The Crucible, written by Arthur Miller, exhibits the theocratic Salem village as chaotic and hysterical due to events that suggest the use of witchcraft. God’s orders and wills were really important in the village, however, the presence of the Seven Deadly Sins in this play were quite strong. The most relevant sin represented by the characters was pride. Some examples of the sin pride are portrayed through Reverend John Hale. Hale shows pride by stating that his books are heavy because “they are weighted with authority,” boasting about his good education (153, l. 712-713). He also tells Parris and Putnam to believe in his judgement because he is more knowledgeable in this topic (154, l. 751-758). He believes himself intellectually superior …show more content…
and tries to find some kind of logic in the events related to witchcraft apart from the court that is doing the same. He goes to the Proctor household to question and obtain information from the Proctors (167, l. 450-480). Pride is also represented through Reverend Parris. He took a lot of pride in being the priest of the village and didn’t want anything to ruin it. Finding Abigail and his daughter dancing in the woods with Tituba caused him to be desperate, he worried about his reputation (140, l. 121-138). Once in court, however, Parris denies that he saw his daughter and niece to have danced in the woods naked to save his family reputation (187, l. 704-712). Also, once Abigail fled with his money, he wanted Proctor and Rebecca to confess to witchcraft in order to maintain his position as priest and also because the community was already conspiring against him. He mentioned to Danforth that a “dagger clattered to the ground” when he was leaving his house at night (200, l. 232-236). Additionally, pride is strongly portrayed through Judge Danforth. He came to the Salem village with the mentality that he was above all because of his reputation. He told Mr. Nurse that he had signed near to four hundred people from Marblehead to Lynn into jail (178-179, l. 105-111). Danforth cared more about his reputation and ignored some evidences and logic that proved the innocence of many of the so called witches. Once Proctor showed him a testament signed by people to demonstrate their good opinions towards Rebecca, Elizabeth and Martha Corey; Danforth ordered to have a warrant drawn to them because he didn't want to accept that he made a mistake (181, l. 301-305; 182, l. 336-341). After Abigail fled with the money of his uncle Parris and the discontent of the community with hanging of the most respected people, Danforth agreed to not hang the people that confessed to witchcraft because he didn't want to have a bad reputation among the community (199, l. 141-164; 200-201, l. 251-267). He tried to forcefully persuade Elizabeth to plead to Proctor for his confession, this shows how desperate he is to maintain his good reputation (202, l. 368-385). Another character that strongly represents pride is John Proctor.
Proctor’s prideful personality does not let him baptize his third son because he dislikes Reverend Parris (168, l. 516-520). Proctor withholds his affair with Abigail because of his pride, he was unable to confess it until his wife was accused. Before he confessed he stated that “a man will not cast away his good name,” this statement suggest that a man has a lot of pride in his name and therefore his confession must be true (189, l. 845-847). In addition, after confessing to witchcraft Proctor takes pride in his name and refuses to have his name nailed in the door of the church showing everyone that he confessed to witchcraft (207, l. 894-897). “You will not use me! I am no Sarah Good or Tituba, I am John Proctor! You will not use me!,” Proctor beliefs he is better than Sarah good and Tituba hence he would not sign his name (207, l. 899-701). Towards the end, Proctor thinks better of his action and rips the signed paper after declaring, “Because I am not worth the dust on the feet of them that hang! How may I live without my name? I have given you my soul; leave me my name!” (207, l. 725-730). Proctor compares himself with the brave people that are about to hang and takes pride in his name by refusing to keep on lying and ripping the paper with his signature; he bravely accepted death with the thought that his name is not tainted by
lies. Reverend John Hale, Reverend Parris, Judge Danforth and John Proctor were the characters that represented pride, the most prevalent sin out of the Seven Deadly Sins in the play. Reverend Hale changed through the story, at first he was a man prideful of his intellectual but towards the end he reflected in his actions and tried to help some of the accused. However, Judge Danforth and Reverend Parris didn’t change since they only cared about themselves throughout the whole play. John Proctor was the only one, mentioned in this essay, who died because of pride. Work Cited Page Miller, Arthur. The Crucible. McDougal Littell Literature American Literature. Houghton Mifflin Company, Evanston, IL, 2009. 132-208. Print.
The Crucible, written by Arthur Miller, focuses on the Salem witch trials and the extreme behavior that follows the trials. Miller shows how the dark desires and hidden agendas provokes such extreme behavior. The Crucible was written in a time when the anti-communist movement was strongly protested. During the Salem witch trials, a person was guilty until he proved himself
...fess to them Elizabeth” (238). He’s thinking about giving in to the corrupt church to save his own life like everyone else. But when the Judge Danforth asks him to sign his name on a document confessing of witch craft he won’t do it because he explains, “It is my name I cannot have another in my life because I lie and sign myself to lies. Proctor finally stands up for what’s right and he shows that he won’t taint his name in order to save his own life. So they send him to be hung but he dies with his honor and his integrity.
