American author Arthur Miller has written many powerful and engaging pieces during his lifetime, making him on the most important writers of the 20th century. His essay, “Tragedy and the Common Man” explains what a tragic hero is, and why the common man is just as able to be one as characters in classic literature. Published in 1943, it has become one of the most notable essays on the subject, and the principles established in it were valuable to many of Miller’s other pieces, including The Crucible. This play, published in 1953, tells the story of the Salem Witch Trials in Salem, Massachusetts, in which nineteen people were hanged after being accused and tried for witchcraft during the Puritan era. One of the main characters of the play, John …show more content…
After seeing the hypocrisy of the court proceedings and the destruction that Abigail Williams and the other girls are causing as they accuse more people of witchcraft, John Proctor argues against the deceit of the girls and the injustice of the trials when others will not. This exemplifies a key principle of Miller’s essay, in which he states, “No tragedy can therefore come about when its author fears to question absolutely everything when he regards any institution, habit, or custom as being either everlasting, immutable, or inevitable,” (Miller, “Tragic Heros,” 3). John Proctor accuses the girls of lying as he tries to reveal the corruption of the trials, even though it means revealing his affair with …show more content…
This revelation is not taken lightly, as it tarnishes John Proctor’s reputation and leads to his arrest. After his confession, John says, “I have made a bell of my honor! I have rung the doom of my good name - you will believe me, Mr. Danforth!” (Miller, The Crucible, 111). However, even Proctor’s powerful statement is not enough to change the trials, and even more importantly, he has set the stage for his own arrest. In his essay, Miller writes, “Where pathos rules, where pathos is finally derived, a character has fought a battle he could not possibly have won. The pathetic is achieved when the protagonist is [...] incapable of grappling with a much superior force,” (Miller, “Tragic Heros,” 3). Though Proctor tries to reveal Abigail's deception and end the corruption of the trials, he ultimately is not able to, and those who do not confess to witchcraft are still arranged to be hanged. Proctor led himself to his own arrest by trying to beat an unbeatable force for the good of others, demonstrating Miller’s qualities of a tragic
During a time when Salem was overrun with witchcraft hysteria, very few people were resilient enough to stay devoted to their religion/morals. Miller frames history by demonstrating how a few individuals were devoted enough to combat the communist trials regardless of the consequences. Since the confession required John to blame another person in Salem of committing witchcraft, he chose to hang instead of betraying his comrades, for he did not want to fuel the witchcraft hysteria/blacken his name. Ethos were of high importance to Proctor and he valued his character above all else. He used an ethos tool called screw up recovery to enhance his character through his own errors. By describing how he failed to meet his own high moral standards throughout the play, Proctor corrected the mistakes he made and he appeared to be a highly virtuous character to the audience. Miller depicts John Proctor as a hero because he was able to rise above the trials/actively defy them. Although John intended to make a false confession to spare his life, he refrained from blaming his innocent friends such as Rebecca Nurse; therefore, his confession did not count and he was sentenced to hang. Proctor uses a logos tool called reduction ad absurdum to prove to Hale and Danforth that making a false confession is absurd/illogical; therefore, he justifies his decision to hang. He
The Crucible by Arthur Miller is set in Salem in a Puritan community. John Proctor, Elizabeth Proctor, Reverend Hale, Reverend Paris, and Abigail are the main characters. The book is about witchcraft or what the town thinks is witchcraft. John Proctor is the tragic hero because he is loving, loyal, authoritative, but his tragic flaw is his temper.
In 1953, the play called “The Crucible” written by Arthur Miller created hysteria in all parts of the country. This play describes the Salem witchcraft trials of 1692 and the irony of a terrible period of American history.
During the early years of the colonies, there was a mad witch hunt striking the heart of Salem. Anger, reputation, and even religion play an important part during the play of The Crucible, written by Arthur Miller. The author allows us to witness the vivid idea of the hysteria taking place in Salem, Massachusetts, and why it was so vulnerable during the time.
"You are pulling heaven down and raising a whore" John Proctor, the main character, says this to judge Danforth about Abigail Williams in the play The Crucible. The title of the play means a major test or trial which this play is about. Abigail Williams is in love with John proctor so she accuses Elizabeth Proctor of witchcraft, John Proctor wife. John proctor is a tragic hero in this play because he is loving and loyal, outspoken, and shows courage.
John Proctor depicts a courageous individual with an image of a sincere and an honorable man, not only in minds of the Salem community, but also in his own. His death implies more than a “tragedy”, but rather a strong action that inspires and encourages citizens in Salem to follow his footstep for change. Proctor is frustrated at how the court for believing Abigail and not the innocents. He says, “My wife is innocent, except she knew a whore when she saw one! You are pulling Heaven down and raising up a whore!” (Act III). He is infuriated that the officials in the court believe the ridiculous pretenses and acting of the Salem girls, that everyone’s the belief in god seems to be deteriorating.
