The Crucible – The Lessons Learned Great events, whether they are beneficial or tragic ones, bring change in a person. These scenarios can give one an entirely new perspective on life, and turn around his way of thinking. Events such as the Salem Witch Trials show the people involved what they could not see before. In Arthur Miller's The Crucible, Elizabeth Proctor, Reverend Hale, and John Proctor gain valuable insight into themselves, as well as others. 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. Reverend Hale arrives in Salem thinking that he will become a hero and rid Salem of the devil. Hale is speaking to the townspeople when he says, "Have no fear now--we shall find him out if he has come among us, and I mean to crush him utterly if he has shown his face!" Hale thinks that there is an actual devil in the town, and they must defeat it. He is trying to show the people of Salem that he is their savior, and that he knows exactly what to do.
The focus of Miller’s The Crucible is an appalling witch trial that morfs the once-peaceful town of Salem into a cutthroat slaughterhouse. As a lucrative playwright and a not-so-subtle allegory author, Miller is a seasoned wordsmith who addresses people akin to himself, and is not secretive about that information. The Crucible best serves its purpose as a learning device and a social statement, especially at the time of its publishing. Miller‘s piece showcases the appeals in an easy-to-identify manner that is perfect for middle or high school students who are new to the appeals, or for English majors who have no problem pinpointing them, making this play ideal for a classroom setting.
The Crucible was a rather strong book, it had battles both internal and external, there were also betrayals and vendettas… but a few stuck strong to their morals of what was wrong, and what was right. After the girl’s acts were, undoubtedly, in the eyes of the law, seen as entirely real, people who would not otherwise have been accused of witchcraft were now eligible to be under Satan’s spell. One John Proctor, saw himself above the nonsense, that witches could not exist in Salem, his wife, his children nor him; But, when Mary Warren said to the court that he used his spirit to drag her into court to testify against the girls, the judges deemed her word more truthful than his. After actively and repeatedly denying the claims, he was sentenced to death, for only a witch could lie in the face of god.
Elizabeth and John start to feel the tension when Elizabeth tries to convince John about going to court and persecuting Abigail but he refuses. When he disputes with his wife he argues, “you will judge me no more Elizabeth I have good reason to charge fraud on Abigail and I will think on it” (193). Proctor is not completely satisfied about throwing Abigail under the bus because he doesn’t want to initially hurt her and he would lose his respect in the town if he did. So he isn’t convinced about the fact that his wife is trying to get him to charge fraud at this point of the play. Soon afterward Mary the proctor’s servant comes home with news that Elizabeth has been convicted of witchcraft as well and was arrested by the sheriff in town to be brought to the trials.
Early on in the play, the reader comes to understand that John Proctor has had an affair with Abigail Williams while she was working in his home. Abigail believed that if she got rid of Elizabeth Proctor, then John Proctor would become her own. John Proctor had an affair with Abigail, but for him it was just lust, while Abigail believed it to be true love. She told John Proctor that she loved him, and once she destroys Elizabeth, they would be free to love one another. John is horrified at this, but can do nothing to convince Abigail that he is not in love with her. Because of Abigail's twisted plot to secure John for herself, Elizabeth is arrested. John Proctor has to wrestle with the decision of what to do. He knows that he has sinned; yet he does not want to hurt his beloved wife. This is partly why he is willing to die. He knows he has already sinned.
1. What is the difference between a. and a. In The Crucible, two characters that serve as foil for each other are Elizabeth Proctor and Abigail. Elizabeth Proctor is known as an honest woman, while Abigail is consistently seen as a dishonest person whose lies result in the widespread paranoia of the Salem witch trials. For instance, after she dances in the forest with other girls, she forbids them from telling the townsfolk about it and accuses other people of witchcraft, which leads to their deaths. Another example is the fact that she had an affair with John Proctor, Elizabeth’s husband, and tried to conceal it because she did not want her reputation to get ruined.
Is there any idea worth more than a human life? In The Crucible by Arthur Miller, John Proctor decides that he has nothing left to live for, and therefore becomes a martyr. The question for him or one in his position would be whether or not there exist causes worth dying for and if his position is one such case. There is no principle worth more than a person’s life and therefore principles worth dying for, only principles worth living for.
