God’s will, in which case, Williams’ characteristics and
In The Crucible, Arthur Miller shows that the tragedy of the Salem Witch Trials stems from human failings, particularly the need for vengeance, greed, and fear. Abigail Williams is an example of all three. Her fear prompts her to first accuse random women, her need for vengeance directs her toward Elizabeth, and her greed for power affects the lives of everyone around her. Individual flaws, when acted on collectively, inevitably cause the downfall of Salem.
“Whatever hysteria exists is inflamed by mystery, suspicion, and secrecy. Hard and exact facts will cool it.” – Elia Kazan. In the crucible, Arthur Miller describes the witch trials and the hysteria that was caused by it. The fear of the devil overwhelms reason and makes the town of Salem even more afraid. In the story, Marry Warren falls under hysteria and through her, Arthur Miller explains that fear causes people to leave behind all their logic and reason.
...and his family and stand up for what he believed in. It ends up costing Proctor his life but he stopped the hysteria. By sitting on the sidelines, Proctor was indirectly contributing to the hysteria. Once he took responsibility, he was a proud man and the hysteria was put to an end. In the final scene of The Crucible, the minister pleads with Elizabeth Proctor to convince her husband to confess. She says “He has his goodness now. God forbid I take it from him.” (Arthur Miller, pg. 145). Hysteria can be started easily and spread like wildfire and can be ended just as effortlessly if one person takes a stand for what is right, no matter what the consequences.
Hysteria is a mental disorder marked by excitability, anxiety, or imaginary disorders. It can play an important role in people’s lives. Hysteria supplants logic and enables people to believe that their neighbors, whom they have always considered highly respectable, do things they would never expect them of doing. In “The Crucible”, hysteria causes people to believe their friends are committing deplorable acts. The townsfolk accept and become active in the hysterical climate not only out of genuine religious piety but also because it gives them a chance to express repressed sentiments and to seek reparations from grudges. Hysteria suspends the rules of daily life and allows the acting out of every dark desire and hateful urge under the charade of righteousness. In “The Crucible” by Arthur Miller, the hysteria due to the paranoia of witchcraft causes Abigail to lie in order to save herself, Danforth to ruin the community, and Proctor to be convicted of witchery.
The Crucible: Hysteria and Injustice Thesis Statement: The purpose is to educate and display to the reader the hysteria and injustice that can come from a group of people that thinks it's doing the "right" thing for society in relation to The Crucible by Arthur Miller. I. Introduction: The play is based on the real life witch hunts that occurred in the late 1600's in Salem, Massachusetts. It shows the people's fear of what they felt was the Devil's work and shows how a small group of powerful people wrongly accused and killed many people out of this fear and ignorance.
"Them that will not confess will hang. While I speak with God 's law, I will not crack its voice with whimpering. I should hang ten thousand that dared to rise against the law, and ocean of salt tears could not the resolution of the statutes." (Miller 129). Judge Danforth is not afraid to kill those that stand in his way. He is very similar to Abigail in that he will have innocent people killed to prove a point or to get what he wants. Its his way or the highway. If you do not cooperate, you will die. He abuses his power to get people to talk and give names. He is also very similar to Parris in his concern for power. Danforth holds all the power in the courtroom and basically forces you to talk and confess. If you don 't cooperate, then you will suffer the consequences. Ergo, it is a win-win situation for the accuser. "You are the high court, you word is good enough!" (Miller 143). Proctor later denounced himself for saying this, but the phrase is completely true. This quote is a reference to Danforth 's abuse of power throughout the witch trials. The high court deeply resembles the courts during the McCarthyism era. They held all the power and had the people 's lives in their hands. Danforth was prideful and believed himself to be a honest man. So whatever he thought was right, was declared as right. If they said you were guilty of being a witch, and hanged you, then no one in Salem did anything about it. They couldn 't say or do anything because the high court was always right. Many innocent people died because Danforth couldn 't admit he was wrong. If he did admit to being wrong, then the high court would lose power and it would of hurt his
In the play, after Abigail runs away, it becomes obvious that she lied and that she left to escape punishment. Parris wants to postpone the hangings and get more people to confess. He suggests to Danforth, “Excellency, I would postpone these hangin’s for a time… This way, unconfessed and claiming innocence, doubts are multiplied, many honest people will weep for them, and our good purpose is lost in their tears.” (Pg. 118) With Abigail gone, people know that innocent people were hanged and might chose to blame authority for being so easily deceived. Parris realizes that his supporting the trials could reflect badly on his reputation as a church official; thus, he begins to request for postponements and encourage people to ‘confess’. For Parris, it is less about proving people innocent or guilty but about clearing his name so he does not lose his power in the church. On the other hand, Danforth chooses to continue with the hangings. He says, “Now hear me, and beguile yourselves no more. I will not receive a single plea for pardon or postponement. Them that will not confess will hang. Twelve are already executed; the names of those seven are given out, and the village expects to see them die this morning. Postponement now speaks a floundering of them that died till now.” (Pg. 119) Danforth refuses to stop the hangings or pardon anyone because Danforth does not want to
Even though The Crucible is not historically correct, nor is it a perfect allegory for anti-Communism, or as a faithful account of the Salem trials, it still stands out as a powerful and timeless depiction of how intolerance, hysteria, power and authority is able to tear a community apart. The most important of these is the nature of power, authority and its costly, and overwhelming results. “But you must understand, sir, that a person is either with this court or against it,” says Danforth conceitedly. With this antithesis, Miller sums up the attitude of the authorities towards the witch trials that if one goes against the judgement of the court they are essentially breaking their relationship with God. Like everyone else in Salem, Danforth draws a clear line to separate the world into black and white. The concurrent running of the “Crucible” image also captures the quintessence of the courtroom as Abigial stirs up trouble among the people that have good reputation and loving natures in society. In a theocratic government, everything and everyone belongs to either God or the Devil.
