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Character study of the crucible by Arthur Miller
Analysis of the Crucible by Arthur Miller
Character study of the crucible by Arthur Miller
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Live or Die Confession
The Crucible by Arthur Miller is set in Salem, Massachusetts in 1692, in which John Proctor was obliged to confess to witchcraft and live or plead not guilty and die. Abigail Williams and other girls avoided being accused of witchcraft by falsely blaming others. One of Abigail’s targets was Elizabeth Proctor, John Proctor’s wife. Abigail specifically targeted Elizabeth because she had an affair with Proctor and fell in love him; therefore, she wanted Goody Proctor dead. Proctor realized he truly loved his wife, so he wanted to fight for her innocence. Things did not fall into place as he expected, and he was accused of witchcraft. When someone was accused of witchcraft, he or she had the choice to confess to witchcraft and live or plead not guilty and be hanged. Proctor did not confess to a lie because he believed it was a sin to lie and would have set a bad example of integrity for his children;
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He believed that if he lied, he would be damned by God, and it would set a poor example of integrity for his children. In trial, Judge Danforth asked Mary Warren if she knew that “God damns all liars?” (1084, Miller). This was more of a statement than a question, for he clearly wanted to intimidate Mary. Many people believed that if you lied, you would go to hell. Proctor states that he has three children and asks how he would teach his children to be honorable men, when he was not going to be considered one himself. (1110, Miller). He would not be considered honorable because he would have confessed that he was a witch; that he wasn’t a man of God. Some say that Proctor would be damned by God and sent to Hell if he lied by saying that he committed witchcraft. In addition, people say his children would not see him as a good role model if he had confessed to being a witch. He chose to die and feel like he did the moral thing, instead of finding out the outcome of confessing to a
20 were executed” (Blumberg). The Crucible setting is based on The Salem Witch trials, but the plot is based on The Red Scare. The author employs strict tone and rhetorical questions to convey power. This connects to the purpose of how a occurring can devastate a whole community and the people in it. Arthur Miller, the author of The Crucible, employs empowerment by expressing the challenges within each character and their influence on the trial through the characters John Proctor, Abigail, and Danforth.
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.
Have you ever told a lie to protect yourself or someone you love? People lie for their own purposes. Some people lie for themselves or for their close one. They depend on the lies so much that they do not care that their lies might hurt others. In Arthur Miller’s play, The Crucible, almost all the characters lie for their own desires and to protect their own interests. Even though lies are forbidden in their religion, some people are blind to understand the punishment of lying. The concept of lying to save oneself is also evident in “Fear Was Reason For Lying About Shooting, Woman Says” by Mary Spicuzza. The article highlights how a woman hid the truth about witnessing a murder just for the sake of her own life. Another article, “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.
To begin with, Proctor was considered a strong person in the community, and he was respected for it. He was a handsome, hard-working, and revered man in the community. To the people of Salem, he was a dedicated farmer that had done nothing to blacken his family name. His attitude was “. . . even-tempered, and [he was] not easily lead. . .” by the rumors and hysteria surrounding Salem at the time of the witch accusations (Miller 21). When other were jumping to the conclusion of witchcraft and starting to fear, Proctor kept a realistic, skeptical look on the situation. Contrary to the ideas of the time, Proctor would miss church and openly disagree with Reverend Parris (Scheidt and Calandra). Despite this, he had a strong belief in God and followed his own moral standards more than strict rules the Puritan church set out at that time. He was revered in Salem as an honest man who always spoke his mind, and who had the ability to silence the hypocrites with his quick logic (Sparknotes Editors). Whenever Reverend Parris would try to tear Proctor down with criticism on his church attendance and Sunday activities, Proctor would always cou...
...ecause it would be a lie to claim that he has never lied. Elizabeth says that she has her own sins, and only a bad wife would want lechery. Finally Proctor decides that he will confess himself, and then he asks if what he does is even evil. When Proctor agrees to save himself by admitting to witchcraft, Danforth demands a written confession and says that he must prove the purity of his soul to others, so he demands that Proctor accuse others. Hale says that it is good enough for Proctor to confess to God, but Danforth still wants a written statement. Proctor refuses, because he wants to keep his name good for the respect of his children. Danforth refuses to accept his confession, and orders that he be lynched. Hale begs Elizabeth to plead with Proctor to sign a confess, but Elizabeth claims that Proctor now has his goodness, and nobody should take it away from him.
