“Woman,plead with him! (Drum roll. Elizabeth avoids his eyes.) It is pride, it is vanity. Be his helper! –what profit him to bleed? Shall the dust praise him? Shall the worms declare his truth? Go to him, take his shame away,” (Miller 1104). What’s worth more reputation or life, because for many in Arthur Miller's representation of the early 1690’s Salem witch trials, preserving one’s reputation was far more important. These men who cared about their good name greatly included John Proctor, Giles Corey, and Thomas Danforth.
John Proctor was not a perfect man in the slightest sense, but he did care about the respect he still had left in his name a great deal. Proctor was convinced by his wife Elizabeth to confess to witchcraft even though he
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Corey thought his good and truthful reputation was so important in his life, he preferred being charged with contempt of court. When Giles would not tell them which person that told him, he had overheard Mr. Putnam was forcing his daughter to accuse a neighbor of witchcraft to get there land, the court persisted he give up his promise to the man who told him, Elizabeth told Proctor about this towards the end of the play, “Great stones they lay upon his chest until he plead aye or nay. They say he give them but two words. ‘More weight,’ he says. And died,” (Miller 1098). Giles cared so profoundly of not only his reputation, but also his truthfulness, he heard something from someone who if name was amidated it could end in a hanging, so Corey redacted that information all the way to death. Corey had such a respect for his good Christian reputation, he figured death would be a better road than being an untruthful friend, and possible bringing death to others.
Furthermore, Thomas Danforth was so concerned of preserving his reputation as a perfect judge with no mistakes that he would put multiple people in the town of Salem to a hanging before backing down. When Danforth realizes the girls could be most certainly lying he realizes that he should try to keep those sentenced to hanging from the fate he sprung upon them, and Hale explained this to Elizabeth. Hale explained, “ Life, woman, life is God’s most precious gift; no principle However glorious may justify
One of the turning points of the war was in 1777, when the British surrendered at Saratoga with over 5,500 troops. After General Horatio Gates and General John Burgoyne came in conflict, but the latter understood that supplies were lackluster, they had to surrender. This battle would result in France entering the loop of the war and siding with the Americans, attacks from out of Canada would be secured and New England isolation would be all prevented because of this battle.
In the play, Reverend Hale insisted that John Proctor’s decision to hang is an excessive pride or stubbornness, but I think it was an act of honor. In the novel, people who were accused of consorting with the devil admitted and were forced to give names of innocent people; Those people then did the same thing in order to save their lives. The same thing was done over and
At the end of the play, John proctor is faced with the biggest calamity of his life. He was given the the choose to lie and say he is a witch or stand by his honesty and die as a marauder. john proctor name was everything to him. It made him who he is so he based his actions on it.. John wanted to live and keep his good name
“Danforth:... You will sign your name or it is no confession, Mister! His breast heaving with agonized breathing, Proctor now lays down the paper and signs his name… Proctor has just finished signing when Danforth reaches for the paper. But Proctor snatches it up...His breast heaving, his eyes staring, Proctor tears the paper and crumbles it, and he is weeping in fury, but erect.” Not once in his time from that moment in the court, or jail, or at Gallows Hill did he confess to witchcraft, despite Reverend Hale’s attempts to persuade him otherwise. Proctor stood against the court, the girls, and some of the townsfolk, and although he was in the right, and his claims were accurate,...
This whole play by Arthur Miller shows how our community will turn on each other to save ourselves no matter if it’s right or wrong and it’s true in our society today. It also shows how a good man regained his happiness and holiness by standing up for what’s right against the lies and sacrificed himself for the truth.
...so much” (40). Incidentally, Giles’ tendency to speak his mind also hurts others, as is the case when his wife is falsely accused of witchcraft, partly due to the information Giles told Reverend Hale. As the play becomes more dramatic and as more innocent lives are taken, the hardened 83-year-old recognizes the growing instability of the Salem courts. When Giles was indicted, he refused to answer aye or nay to his indictment for fear of being hanged and losing his property. Elizabeth explained that Giles “died Christian under the law” (135). By saying he died Christian under the law, Arthur Miller may be comparing Giles to Jesus Christ, in the sense that he was an innocent man who died because others have sinned. Likewise, because Giles took a stand against the corrupt court, many in the village considered him a hero. Clearly, Giles can be considered a dynamic character in the play, as he started out not giving “a hoot for public opinion” (40) but later changed his mind and sacrificed himself for the benefit of others. Giles Corey was able to use his outspoken behavior, which often resulted in the punishment of himself and others, and finally use it for the good of those he loved.
