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The crucible essay characters
Characters and their characterisation found in the crucible
Characters and their characterisation found in the crucible
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In The Crucible by Arthur Miller many characters chose to put their life on the line before losing their good reputation, that was how highly they valued their reputation. The Crucible took place in Massachusetts in the early 1960’s, it is based on a real life event of the Salem witch trials in which multiple girls claim to be traumatized by witchcraft. The girls start accusing the townspeople of witchcraft, specifically people that they or their families hold a grudge against in order to favor themselves. The accused were jailed and often hung as a result of the accusations. Arthur Miller shows through various characters’ motivations and actions that people value their reputation which shows that they often care about themselves more than the effects of their actions.
One specific character that showed various times that he valued
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his reputation more than the wellbeing of his family was Parris.
“Abigail, I have fought here three long years to bend these stiff necked people to me, and now when some good respect is rising for me in the parish, you compromise my character… Your name in the town – it is entirely clean is it not?” (Miller 140) Parris asks Abigail if she has done anything to potentially harm her name in the town because he worries about what people will say about them. However, he cares not so much about what people in the town will say about her, instead he cares more about what the people in the town will have to say about him, and how this will all affect him. Parris was more concerned about his own reputation in the town than how anything people might be saying affected his niece. He places his own good name above Abigail’s without thinking about how his priorities could potentially hurt her. “Proctor
Abigail leads the girls to the woods, Your Honor, and they have danced there naked … Mr. Parris discovered them himself in the dead of night… Parris I can only say, sir, that I never found any of them naked…” (Miller 187) After John Proctor states the fact that Parris did find the girls dancing in the woods naked, Parris denies it again to protect Abigail’s name but more so to make sure that no one speaks of the family as a whole. If his niece’s reputation is hurt as an effect his will be too so, he lies to protect himself without taking into consideration how his lying in the court will affect the case and the family’s reliability. Parris constantly protects Abigail’s reputation to in turn protect his own, but Abigail attempts to protect her own reputation multiple times. Many characters’ actions and incentives ultimately showed that they valued their reputation more than the effects of their said actions. The fact that in The Crucible people valued their reputation more than how it could potentially hurt someone, this relates to how people still today people will throw someone under the bus in order protect themselves.
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.
In the play, The Crucible by Arther Miller, the author depicts a theme of greed and revenge. The play takes place in 1962, in Salem, Massachusetts where infamous witch trials are held. The play is filled with revenge hungry and self motivated people, who are falsely accused of witchcraft and have their lives on the line. Rev Parris, Abigail Williams, and Thomas Putnam exhibit the many effects that greediness has on people and how easily it can ruin someone's life. Many people who were thought to be Godly righteous people were overtaken by greed, and the result led to an unexpected outcome of disappoint in either their life or someone close. There were three types of greed presented in this book, greed for money, greed for power, and greed for another person's spouse. Sometimes people who claim to be righteous and trustworthy often led to a disappointed truth who
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.
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.
The crucible, written by Arthur Miller, is about the Salem witch trials and how people react to hysteria created from the fear of witches. In the play, after hysteria breaks out, the Salem government starts persecute and hang people it believes are witches. This prompts people to start to accusing people of witchcraft. Some people who accuse others of committing witchcraft are Abigail Williams and Thomas Putnam. They do not accuse people of witchcraft to stop witchcraft, but for personal gain or to hurt others. Thomas Putnam, one of the many characters who takes advantage of the witch trials, is able to use the fear of witches to bend the court to his will. Hysteria causes people to believe claims that are clearly false. This allows Putnam to persecute his enemies. He and many other are able to get away with this because hysteria driven persecutions are not run like regular courts and the fact that witchcraft is an invisible crime allows evidence to be made up. The theme of The Crucible is when any persecution is driven by fear and people can and will manipulate the system so they can gain and hurt another.
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.
While reading The Crucible, by Arthur Miller, it had presented itself was many possible themes, but the theme that best fits was reputation. In salem one’s reputation is incredibly important, it is how they are presented to the world. John Proctor, Reverend Hale and Reverend Parris where the ones that that were most concerned with their reputation in Salem.
