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Arthur millers importance to society
The crucible literary analysis
The crucible literary analysis
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To Ask for Forgiveness, You must Forgive Yourself First
Arthur Miller’s award winning play “The Crucible” wasn't the only thing that attributed to his stardom. Miller also had many other success as a playwright such as “All My Sons” and “Death of a Salesman”. Arthur Miller grew up in the early nineteen-hundreds and during the occurrence of “The Red Scarce” and being of Jewish and Polish ancestry, it influenced his play, “The Crucible”. John Proctor is the protagonist in that well-known play that is facing the consequences of his major sin. John Proctor's yearning to be free of his sin and self-acceptance, was pushed by his spiritual strength in order to find goodness within himself by confessing to free his persecuted
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Elizabeth has been called to court to be tried for witchcraft, leaving John in a hysteria moment,”I will fall like an ocean on that court! Fear nothing, Elizabeth”(36), promising to clear her name. John’s spiritual strength gave him the power, willingness, and self-determination to go head-to-head with his sin. This quotation shows the willingness of John to bring justice for his accused wife. Elizabeth has been accused by Abigail, linking in from John’s earlier major sin. John has tried to remove and unlock every chain his sin put on him, and now it has put a chain on his own wife. Abigail’s vengeance and John’s sin will cause him to lose his wife, who is suffering from his own actions and faults. John, to uphold his reputation as a good Christian man and overcome his sin, must go to court and protect and free his wife. Shown here in this scene, “My wife will never die for me! I will bring your guts into your mouth but that goodness will not die for me!(38), John is hesitant to speak in front of the court since his sin might be revealed, but he will not let his wife perish for him. John is determined to prove his wife’s innocence and so he is bringing Mary along for validation in his claims. John’s spiritual strength powers him to morally not allow someone else to take the burden of his sin so he is facing the music and realizing his own goodness to protect his wife instead of
Miller presents the character of John Proctor in an important way to show two sides to his character. These qualities make him have the most important role in ‘The Crucible.’ The key events that show him in this way is when the audience find out about the affair, how he tries to defend his wife, his confession in court and his hanging for the sake of others. Through the events in The Crucible, Miller then portrays John Proctor’s character with tension and suspense. This then makes the audience question whether or not he is a good man.
Corruption has always existed in our society since the beginning to present time due to conspiracies such as the witch trials and the communism era. The Crucible by Arthur Miller was written during the era of communism to mere the hysteria. The Crucible is about the Salem witch trials in Salem Massachusetts in 1692. It’s a corrupt witch trial in Salem that’s due to false accusations of witchcraft for personal gains. John Proctor is the protagonist in the story The Crucible who goes through the ultimate test by choosing his reputation over integrity. He also had an affair with a young girl named Abigail who is the antagonist and is the main reason the bloodshed is occurring in Salem. Initially, Proctor hesitates to deal with his sin, but as the play progresses, he begins to understand its effects; this ultimately leads him to find goodness in himself as he stands for the truth.
John is a loving husband. He proves that by telling Elizabeth, “It is well seasoned” (p. 48) in reference to the rabbit she cooked, in which he had to add salt to. He likes to make her happy, which shows he loves her, and so he asks, “Would that please you?” (p.48) He is asking in reference to buying a heifer for her if the crops are good. He assures her he will “fall like an ocean on that court” by which he shows his love in caring for her freedom (p.73). To the court he admits he has “known her” he is talking about Abigail and their affair (p.102). He is showing his love towards his wife by throwing away his freedom, life, honor, dignity, and pride to prove Elizabeth’s innocence and have her freedom. He tells Elizabeth to “show honor now” as he is to be hanged in the gallows (p. 133). He is showing his love for her by letting her know he cares about her enough to want her to be strong even though he is to die.
She initially believes she is flawless, which makes her judgmental toward John. However, while John and Elizabeth are apart for 3 months, Elizabeth finally accepts her flaws. In Act III, she confirms to John, “I have sins of my own to count. It needs a cold wife to prompt lechery” (Miller 127). Elizabeth realizes her spite toward John. She accepts that John is not the only sinner; she is a sinner for judging him. Not only does Elizabeth accept her imperfections, but she accepts John’s decision: to be falsely hanged for witchcraft or confess to a lie in order to save his life. While John and Elizabeth are expressing their last words to one another, she tells John, “Do what you will. But let none be your judge” (127). Elizabeth yearns for John’s survival, but she will not stand against any choice that he makes. She confirms to John that he should let no one be his judge, even her; instead he should be his own judge. Elizabeth’s forgiveness of John helps her accept whatever decision he makes. Whether his choice is to lie to save his life or to be hanged for not confessing, her love for John will enable her to accept his choice. When John finally comes to the conclusion that he will not confess, Elizabeth’s heart is crushed knowing he will die for a crime he did not commit. M.N Jimerson explains how “many compromise their values in order to survive,” unlike John who does not compromise (38). She accepts
Arthur Miller wrote The Crucible as a protest paper to the brutality of the Red Scare .The Red Scare was the inoperable fear of Communism within the United States. This scare was caused as a result of the Cold War in the 1950’s. During the Cold War the US was scared of an attack of the Soviets, and the Soviets were equally as scared of an attack upon them by us. Joseph McCarthy, a Senator from Wisconsin, saw this fear as an opportunity to rise to power. McCarthy had many supporters that were primarily Republicans, Catholics, Conservative Protestants, and Blue-collar workers. McCarthy ruthlessly utilized scare tactics to get people to believe and follow him blindly into his accusations as to innocent citizens supporting Communism and either having them jailed or killed by providing phony evidence. Arthur Miller was not intimidated by this he wrote the Crucible as “an act of desperation” (Miller). This desperation was to counteract the lack of speaking out about personal beliefs during the Red Scare for the fear of breaking the law. In The Crucible, Miller wrote about a character named John Proctor who is very similar to Miller himself. Both the author and the character had to overturn the same personal paralyzing guilt, not speaking out soon enough. Nonetheless, their eventual overcoming of this guilt leads them to becoming the most forthright voice against the madness around them.