The most important scene in the play was act two, scene three, where John Proctor is able to talk with his wife, Elizabeth, one last time. He decides that he will "confess" to the crime of witchcraft, thereby avoiding being hung. He says to Elizabeth:
Salem 1692, two girls ,Betty Parris, age nine, and her eleven year old cousin Abigail Williams, had a dream. They wanted to be the best actors in the village. They worked very hard to do that and they got twenty people killed. Betty and Abigail were Puritans and they are not supposed to lie or they would end up with the devil in the afterlife, but it seemed like they didn’t care. That’s why we ask, why were people blaming the innocent for being witches in Salem, 1692? The Salem Witch Trials were caused by two poor, young girls who acted possessed. There were also other people who took the risk of lying and accused other people. Most of the accusers were under the age of twenty and woman. The little girls caused the Salem Witch Trials hysteria by pretending to be possessed. Most of the accusers were poor and lived in the western part of the town.
During the time of the Salem Witch Trials the intertwining of religion and government did not allow citizens of Salem, Massachusetts the right to a fair trial, so it was the states responsibility to separate the two. In the 1600’s the Puritan religion was greatly enforced by the government. It wouldn’t be until many years later that separation of church and state became a law.
In The Crucible, a few of the townspeople speak out against the injustice of the magistrates. These include John Proctor, Giles Corey, his wife Martha, Rebecca Nurse, Elizabeth Proctor, and even Reverend John Hale. Proctor refuses to give up his integrity and sign his name to a false confession. He thought it was enough admitting to a lie, but he can not bear to sign a confession when others had died for refusing to give the courts what they want. "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! How may I live without my name? I have given you my soul, leave me my name!" exclaims Proctor (886). Giles Corey is being pressed to death for not giving the court the name of an innocent person. Even to the end he refuses to give in. "Great stones they lay upon his chest until he plead aye or nay. They say he give them but two words. `More weight,' he says. And died," explains Elizabeth (883).
Because of Hale, lots of innocent people died and it hurt Elizabeth. Moreover, Danforth was different from Hale’s mind. For example, Hale told him that Abigail was lying, but he did not believe that. Secondly, Tituba was marginalized by Abigail because of her race, and Reverend Parris and Ann Putnam said she harm their children. For instance, when Hale asked Abigail about what Tituba said when they were in the forest, she said, “I know not-
According to Jones, modern estimates suggest perhaps 100,000 trials took place between 1450 and 1750, with an estimated execution total ranging between 40,000 and 50,000. This death toll was so great because capital punishment was the most popular and harshest punishment for being accused of witchcraft. Fear of the unknown was used to justify the Puritans contradictive actions of execution. Witch trials were popular in this time period because of religious influences, manipulation through fear, and the frightening aspects of witchcraft.
In the modern day it’s hard to believe there’s even still ‘’witch hunts’’ as you can say where a group of people are stereotyped as something without them doing the actual stereotypical thing. We live in a world where blacks are getting shot for no reason when they were just walking down the street unarmed and not harming anyone. Blacks and Latinos are always looked down upon in any shape or form. They could be driving a nice car they get pulled over for suspicion of a stolen car, they can get pulled over in an old broken car and they will get pulled over for suspicion of ‘’criminal activity’’. But if it’s a white person the cops will NOT bat a single eye at them despite being in the same situations as the black. And you know what the problem
Parris and Danforth prioritize their reputations over John Proctor’s actual life. Hale does not care about his good name, but about the lives of the people in Salem and his guilt for partaking in the trials. Like Proctor, Parris, Hale, and Danforth are extremely flawed men. They all make unrighteous decisions that can be selfish. Unlike Proctor, though, these men place their own needs above the needs of the community. John Proctor has lived in Salem all his life and cares for the town and its citizens, whereas Reverend Hale, Reverend Parris, and Danforth are all outsiders to the town. They place themselves above the well-beings of the townspeople for the reason that they do not care if Salem is to be destroyed. Reverend Parris, Reverend Hale, and Deputy Governor Danforth’s yearn of John Proctor’s confession represents they only care for their own self-interests and not about what his confession could do for the town of
There are some events in history that put the human race to shame; however, these occasions can change our future forever. Society cannot deny that social injustices occur almost every day, maybe even more than once. One large blemish in our history, the Salem Witch Trials, alienated a certain group in our society. These trials were an unfortunate combination of economic conditions, a flock’s strife, teenage boredom, and personal jealousies.