Arthur Miller’s play, The Crucible, is a great portrayal of humans and their struggles. This play takes place in the 1690’s in Salem, a small Puritan community based on a rigid social system, where an outbreak of rumors claiming witchcraft contaminated the small village. The witch hysteria was initiated by a group of young girls who were afraid of being accused of swaying from the strict regulations. This caused conflict among the people of the community and shows which characters act morality right in which situations. John Proctor, one of the main figures in the play, can proof his moral character during his life. But what makes your decisions and your character moral ? Proctor shows his
Now her concern for reputation is slightly different the Paris because he is worried about what other people will think about him even though he didn't have any actions while Abigail is concerned about her reputation because of her actions. In The Crucible Abigail Williams had an affair with John Proctor but this is a rumor to the people of Salem and she doesn't want people to think of her as a whore so she decides to deny it and lie by saying the reason why Elizabeth Proctor fired her was because she didn't want to do the work asked of her. She tells her uncle these lies by saying, ¨She hates me, uncle, she must, for I would not be her slave. It's a bitter woman, a lying, cold, sniveling woman, and I will not work for such a woman!¨. Because of her concern to defend her reputation she lies and creates more problems and drama in The
Moral Struggle is common theme in literature in which characters face internal conflicts which can lead to serious or trivial outcomes. Arthur Miller's play, “The Crucible,” is partially fictionalized and written about the Salem Witch Trials that occured in the year 1692 in Massachusetts. “The Crucible” emphasizes the idea that doing the right thing can cost the villagers their lives .
From the very beginning of the play it is obvious that all Parris cares about is himself and what the people are going to think of him. When Parris’ daughter, Ruth, is sick, and they don’t know what is wrong, his concern about himself over anyone else is clearly obvious. While his daughter is laying there in bed, his only concern is that she and Abigail were not involved with witchcraft, telling Abigail, “Abigail, I have fought here three long years to bend the stiff-necked people to me, and now when some good respect is rising for me in the parish, you compromise my very character. I have given you a home, child. I have put clothes upon your back - now give me an upright answer. Your name in the town - it is entirely white is it not?” (Miller 1130 Reverend Parris’ care about only his reputation and nothing else, not his family, not even his morals, becomes even more apparent when Parris lies to the court. Lying to the court is a serious and immoral offense, but Parris does not care about that, all he cares about is what the people of Salem think of him, it doesn’t matter what he seems to think of himself. When confronted in court about what he witnesses in the woods the night all of this chaos began, Parris lies in order to yet again keep the rumors of witchcraft out of his family and keep his name “white”. Although Parris knows he saw the
William Ellery Channing said “The great hope of society is in individual character.” The fate of society rests in the hands of the people who live in it. There are so many different types of people in the world, and each person impacts the world in a different way. Arthur Miller’s The Crucible, was written in the 1900s about events that happened in the 1600s. His purpose was to call out people’s actions and show the reader that hundreds of years later, nothing has changed. Many of the characters only care about themself and their own reputation. They do not care about what is actually going on in the society, as long as they are not looked down upon. It is hard to put other people before yourself, which is why most people do not do this. We criticize the way people acted in The Crucible, yet we act the same way.
The Salem Witch trials empower characters who are marginalized in society. In General, women have the lowest ranking when it comes to men and have very little to no option in life. They work as servants until they get married off and start having children. Adding on to being thus restricted, Abigail is a slave to John Proctors “needs”. He then takes away her innocents when he performs adultery with her. When he terminates their affair he arouses her spiteful jealousy. The puritan’s greatest fear is the defiance of god, so Abigail suspected witch craft and devil worship quickly brought the attention to the court in Salem. With Gods will, she and the girls quickly gain power over society. Tituba has a lower status than
Everyone is concerned with their reputation and how people view them. People could know nothing personal about someone, but immediately recall their reputation and the rumors about them. Having one bad story to one’s good name is often much more memorable and impactful than dozens of good ones. In The Crucible, Danforth refuses to postpone the hangings of seven individuals, in order to keep the good reputation of the court and himself.
Parris obtains a very churchly and holy figure with the town and would do anything to keep that social status. His niece, Abigail Williams, has been accused of taking part in witchcraft and if proven guilty, that would mean people would perceive him, being the uncle, as someone who is less holy and will surely lose all his respect, “Now tell me true, Abigail. And I pray you feel the weight of truth upon you, for now my ministry’s at stake, my ministry and perhaps your cousin’s life. Whatever abomination you have done, give me all of it now, for I dare not be taken unaware when I go before them down there” ( Miller 1104 ). Reverend Parris is pleading with Abigail to speak the truth of what she has really done, but later in the play tries to cover up her actions and makes sure no one discovers what in truth occurred in the forest with her and all her friends. He is in a way aiming to change the story himself in attempts to possibly convince others that his niece is not guilty. It is evident that Reverend Parris is striving to save himself more than he is trying to save Abigail. This is supporting the fact that Parris does not acknowledge that the truth is far more valuable than some pitiful