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The relevance of the crucible to a modern audience
The crucible: how is it relevant to today's society
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Crucible Essay
What is a crucible? A crucible is a situation of severe trial, or in which different elements interact, leading to the creation of something new. Many trials occurred throughout the book and play The Crucible written by Arthur Miller, and that is why I think this play was called The Crucible. You can see through the characters’ own struggles through the course of the play that trials and hardships are just a part of life, and all of their trials are real world problems in today’s society as well.
John and Elizabeth Proctor faced a lot of trials through the duration of the play. To begin with, John Proctor cheats on Elizabeth with a younger girl named Abigail. As if that is not hard enough, Elizabeth gets put into jail for
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being accused of witchcraft during the Salem Witch Trials while being pregnant with John’s baby at the same time.
At the beginning of the play, we all see John Proctor as a bad guy for cheating on his wife, but as we continue to read we see that he is not that bad of a guy after all. Yes, he may have cheated on his wife, but we all make mistakes; we are all human. After his affair with Abigail, we see John fight really hard to try and save his wife. He pleads with Abigail to set his wife free after Abigail falsely accused her of witchcraft. “My wife goes to trial this morning, Abigail” (Miller, 50). Here John is telling Abigail that his wife goes to trial the next day because of Abigail’s wrongdoing against Elizabeth. He goes on to tell Abigail that he will fight for her, and he will do and say anything to try and save her, even if that means destroying his reputation. John made a mistake, but he tried and did everything he could to fix it. What we sometimes fail to see is that families do …show more content…
have problems and issues. Not all families are like your typical happily married couple with three children, a dog, and a nice warm house to come home to after work with a plate of food waiting for you on the table. In the real world, families face trials and go through hardships just like John and Elizabeth Proctor in the play. Families do struggle with adultery, separation, and divorce. Although John and Elizabeth Proctor faced a lot of trials, they were not the only two people impacted by the Salem Witch Trials. Despite the fact that Abigail caused most of the harm and drama throughout the play, we as readers fail to see that Abigail is going through her own problems and trials just like the rest of the characters in the book. Abigail didn’t have the perfect the normal teenage life you would assume she would have. She is stuck living with her uncle who is a reverend in town and that nobody really actually likes. To top it off, from what I gathered from the text, Abigail has no real or true friends to turn to. Abigail even tries to explain this to John Proctor, but John doesn’t comfort her. John tells Abigail that he thought many times to come and see her. Abigail responds with, “Why didn’t you? I am so alone in the world now” (Miller, 48). Abigail is a sad and lonely girl. She wants affection and love. She wants these things from the one person she can’t have it from, and I think this was caused by not getting the love and attention she deserved to get at home growing up. It is hard growing up with no parents and family to fall back on. Although many of us don’t realize it, not all of us have the perfect family life. Some people are not fortunate enough to grow up with one set of two loving parents, and that can lead to deeper issues and problems than we suspect. Some do have families but deal with a bad home life. I often take my family for granted and don’t realize how lucky I am to come home to a supportive family. Abigail caused a lot damage, but the damage may had been done to her first. Putting yourself in someone else’s shoes is one of the toughest things you can do, but it is one of the most rewarding and eye opening things you can do as well. There were many characters that had a very minor or little role throughout the play.
One character we don’t see as much but still had an impact on the book was Rebecca Nurse. Many people see Rebecca Nurse as the perfect Christian women. The town kind of looks up to her to be a pillar in their community. As the play goes on we see Rebecca Nurse get into some trouble. She is accused of witchcraft. Even in time of despair, Rebecca Nurse stands up and is the women her community needs. Rebecca Nurse states, “Pray, John, be calm. Mr. Parris, I think you’d best send Reverend Hale back as soon as he come. This will set us all arguin’ again the the society, and we thought to have peace this year. I think we ought to rely on the doctor now, and good prayer” (Miller, 16). A lot of people look up to Rebecca Nurse even after the fact that she was accused of witchcraft. Sometimes bad things happen to good people, and that’s just apart of life. We don’t always realize why, but I strongly believe everything happens for a reason. How you handle the situation is what really matters. The real world will knock you down every once in a while, but it’s your choice to get back up or remain down. Rebecca Nurse stayed calm through her situation. Sometimes our world is hard to live in, but I think Rebecca Nurse is a great example of how to handle yourself when life gets you
down. Like I said before, there were many crucibles and trials that occurred throughout this play, and things like that continue to happen in our world today. The character portrayed above and their problems through the course of the play help us to open our eyes to that. Elizabeth and John Proctor, Abigail, and Rebecca Nurse’s trials help us see why Arthur Miller named his play The Crucible. Some trials have a good outcome, and some have bad outcomes. Hardships in your life will come and go, but each one has a great lesson to learn from it.
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.
