...What are the characters like in The Crucible? There are two ways an author introduces a character: by using direct and or indirect characterization. When the author introduces characters directly, he or she is telling the audience. When the author introduces a character indirectly, he or she has the character tell the audience through their actions and dialogue. In the play ‘’ The Crucible’’ author Arthur Miller uses direct and indirect characterization to introduce Reverend Parris, Abigail Williams, Ann Putnam, and Mary Warren. Reverend Parris is the first character introduced in the play ‘’ The Crucible”. Directly, Arthur Miller tells us Reverend Parris is ‘’in his 40’s’’, he feels ‘’persecuted,’’ ‘’has no interest in children,’’ and was a merchant in Barbados. Reverend Parris dialogue includes ‘’I cannot blink what I saw… for my enemies will not blink it,’’ ‘’No No I, cannot have any. (enters Putnam) why, Goody Putnam come in,” ‘’Where is my wood… I am waiting since November…,’’ and ‘’ God help me”. These parts of Reverend Parris’s speech tells the audience he is more worried about himself. He’s influenced by money and power,...
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...blame others, and readers of The Crucible feel this way about Abigail Williams from the beginning. Arthur Miller influences the readers to think that Abigail is manipulative by using stage directions, quotes from other characters in the play, and quotes from Abigail. In The Crucible, Arthur Miller uses a variety of stage directions to formulate the opinion that Abigail in manipulative in the reader’s minds. For example, when Abigail is having her statements questioned for legitimacy, she shifts the court proceedings’ attention to Mary Warren by staring at Mary. Arthur Miller makes Abigail flawlessly throw the attention onto Mary when Miller narrates. The stage directions...
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...Reputation of the Crucible (Examine three characters on detail who are concerned about their reputation in the Crucible) Throughout history, the concern of one's reputation, has dictated the character or actions of a person. A reputation is a widespread belief that someone or something has a particular habit or characteristic. So a reputation can affect the way the community sees another. The concern of their reputation has had quite a positive effect on a main storyline. Although, it could also have a negative side effect on the characters way of life. In the book the Crucible, written by Arthur Miller, reputation has affected many characters in the book such as: John Proctor, Abigail, and Reverend Parris. In the book Crucible by Arthur Miller, one of the main characters that happens to be concerned about their reputation is Abigail. From the start, Abigail had a vendetta against Elizabeth Proctor. In the Crucible, by Miller, Abigail states to Proctor, “She is blackening my name in...
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...people believe that those who don’t go to church are bad but in reality many people who don’t go to church have better morals than those who do go to church yet the fact they don’t makes them seem bad. Another way this quote is false is that if someone were truly “good” then they wouldn’t stand around and watch as evil prospered. One piece of literature that proves this quote true is The Crucible by Arthur Miller through his use of characterization and conflict. As stated above the quote “Evil Triumphs when good men do nothing” is false due to the elusive from in which “good men” is used. In The Crucible Arthur Millers’ use of characterization proves this quote false. The Crucible is a play about the domino affect which wild accusations about witchcraft caused in a small religious town known as Salem’s Village. In The Crucible Arthur Miller shows that people are ignorant and only care about their well being. Arthur Miller shows this through the characteristics of Parris, Abigail, Marry Warren, and the town’s people. The false accusations all started when Reverend Paris questions his niece, Abigail about dancing naked in the woods...
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...Conflict in Arthur Miller’s ‘The Crucible’ Set in Salem, Massachusetts, Arthur Miller’s ‘The Crucible’ was written in 1952, the play which successfully portrays the witch trials in 1962 as an allegory for the prosecution of communists. The play contains many conflicts set to tear apart or destroy the small community of Salem, and to cause havoc with neighboring towns. Arthur Miller gives the reader a chance to experience the dangers of hysteria in a community through the conflicts experienced by his characters in a puritan society. Conflict is a strong disagreement between people or groups that often leads to strong arguments. Various elements of the plot are woven together in such a way that we are often left on a mini cliff-hanger, wondering what will happen next, which creates tension. Writer’s craft is the writer’s use of techniques to create an effect on the reader. The opening of the play immediately grips the audience. Betty Parris is lying motionless on a bed, Reverend Parris is kneeling next to her praying, but he conveys no sense of religious calm and faith. He is weeping and desperate. He cries out “Oh my God! God help me!” and he is very disturbed. When Tituba the household slave, enters Parris is in a state of “fury” and yells “Out of here! Out of my sight!” then is “overcome with sobs”. Miller is careful to specify in the stage directions just how the actor should deliver the lines and what type of emotions the character is holding. The opening is powerful...