The Crucible – Characters and Changes & nbsp; Change is good for the future. " We hear the catchy phrase everywhere. From company slogans to motivational speeches, our world seems to impose this idea that change is always a good thing. Assuming that the change is for the better, it is probably a true statement in most cases. The root of this idea seems to come from the notion that we are dissatisfied with the state that we are in, so, in order to create a more enjoyable environment, we adjust.
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.
Early in the play, Elizabeth discovered a secret affair between her husband, John Proctor, and their servant, Abby. This led Elizabeth to fire Abigail on the spot and continue with John. Elizabeth is done with Abby, claiming “I have forgot Abigail, and - And I”(Miller 54). Elizabeth wants to move on into the future, but Abigail is stuck in the past. This allows Elizabeth’s loyalty to her spouse to shine. The fact that Abigail, and even John Proctor have committed adultery, and Elizabeth kept John, shows how true Elizabeth is to her morals. In fact, it is the wrongdoings of Abigail that show through Elizabeth in a positive manner. This is the first case where we see a side of Elizabeth that is brought out through the actions of Abigail Williams. However, Elizabeth this may seem like the end of Abigail Williams, but it is far from the end. Abby feels she is the right woman for John Proctor, not Elizabeth. In an act of revenge, Abigail blames a needle found in her stomach on Elizabeth, claiming witchcraft, and having Elizabeth arrested. When Ezekiel Cheever bears an arrest warrant, Elizabeth is surprisingly calm, stating “John- I think I must go with them”(Miller 77).
In document B, Charles G. Finney, 1835 said “When the church are… awakened and reformed, the reformation and salvation will follow.” This quote proved that Finney was influenced by the Second Awakening; The Second Awakening helped expand democratic ideals. In doc. C Patrick Reason designed an image showing a African American woman
The Crucible was written in the early 1950s as an exploration of events which took place in Massachusetts in 1692. What does the play have to offer an audience in 2014?
At its core, the Second Great Awakening was a religious response to the uncertainty of the period. The nation at the time was redrawing its boundaries westward to accommodate the booming population. The established Protestant denominations of the day, the Congregationalists and Anglicans, had failed to create their much desired religious utopias and discontent in their traditional beliefs set in. Through the means of renewed religious enthusiasm, a movement spread throughout the young nation seeking to reverse the spiritual apathy that had set in many of its Christian adherents. With the growing diversity of American settlers on the frontier and within the states, the charismatic leaders of the Second Great Awakening reached out to the common man.
Many ideals coming out of the Great Awakening had a significant amount of influence on the political literature and rhetoric of the American Revolution. The Great Awakening was started as a resistance to the growing formality of churches in America (The Great Awakening.”). The Great Awakening is commonly known for the “emotional enthusiasm of its participants” when referring to the mass crowds and people fainting frequently from overwhelming emotions (“Lesson 1”). More importantly, the Great Awakening gave American people an identity and a unity the country never before had (“The Great Awakening.”). The Great Awakening encouraged a negative attitude against the British Crown while also creating a moral and religious framework justifying resistance.
The Second Great Awakening was a reformation started by Protestant leaders in the hopes of creating a perfect society. This movement took place around 1790 and continued until 1840. The goal of this Awakening was to create a Utopian Society which would eliminate sin and would produce flawlessness. In order to obtain Utopia changes were made in society and the way aspects of daily life were viewed. Two of the more significant facets during this time were abolitionism and temperance.
The First Great Awakening was a religious revival from the 1730s-70s, where we see an increase in the importance of Christianity, in addition to a challenge to traditional authority. One of the most important causes was known as The Enlightenment. This was a movement away from religion where individuals were becoming more encouraged to make decisions based on reason and logic rather than faith. People were starting to make decisions dependent on experiences and facts, rather than the individual beliefs of their religion. This can be credited to philosophers of that time advocating that, should people want change in their society, they should rely on education and reason to do so. John Locke, an English philosopher was one of the most well known contributors to the beginning of the Enlightenment. Before the Great Awakening, there was an increase in church absenteeism and religions piety was waning, meaning that the people were becoming less pure and less religion. In order to reverse the cause of the Enlightenment, we have people like, Jonathan Edwards, a Christian preacher, who is recognized as starting the Great Awakening, along with the simultaneous migration of German settlers who ignited a spark of Pietism in some New England states.