John Proctor plays the leading role in The Crucible by Arthur Miller. He was persistent, honest, and full of integrity. He was simply, a man with pride. A wise woman once said, "Do what you feel in your heart to be right--for you'll be criticized anyway. You'll be damned if you do, and damned if you don't." (Eleanor Roosevelt). Proctor was the protagonist of the dramatic piece of literature.
Analysis of The Crucible by Arthur Miller ‘You have made your magic now, for now I do think I see some shred of goodness in John Proctor.’ Assess the developments in John Proctor’s character that validate this statement. How does Miller create a sense of tension and suspense in the build up to this climatic moment in Act 4? In Arthur Miller’s play The Crucible he has used many dramatic devices in order to create tension and build up to the climaxes of the story.
John realizes that his good name was at risk of being destroyed due to his edgy marriage. After his wife is accused against, he sacrifices his good name himself to get his wife to be released. Elizabeth has the reputation to never tell a lie, and John knows this so he decides to confess to the court about his affair with Abigail while Elizabeth isn’t in the room because he thinks that she will tell the truth about the affair and not lie to keep his name. But when Elizabeth came in she lied to save his name, because she did not know what he did. Having this occur, shows that John And Elizabeth may be lying about the whole situation which makes them look
The Crucible – Forgiveness & nbsp; The Healing Power Of Forgiveness - The Gift of Reconciliation. The weak can never forgive. Forgiveness is the attribute of the strong." --- Mahatma Gandhi & nbsp; Forgiveness is a process of inner healing. For most of the people in The Crucible, they did not need to necessarily forgive others but forgive themselves.
Elizabeth Proctor has many moments which show how she is changing throughout the play. When she is trying to persuade Proctor to tell the court that Abigail said the girls were not practicing witchcraft, Elizabeth blurts out, "John, if it were not Abigail that you must go to hurt, would you falter now? I think not." Elizabeth is confessing that she believes Proctor had an affair with Abigail. She is giving him no mercy by showing that she will never forget what happened. When Elizabeth is being accused of stabbing Abigail, she instructs Proctor to go to court, and tells him "Oh, John, bring me soon!" Elizabeth is gaining trust in John. She is forgetting his act of adultery and now has faith that he will defend her. At the end of the play, when Proctor is sentenced to death, Elizabeth says that "he [has] his goodness now. God forbid I take it from him!" Elizabeth is admitting that John was righteous to confess his sin of lechery, and she should have pardoned him. She considers herself impure for not showing mercy, and does not want to take away from his glory. Elizabeth has transformed from an ignorant victim of adultery, to a forgiving, loving wife.
In Arthur Miller’s The Crucible, various characters, whether it is from physical trials or unseen personal struggles, experience some kind of major conflict. There are those who spend every day in fear, wondering whether or not they will be falsely accused of witchcraft. There are others who struggle with more internal trials, such as forgiving those who have hurt them. The protagonist, John Proctor, was a man of strong moral constitution, and held himself to a high standard for the sake of his good name and family. As a result of this, he struggled with a major internal conflict throughout the play.
Arthur Miller’s The Crucible is a play that discusses many issues and spurs contemplation within the reader. While reading this play, because of the controversy of many issues detailed within, it is difficult for one not to take a look at one’s own morals and determine what one would do if placed in a similar situation. The key issues discussed within this play, the effects of hysteria, marital betrayal, and the murderous powers of lies, are portrayed intriguingly and effectively. The lessons that can be learned from The Crucible are still quite applicable today.
When Proctor is put on trial, Danforth brings in Elizabeth to questions about the affair. Elizabeth must feel her heart racing because his life is in her hands. The words that came out of Elizabeth’s mouth is taken seriously. When Danfourth questions Elizabeth he says “Look at me! To your own knowledge, has John Proctor even committed the crime of lechery?”(Miller 105). Elizabeth answers faintly and says “No, sir”(Miller 105). At that moment, things went terribly wrong. Elizabeth tries to protect Proctor’s name, so she does not tell the truth. Little does she know, Proctor confesses beforehand. Obviously, she does this because no matter what, she still loves him. After the trial, Elizabeth talks to John about the situation. When Elizabeth soothes John about the situation, she says “John, it come to naught that I should forgive you, if you’ll not forgive yourself” (Miller 126). Elizabeth’s forgiveness makes John want to keep lying. If he knows she is okay with it, he will deny it to others. Her opinion is so important to him because he wants the best for her. Although, he decides to confess. This proves Elizabeth does not want him to die. Finally , after everything Proctor has been through, she lies to the court, so they do not hang him. This proves Elizabeth is a loyal
At first he seems as if he is only into himself and trying to make things right with Elizabeth. As a man he knows he messed his relationship up, and he tries making it better and wants to earn her trust back. Throughout the play he begins helping Mary in court, and sort of sacrifices his freedom for her. He tries helping Elizabeth because she gets taken to jail and she might be pregnant with his baby. After the court goes on and on, Proctor has enough and breaks down and yells, “God is dead!”, and that makes him have to go into jail. If John were to confess his wrongs then he would get out of jail and so would Elizabeth for at least one year to have her baby and to take care of it some. One morning John is going to get hung, but after talking to Elizabeth one time he admits he wants his life. They ask John to sign proof papers for his telling truth, but he refuses to put his name on paper and wants them to believe his words, but the refuse, and John gets hung all because he is trying to keep his own name after all this.
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.