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...Nwobi 1 Odera Nwobi AP Language & composition September 21, 2014 CRR #1- The Crucible I. Author/Introduction Arthur Miller; an American playwright, born in the early 1900’s, 1915 to be precise. He was born into a very wealthy family. He was not very wealthy for a very long time, after the stock market crash in 1929. He had to do odd job to be able to pay for his college. After college, he career was a little rocky after his first play The Man Who Had All the Luck closed after four performances. After a while, his show All my Son earned him his first award. He wrote over 50 different works ranging from plays, novels, articles. His best play was Death of a Salesman which earned him a lot of fame. Another popular play he wrote was The Crucible. This play was a reflection of the Salem witch trial back in 1692. He was considered a communist because he advocated principles of equality among the classes, and social justice. He was married three times. He was once married to the popular actress Marilyn Monroe. Arthur Miller died in 2005 at the age of 89. II. Vocabulary Gibberish- meaningless or unintelligent talk. Trepidation- trembling or quivering movement. Subservient- serving or acting in a subordinate capacity. Shudder- to tremble with a sudden convulsive movement as from horror, fear, or cold. Calumny- a false and malicious statement designed to injure the reputation of someone or something. Titillated- to excite or arouse agreeably. Sniveling- to weep...
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...Research Analysis over Abigail Williams Arthur Miller said in an interview once, “ I took creative license with her character to make the connection between sexuality and politics more dramatic,” (Shmoop). This is one of the reasons Arthur Miller made Abigail Williams in The Crucible so different compared to the real Abigail. Abigail Williams was an 11-year -old girl who lived in Salem and worked for the Proctor family, John and Elizabeth, before the time of the Salem Witch Trials of 1692. Before the trails even started, Abigail and her cousin, Betty Parris, got into fortune telling their future like who they would marry and what their social status would be. After a while they got the other girls in town to start playing their fortune telling...
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...Alexis Wauford Mrs. Hollewell The Crucible 11 May 2017 Importance of Reputations in The Crucible The desire to maintain an upstanding reputation greatly affects characters in The Crucible. During this time period, people were very concerned with their positions in society. They were in a very judgemental community where everyone knew each other, and because of this, people were very worried about how others perceived them. A poor reputation could cost someone their social life and many characters made decisions based upon this. The decisions that the characters made affect not only themselves, but the characters around them. A few examples of characters who worry about their reputation are John Proctor, Abigail Williams, and Reverend...
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...of the small village, Salem, Massachusetts. It’s by Arthur Miller that the idea of intense, selfish desire is used as a powerful theme personified by many of the characters in his work, the Crucible. However, it’s regularly overlooked as a material issue rather than its deeper meaning. For Abigail Williams, Thomas Putnam, and Reverend Parris, greed is a testament of what ails them at heart. Abigail Williams, the play’s obsessively lovestruck antagonist, has the conscience a psychopath, doing whatever it takes to hold onto one thing -- her brief affair with John Proctor. Abigail’s motivations for greed are often left there but when her last resort is an attempt to have Elizabeth killed for witchcraft, it reveals what’s in her heart. “I will not, I cannot! You loved me, John Proctor, and whatever sin it is, you love me yet.” (Miller 24). She confesses that she can’t let go and it’s...
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...is Adolf Hitler’s Nazi regime, during the World War II era. During that time Hitler’s ideology and lack of social responsibility towards the citizens led to the death of millions of people. The citizens of Germany were incapable of taking responsibility and standing up for the millions of people that suffered and died. The society of WWII Germany is similar to that of Salem’s in The Crucible written by Arthur Miller because one of the larger issues in the community is the lack of social responsibility from the citizens and judicial system causing the hysteria and deaths in the Salem witch trials of 1692....