The Salem witch trials were a time period when any individual could be accused of witchcraft for numerous reasons. In The Crucible, Arthur Miller focuses on the deviation of the trials and how the town’s most religious and honest members of the community are tried with witchcraft. John Proctor, the town’s most honest man, is accused of being a witch and must decide if he should confess or not. Proctor’s confession will stop the town from rebelling and uphold the reputations of Deputy Governor Danforth and Reverend Parris. Hale also wishes for Proctor’s confession so he does not have to feel responsible if Proctor were to be hanged for his witchcraft accusations. The confession of Proctor would convince others in the town to confess to their
This reveals that the lies and deceit told throughout the play drive the plot, as characters, such as Elizabeth and John Proctor, in the play are significantly affected by the accusations made against them. This is revealed, as Proctor is too concerned with his reputation to confess his affair with Abigail and end the witch trials. Throughout the play, the imagery of God and the Devil is directly tied in with lies and deceit. The Crucible is set in a Puritan theocratic society, where every citizen is concerned with religious piety and purity.
A lie can protect the integrity of someone when the truth is nowhere to be found. A lie becomes one 's reality when all hope is lost. Lies can protect bare emotions or embrace one 's false accusations, however once said the truth no longer exists. Spoken with words or depicted by actions, lies evolve from innate feelings within and conspire individuals to act in detrimental ways. The propensity of individuals to lie within the Puritan Society develops from the fear of not fitting within the standards and expectations a Puritan is expected to have. While a lie is a considered a vast sin in the Puritan community, many rely on this sin to covert other ones previously made. In Arthur Miller 's tragic play The Crucible,
Many characters in The Crucible fall under the trap of lying, if not to other people, then to themselves. The Crucible is a fictional retelling of events in history, surrounding the Salem witch trials. It takes place in Salem, Massachusetts during 1692 and 1693. Additionally, Miller wrote the play as an allegory to mccarthyism, which is the practice of making accusations without evidence. In the play, Arthur Miller develops the theme of lies and deceit by showing Abigail lying for her own benefit, John Proctor committing adultery, and Elizabeth lying to protect her husband.
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
Another important work Miller wrote, The Crucible, takes place in Salem, Massachusetts, during the 17th century. It is a time when jealousy and suspicion poisoned the thinking of an entire town. Neighbor turned against neighbor when events happened that could not be explained. Accusations turned into a mad hunt for witches who did not exist. One of the main characters of the play is John Proctor, a well-respected man with a good name in the town. As the play develops, John Proctor’s moral dilemma becomes evident: he must decide whether to lie and confess to witchcraft in order to save his life, or to die an honest man, true to his beliefs.
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 agrees with the lens because in Puritan society of 1692 in Salem, Massachusetts, hunts are being held to find those who have sinned and practice witchcraft but unfortunately innocent people are accused. The Crucible is set in Salem, Massachusetts and John Proctor, the protagonist, is a farmer who is found by his wife having an affair with a teenager. Throughout the play, John is trying to make the truth known to a court that has no interest in listening. The conflict in this story occurs when people are being falsely accused of practicing witchcraft for reasons such as revenge or the desire for another’s land. An example of this is Abigail’s desire to be with John Proctor. She wants to be with him so badly that she accuses his wife, Elizabeth Proctor, or “witchery” in order to marry John Proctor. “A man may think God sleeps, but God sees everything, I know it now. I beg you, sir, I beg you-see her what she is…She thinks to dance with me on my wife’s grave! And well she might, for I thought of her softly. God help me, I lusted, and there is promise in such sweat. But it is a whore’s vengeance…” This is a quote from Proctor when he is confessing to the court about his affair with Abigail in order to save his wife and the other innocent people who have been accused. Other examples include the part of the play where Giles tells the court that Putnam is killing his neighbors for their land. “…If Jacobs hangs for a witch he forfeit up his property-that’s law! And there is none but Putnam with the coin to buy so great a piece. This man is killing his neighbors for their land!” This is a quote from Giles Corey from when he claimed that Thomas Putnam was killing others for their land. The entire play was made to be a symbol of the anti-Communist “witch-hunts” of the 1950s, the time of the author, Arthur Miller. The themes in this play are hysteria, reputation, and intolerance.
Arthur Miller’s play, The Crucible, is a statement to the 17th century witchcraft. The Crucible renders John Proctor as a puritan, a husband, and a highly respected man. His name is his prime possession. John Proctor is a farmer and a villager who is faced with intense dilemma. He also commits adultery, which becomes his tragic flaw. Therefore he is to make a decision to tell the truth and ruin his name or lie and save his most prized possession. By this John Proctor is portrayed as an honest, tenacious, and faithful man.