Many of the characters in Arthur Miller's The Crucible have specific human flaws that cause the tragedy of the Salem Witch Trials. The Salem villagers exhibit failings, including greed, vengeance, and fear, which eventually lead to the downfall of their town. Many villagers, especially Abigail Williams, take advantage of the opportunity to seek vengeance on others through the trials. Greed for power and land often holds precedence when the hysteria takes over. Fear of being arrested or put to death is the key motivation in turning others in as witches. From these three human flaws, the town of Salem falls into chaos with many innocent people paying the price.
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.
A character that the reader would not expect to demonstrate the sin of pride is Reverend Hale. Although Reverend Hale is a minister, he demonstrates the sin of pride from the moment he first arrives in Salem, Massachusetts and needs help unloading all of his books. This symbolizes that he is a very educated man, normally this would not be considered a sin, but it is what he replied as Reverend Parris was helping him with the books, he said “They must be; they are weighted with authority.”(Miller36) this shows that he thinks that he is better than other people simply because he has more knowledge. Another example of his pride is when he gives his speech on incubi and succubi at Betty’s bed side
Arthur Miller’s play, The Crucible, is set in Salem village where an atmosphere of enmity and mistrust has been created through the conflicts and disagreements many villagers experience throughout the play. Many of these are caused by or, similar to the conflict between Parris and Proctor, are inflated by the many accusations of witchcraft occurring in the village.
The author of The Crucible, Arthur Miller, created many themes to go along with his story. It is the character’s personalities and the drama’s events that form each of the themes. One of the most noticeable themes is the presence of ruining of virtuous acts. Since most of the characters are conceited and looking for a way to climb up the social ladder, not many examples of pure acts of virtue make themselves known in The Crucible. Throughout the drama, the characters and events spoil acts of virtue or of piety for their own profit or selfish advance.
...h, his wife, does not want to admit her husband’s deceit, proctor is accused of lying to the court. When Proctor confesses his sin of lechery he feels better and his internal guilt is freed. This is different to the end of the play where he signed the confession to witchcraft. He later rips it up as could not live with himself if he were to allow Abigail to get away with her lies, through confessing to something he did not do. In ripping up the confession he is also able to keep his good name which he says at the end is all he has left, his name, and he does not want to give it away.
The Crucible is a novel based on the Salem Witch Trials in Massachusetts, written by Arthur Miller. The Crucible demonstrates forbidden temptation between John Proctor and Abigail Williams, honor and dishonor in the town of Salem, ruthless revenge, and the strive for high social status. The narrative style of this play is standard 1950s everyday language. The Crucible is set in a theocratic society of Puritanism in 1692.
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.
...er to be displayed in “shame.” Because for a man his name is something to be prideful for and in actuality it is to any man, for he keeps his name his whole like, unlike the women, and could not leave his family especially his boy with the same of having their fathers name on display in front of the church. So instead ripped the paper and prepared for his death sentence Proctors pride in the beginning caused problems and made mistakes that could have been avoided, but his pride for his name can be seen as a good thing.
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.
During act 4 Proctor feels ashamed of himself for having sign a paper of him confessing to witchcraft but danforth want to nail that confesion to the church doors and Proctor to ashamed with himself does not give back the confession and says “I have confessed myself! Is there no good penitence but it be public? God does not need my name nailed upon the church! God sees my name, God knows how black my sins are! It is enough.”(the crucible act 4 Arthur-miller) here shows that proctor trying to keep his name is too ashamed to have it posted for all to see then he says “Because it is my name! Because I cannot have another in my life. Because I am not worth the dust on the feet of them that hang! How may I live without my name? I have given you my soul, leave me my name!” showing that he wants some dignity when this is
Proctor is a mighty figure. In the play, he is a good puritan farmer man and he has a good family. But he also has weakness, he does not like his pastor, therefore, he does not go to church anymore and he does not let his third child be baptized. (Miller 32) His is surly a good man but his secret, the affair with Abigail, makes him not a very good Puritan. He is neither entirely good nor entirely evil. “Because it is my name! Because I cannot have another in my life! Because I lie and sign myself to lies! Because I am not worth the dust on the feet of them that hang! How may I live without my name? I have given you my soul; leave me my name!” (Miller 62) Proctor says this at the end of the play. His reputation seems very important not only to him but also to his family, however, his faith is strong enough to let him tell the truth to stop all the dramas in the town and save his life spiritually.
He is conflicted about whether or not to speak the truth about his affair with Abigail and also whether or not he shall confess to witchcraft. “I’ll tell you what’s walking Salem- vengeance is walking Salem, but now the crazy little children are jangling the keys of the kingdom, and common vengeance writes the law.” He understands the brutality that takes place in Salem now and acknowledges the fact that confessing can mean execution. Proctor explains in court that he would rather keep his good name and be hung than be condemned by his fellow people when he says “Because I am not worth the dust on the feet of them that hang! How may I live without my name? I have given you my soul; leave me my name!” (Miller ). John’s personal struggles display his desire to keep his good reputation in the strict Puritan town, and therefore disregard his value of