The play, The Crucible, is a fireball of guilt, evil, and good compiled into one magnification. It is a play with tremendous feelings, with many inside twists hidden in the archives of the true story. It is a play with emotional feelings; feelings of anger, hate, and evil, yet also feelings of goodness, and pureness. Undeniably, The Crucible is a play illustrating good versus evil. The principal characters, Abigail Williams, John Proctor, Ann Putnam and Marry Warren all contain within them elements of good and evil.
Judge Danforth, the deputy governor of Massachusetts and leading judge of the Salem witch trials, is described as a man who can do no wrong. The innocent citizens listen and obey to everything that Danforth requests. Part of the reason why Danforth believes he can do no wrong is because he feels he is guided by God, “The law, based upon the Bible, and the Bible, writ by Almighty God, forbid the practice of witchcraft, and describe death as the penalty thereof” (46). Danforth must follow God’s instructions and execute the accused citizens of witchcraft in Salem. As the play progresses the population of Salem decreases due to the amount of hangings, Danforth realizes Abigail is the one at fault. Danforth is put on a problematic situation. Danforth knows he’s killed so many innocent citizens but if he steps down from the court, he would be admitting to all his wrongdoings and he’s reputation would be ruined. When Danforth finds out Proctor is going to be hanged due to witchcraft he says, “Mr. Proctor, you have been notified, have you not? I see light in the sky, Mister; let you counsel with your wife, and may God help you turn your back on Hell.” (58). In this quote, Danforth is trying to persuade Proctor to confess of witchcraft even though he is innocent of it, just because he doesn’t want to be the one to hang him. Danforth is put in a very complicated
Firstly, throughout the play Judge Danforth acts with pride and arrogance. At the commencement of act III Judge Danforth voices his view on the ongoing phase of the witchcraft trials by stating that “Do you take it upon yourself to determine what this court shall believe and what it shall set aside?” (Miller 85). Here Danforth establishes an ultimatum to Giles Corey when he comes to defend his wife Martha Corey from the accusation of being a witch. Danforth sarcastically questions Giles Corey whether he has the authority to make any decision on the ongoing matter and thereby silences him. He makes it clear that no one else can determine what and how the court should act. In addition, the tone with which he delivers this dialogue is filled with arrogance as displayed by the movie “The crucible”. Overall, the picture profile of Judge Danforth created while saying these lines reveals his pride and haughtiness. Another instance where Judge Danforth reveals this attitude of his is when he snubs Francis Nurse for questioning his judgment and wisdom during the trials. In return Danforth replies “ And do you know that near four hundred are in jail... upon my signature”(Miller 87) and “ seventy-two condemned to hang by that signature?” (Miller 87). These lines show that Judge Danforth is proud of his actions and his power as a judg...
How can a girl who condemned seventy two to a death sentence and drank a charm to kill a man’s wife, a man she has slept with on more than one occasion be the victim? It’s possible when the town she lives in is worse than her. Although Abigail Williams is typically thought of as the antagonist of Arthur Miller’s The Crucible, she is in fact a victim as much as any other tragic character in the play.
Reputation is the beliefs or opinions that are generally held about someone or something. A famous American poet once said: “Oh reputation dearer far than life”. James Russell Lowell highlights the importance of reputation by declaring it more important than even human life itself. This idea is also found in ‘The Crucible’ as many characters will be challenged between telling the truth and dying, or saving their reputation. In ‘The Crucible’, this theme beholds a key position in the unrolling of the story as an impression of control over the outcome of people’s lives is created by its importance.