Proctor exemplifies an ordinary second class Puritan of Miller’s adaptation of the bloodthirsty town of Salem, Massachusetts. Miller fabricates the character of Proctor to appear wholesome and scrupulous, however, acts of sacrilege in the form of adultery tarnish the character’s reputation, thus bringing to light the scepticism of an exclusively Puritan society. Proctor embodies the qualities revered by the Puritans; diligence, integrity, and frugality. Proctor’s wife, Elizabeth Proctor, is an advocate of John’s morality, describing her husband as “a good and righteous man. He is never as drunk as some are, nor wastin’ his time at the shovelboard but always at his work” pg. 100. Miller skilfully constructs a well-rounded character epitomising the ideal Puritanical figure, however, man’s tendency to be fallible resulted in a fatal flaw in the character of John Proctor. This flaw, also being a sin, is his lust and infidelity. Miller demonstrates the influence of cultural relativism through Proctor’s incapacity to absolve his own sins, despite his wife’s forgiveness, “I do not judge you. The magistrate that lives in your heart judges you.” pg. 55. This ‘magistrate’ is denoted by Miller to symbolise Proctor’s conscious, which was moulded and cultivated by the Puritans of Salem. The
John Proctor is, at first, willing to offer up a false confession that his life may be spared. Inevitably, John Proctor possesses that fateful attribute known to fall fatal to many human beings - pride. While he has, indeed, been ashamed of his many sins throughout his life, Proctor's soul still clings to his pride and his good name, however soiled it may have become. On the morning scheduled for his execution, Proctor wrestles with the realization that one more sin so heaped upon the rest in his life will make precious little difference in the end; "I cannot mount the gibbet like a saint. It is a fraud. I am not that man.... My honesty is broke... I am no good man. Nothing's spoiled by giving them this lie." (126) He attempts to calm his pride by telling himself that the other accused witches who will not give false testimony to save themselves from the gallows have every right to do so; they led lives free of blame. He, however, he tells himself, did no such thing; what right has he to hang among the righteous? "Let them that never lied die now to keep their souls. It is pretense for me, a vanity that will nor blind God nor keep my children out of the wind." (126) Thus the conviction first reached by John Proctor is to save his life rather than to throw it away in mock martyrdom.
During the 1690’s in Salem, Massachusetts, one of the most disgraceful events in American history took place. 20 innocent people were sentenced to death on charges of witchcraft (Kortuem). At the time there was a witch scare sweeping across the North East of America in a time we know today as the Salem Witch Trials. The witch trials was one of the most shameful events in American history. In fact, it was compared to another event by a man named Arthur Miller. Arthur Miller was a playwright from New York who wrote many famous plays like Death of a Salesman, All my Sons, and of course The Crucible (Kortuem). In The Crucible, Miller was comparing the McCarthy Hearings at the time to the events hundreds of years earlier in the
In 1692, nineteen men and women of Salem, Massachusetts were suspected under the crime of witchcraft and were sentenced to hang. These hangings came from the result of villagers blaming each other trying in order to save their own lives. Similarly, in the 1950s, McCarthyism and the Red Scare took on a similar outcome as the Salem Witch Trials; many people were wrongly convicted as Communists. However as time progressed, people became less concerned about saving themselves but began to protect one another from harm. Arthur Miller wrote The Crucible in the 1950s in order to relay the message that although humanity appears to selfishly protect their own interests, they eventually become selfless and serve justice. Through the use of description, Miller illustrates how John Proctor, Reverend Hale and Giles Corey transform from selfish to selfless.
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.
Miller uses imagery and figurative language when Abigail Williams attempts to get John Proctor to admit his lust for her even though he is trying to repair his marriage with Elizabeth Proctor. “I have a sense for heat, John, and yours has drawn me to my window, and I have seen you looking up, burning in your loneliness. Do you tell me that you’ve never looked up at my window?” John Proctor’s humility as an adulterer lengthens as he is forced to give up his “good name” and confess to witchcraft in exchange for his life. “Because it is my name! Because I may not have another in my life! Because I lie and sign myself to lies! Because I am not wort...
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.
At first Proctor agrees and acknowledges that, “[i]t (the confession) is evil, and I do it!” (Miller, The Crucible, 77). However, after he agrees to do so for himself, he will not accuse others of witchcraft because, “They think to go like saints. I like not to spoil their names” (Miller, The Crucible, 141).
John Proctor faces many decisions in response to his moral dilemma to try to save his life. One of the difficult decisions John makes is to reveal that he had an affair with Abigail Williams and thereby has committed adultery. If the local court convicts him of this crime, he faces being jailed. Also by admitting this crime, John reveals a weakness in his character. This flaw in his personality will make it harder for him to stand up in the community as an honorable and believable person. In trying to convince others that witchcraft does not exist John’s dishonesty with his wife will make him less convincing to the community.