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...Power – Crucible Essay Is authority power that is given to an individual? Or must that individual earn their respectful status with no faults? When does the power given begin to become too much for an individual to regulate? An individual with a lot of power over a certain group or person may misuse their authority in negative ways. Many figures of authority misuse their powerful influence over other individuals which can negatively impact the lives of others or even themselves. A number of people with authority tend to misuse their powerful influence over a group of individuals, as seen in the play The Crucible by Arthur Miller. Many characters with power try to maintain their respectable reputations but along the way end up dissipating the authority they have. Other characters misuse their positions of power over certain individuals for personal gain such as love and for wealth and land. Individuals with respectable authority tend to misuse their power in hopes of maintaining their idea of a perfect reputation. Reverend Parris is known as the town reverend, a title with power and high expectations. He has power over the town due to his title but he misuses the power he has over his slave from Barbados, Tituba. Once Parris discovered that Tituba was present in the woods with the girls dancing, he felt as though she were responsible. He used his power, as her boss, to threaten Tituba into giving information as he asks her “who? Who? Their names, their names” (Miller, 47). Parris...
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...responsibility for your actions is mature and the right thing to do. In The Crucible Arthur Miller creates a dramatic story about a small town in which the only way to get yourself out of trouble is to point the finger. If you were to point your finger and blame someone else it saved your life but also possibly ended someone else's life. In The Crucible Abigail is the one to blame because she is a liar, inconsiderate, and a manipulative young woman. Abigail is not only just a liar she is a pathological liar, and she demonstrates this trait many times throughout the play. When Parris and Abigail are talking in Betty’s room she says, (Miller 138). This shows us how Abigail is a pathological liar because, Abigail knows she didn’t just dance...
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...beliefs can lead to disastrous things. While the film, The Crucible by Arthur Miller, depicts the overall history of the Salem Witch Trials, it does have historical inaccuracies within the characters and their relationships that change the way we perceive history. Witchcraft has been present since the Paleolithic period but it began to show up in colonial America in the middle of the 17th century. It became a capital offense as far back as 1642. Shortly after becoming a law, the first execution was made in Connecticut. This case was disturbing because it influenced everyone, in puritan societies, to believe that Satan was close at hand and physically able to act in the real world.. At the time, Salem was a Puritan community in which was built upon those who fled religious execution therefore the religious authority and the government was not separate. Those who would question local authority were blamed for questioning royal authority. Eventually the hysteria spread to Massachusetts in 1692 after two young girls had been acting in alarming and been in physical pain. The physician concluded that the girls were not victims of a physical or mental illness but victims of witchcraft.2. These two girls were Abigail Williams and Betty Parris. Abigail Williams, who was 11 years of age, had a...
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...The Crucible In the tragedy play The Crucible written by Arthur Miller there were a lot of characters involved with the Salem witch trials, but there were only three characters who were responsible for it. The Crucible is about the Salem witch trials who several young girls were supposedly afflicted by witchcraft. And so the girls accused innocent people in their town for witchcraft also mostly accusing people who they or their families dislike so they would be hanged. In total 20 people were killed due to the witch trials. The three characters who were responsible for the Salem witch trials are Abigail Williams, Reverend Parris, and Betty Parris. Abigail Williams has most part why the witch trials started because she knew this was all a...
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...between a man’s identity and the image that society demands of him,” (Miller 1962) is a common theme throughout the works of the famous playwright, Arthur Miller. Respect and reputation is a widely dispersed theme throughout The Crucible. Its many different occurrences that are displayed from start to finish of this play, make this specific theme one of the most important. In The Crucible, the idea of one’s reputation and their social standings swayed the thoughts and actions of many individuals. When the witchcraft accusation was brought about in Salem, “it was the ideas of reputation that determined whether or not the accused individuals were actually guilty of the crime.” (Shoop Editorial Team). One of the occasions that the theme of reputation took place was in the very beginning of the play. In act 1, when Reverend Parris caught his daughter Betty and his niece Abigail dancing in the woods, he was worried about what the other people in the town were going to think. He was anxious to discover what the people of Salem were going to say about him when they discovered that his daughter and niece might have possibly been performing acts of witchcraft. This is proven when he said, “Now look you, child, your punishment will come in its time. But if you trafficked with spirits in the forest I must know it now, for surely my enemies will, and they will ruin me with it.”(The Crucible. Act 1. Scene 1.) Parris was also worried that the people who already disliked him were going to...
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