Firstly, John Proctor is not seen to be a good man because in chapter one is affair with Abigail is exposed. “Give me a word, John. A soft word. (Her concentrated desire destroys his smile.) From this it can be seen that before they did have an affair but now it is over. The personal pronoun ‘me’ shows how she wants him all to herself and that the meeting is held in secret. The word ‘desire destroy’ in the stage directions is then used to contradict her feelings as Miller suggests how their affair is now over but Abigail doesn’t want it to be and that she still loves Proctor. From this quote it is then shown that John Proctor can’t be a good man if he committed adultery. However, John Proctor also speaks to Abigail to mention how their affair is mentioned and how their affair to him was at his moment of weakness when his wife, Elizabeth was ill. As it was a mistake Proctor mentions how Abigail should, “Wipe it out of mind.” This shows that he wants to forget it ever happened and that he also doesn’t want anybody to find out about this. From this it shows that John Proctor is not a good and as when his wife was ill and when he was at his weakest he committed a sin. If the people of Salem were to hear...
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.
John Proctor a well-respected man in the city of Salem has a deep secret that plays a major role later on in the story. He had an intimate affair with a younger single girl named Abigail which he regrets greatly. Proctor shows his disgust when he argues with Abigail by insisting, “Abby I never give you hope to wait for me” (page168). Proctor exclaims that he surely regrets his sin and doesn’t want Abigail to think that he loves her and not his own wife. Although Proctor may still have feelings about Abigail he reassures her that he will never have emotional relationships with her ever again. He had the ultimate opportunity to get back at Abigail and stop the witch trials from happening when he meets Abigail alone in the woods; upon their encounter she confesses to John, “We were dancing in the woods last night and my uncle leaped in ...
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.
John Proctor was just one example of how the characters in the play underwent changes in regards to selfishness and he exhibited the most change. He showed it is important to think of others before you think of yourself and that past sins, motivated by your own wants, can come back to haunt you, and in his case cause a great number of problems.
A crucible refers to a harsh test, and in The Crucible, by Arthur Miller, each person is challenged in a severe test of his or her character or morals. Many more people fail than pass, but three notable characters stand out. Reverend John Hale, Elizabeth Proctor, and John Proctor all significantly change over the course of the play.
A crucible is a severe test of patients or belief, a trial. The play The Crucible is a journey through the trials of many townspeople caused by the superstitious belief in witchcraft. In The Crucible, Arthur Miller progresses and evolves the outlooks and views of the townspeople of Salem and shows how events, people, and catastrophes cause the characters to change their views on whether the people prosecuted were guilty or innocent of witchcraft. Reverend John Hale changes his view, more and more drastically as the play advances, as a result of the events that he underwent and the experiences he had. Soon he had a total belief in the innocence of all those convicted and hung in Salem.
Crucible- a severe test, a hard trial or also could be define as a pot for melting metals. A severe trail could be as other then a physical it also could be mentally a severe trial like person verses self. In The Crucible, Miller reflects the theme that pressure can force people from there can force their morals. The characters in The Crucible have morals that they must up hold to be accepted into the town and church. It is a struggle to keep these values when there are moral hazards like desires, greed, hate, and obsession.
What does the word crucible mean? The word crucible means a severe test or trial. Throughout the novel, The Crucible, many of the characters go through their own crucible. These trials have a major or minor impact on the characters life throughout the novel. These trials all come together creating the story based on the calamity in America around 1952, which inspired Arthur Miller to write this well known novel. In the novel, there are many different examples from various characters about life lessons and choices. Although the book and play are very similar they do share many differences.
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.
John Proctor is an honest, though harsh, man who is clearly the protagonist of The Crucible. Before the beginning of the play, John had an affair with Abigail Williams, a girl who worked in his household, which was abruptly ended when Elizabeth Proctor, John's wife, fired her. This event causes Abigail to desire revenge against Elizabeth while she still pines for John. Once the trials are well underway, Abigail accuses Elizabeth of being a witch, which leads to her arrest. John goes to the court in defense of his wife, where he reveals that he did indeed committed adultery with Abigail in an attempt to expose her as a fraud and a liar. Unfortunately, John's appeal falls on deaf ears and he is arrested as well. While his wife manages to get a temporary stay of execution, due to the fact that she is pregnant at the time of the trials, which in the end saves her by insuring her life until the chaos, hysteria, and persecution comes to an end, John is sentenced to death. The play ends with his hanging, but his death puts an end to the trials.
The Crucible is a play which brings to our attention many timeless issues. The nature of good and evil, power and its corruption, honour and integrity and our tendency to create scapegoats for all manner of problems are all brought up through the course of the play - sometimes in very dramatic fashion.
John Proctor is both flawed and honorable. After having an affair with Abigail. His wife has been unable to forgive him for this, and their marriage is unhappy, John has the guilt from his past affair weighing down on his shoulders, he apologizes for the mistake but it is shown that the guilt is still there “I have not moved from there to there without I think to please you, and still an everlasting funeral marches round your heart. I cannot speak but I am doubted every moment judged for lies, as though I come into a court when I come into this house!” this shows that the guilt is crushing him that he has been trying to apologized for his wrong doings but hasn’t been forgiven he needs his wife to forget about the pass and move on he will do anything to show his wife he is devoted to her. John Proctor knows what he will do knowing that now his wife is charged with witchcraft he must go to the court and prove to them that this is all a hoax and this his wife is not involved in witchcraft and that Abigail is making this all up. John makes a ...
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.