...protagonist of Arthur Miller’s The Crucible, John Proctor, passes his extreme test because he is willing to put his life and reputation at risk to free Elizabeth from all of her troubles. John’s past affair with the jealous Abigail Williams is no secret to Elizabeth. Determined to do anything she can to accuse Elizabeth of witchcraft, Abigail makes up many lies about her like accusing her of implanting a needle in a doll. John finally sees that there is only one way to stop the hysteria in Salem: to admit his sin of adultery. “I have known her, sir. I have known her”(1145). Proctor faces one of his crucible moments in the play, when he tells the court he committed the crime of adultery, and he passes. He confesses in front of the court and the judges that he himself was an adulterer. Proctor feels he owed this to Elizabeth. He wants to make up for...
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...transform the world for the better, through their unfailing belief in goodness. In Arthur Miller’s, The Crucible, this elusive quality is displayed by John Proctor, and over two centuries later in 1955, we see it again in an African-American Civil Rights Activist, Rosa Parks. John Proctor is an honourable farmer from Massachusetts, USA, who after making the mistake of committing adultery with Abigail Williams, becomes caught up in the mass-hysteria of the Salem Witch Trials. Rosa Parks is a Coloured-Rights Activist from Alabama, USA, who’s defiance of American Segregation Laws features as an important landmark of the Civil Rights Movement in the US. Themes such as justice and community, found within the play The Crucible and Rosa Parks’ story are universal, and apply as much today as they did in 1955 and 1692. In The Crucible, a single, small accusation of witchcraft escalates into a full-blown witch hunt, in which dozens of innocent citizens are accused and persecuted on the basis of false charges. This opportunity for allegations becomes a way for people to express their grudges and upset towards others, to show them how they feel by muffling it with all the similar claims around the community. Similarly, Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat once, and yet the action presented a way for many others who were unhappy with the segregation circumstances to express how they felt, without being singled out in the community. She recalls, “At the time I was arrested I had no...
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...considered blasphemous as witches. Through The Crucible, Arthur Miller describes the irrational behaviour of people in “all classes”(Miller 7) from Salem, Massachusetts during this time of misdemeanor. Many characters throughout the play incriminate others due to bitterness and jealousy. For instance, Abigail indicted her former lover, John Proctor’s, wife. Ultimately the corrupted men and women of Salem reached their goal of hanging the pure, which leads to hysteria amongst the townsfolk. Although John Proctor begins the play as an ambivalent and uncertain man, who is paralyzed...
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...The crucible is still revealing today because it’s a multi-layered book with events, characters and themes comparable. It is common for us to fear change and what is unknown, in this instance in The Crucible were dealing with witchcraft and the devil. Most recently this was comparable to McCarthyism. The themes that are presented within the Crucible are as important to people in this time period as Salem in 1692. A central theme that was found throughout the Crucible and relates back to us in society is the maintaining of reputation. Even today, we do not want to be associated with the doing of something bad, we want to be known for great things like making Ab honor roll, being polite, or being the one who is best at speaking. Not being associated...
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...Deputy Governor Danforth: The “Savior” of Salem Village? In The Crucible, Deputy Governor Danforth plays a major role, seeing that he is the highest official that has been called in to officiate the Salem Village court. Danforth does his best to make everyone believe that he is like the “hero” of Salem Village. He acted like he could almost do no wrong, even though that is very incorrect. Danforth even keeps this attitude after the evidence is shown that the whole Salem Village Witch Trials were a sham. Danforth is not the “hero” of Salem Village, he is the destructor of Salem Village. There is much proof that shows that Danforth was not following his job of giving a fair trial to the accused people of Salem Village. Danforth has multiple...
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...individual conscience over religion is clearly shown through their use of Pathos and Logos in their books The Scarlet Letter and The Crucible respectively. I personally also agree with the argument in which they have presented. First off, Pathos was used by both authors to show their argument by showing how unjust the characters were treated to help make the reader sense the injustice that has occurred in the story. In the Scarlet Letter, author Nathaniel Hawthorne showed Hester as a kind-hearted woman that helps out the less fortunate, but afterwards he would tell the reader that “If they were resolute to accost her, she laid her finger on the scarlet letter, and passed on...
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...guilt for an event that never happened. During the Red Scare this is what was occurring all around. In The Crucible, Elizabeth Proctor was accused by Abigail William because of her hatred towards Elizabeth. In the Red Scare they targeted celebrities because they thought they were high targeted and could possibly be a communist. The Red Scare influenced the book “The Crucible” by reflecting the United States government with the court of Salem, people who were accused and arrested for being a Communist, in addition to fear with how scare tactics impacted societies. The Red Scare influenced the book “The Crucible” by reflecting the United States government with the Court of Salem. During the Red Scare, the United States government and the communist Soviet Union became engaged in a series of largely political problems with economic clashes. Both the Soviet Union and the United States’ intense rivalry caused tension between these two superpowers which raised concerns in the United States that communists were inside America might have been working as Soviet spies. These Soviet spies were said to perhaps, pose a threat to the U.S security. As for the Court of Salem, a group of young girls claimed to be...
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...The Crucible Act Three Questions Short Response Answer the following questions based on your knowledge of the drama. Write a response on a separate sheet of paper. 1. Describe one piece of evidence that Giles, Francis, or Proctor bring before the court to show that the girls are lying. 2. What does Abigail do to distract Danforth from Hale’s accusations that she is lying? 3. How does Hale show that he believes that the court is not doing the right thing? Use three details from the text in your response. 4. Danforth explains that “. . . a person is either with this court or he must be counted against it, there be no road between.” What conclusion can you draw about Danforth’s character from this line? 5. How does Hale excuse Elizabeth’s lie about Abigail’s affair with Proctor? 6. Danforth explains that witchcraft is an invisible crime and that only the victims are reliable. How does his philosophy flame the hysteria? Use details from the drama to support your response. 7. How do Hale and Parris try to thwart each other, or act as foils, in regards to Danforth and the court? Use details from the drama to support your response. 8. Describe the point at which you think the plot reaches its highest intensity, or climax. 9. After the outbreak in court, Mr. Danforth makes the following short statement to Mr. Hale: I will have nothing from you, Mr. Hale! In your own words, describe what Mr. Hale has said or done to instigate Mr. Danforth’s...
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...theme manifest throughout most plays, movies, and books, you can particularly see throughout The Crucible by Andrew Miller and Goodnight and Goodluck written by George Clooney. The The Crucible, a play, and Goodnight and Goodluck, a movie both dramatize times in history when, in the case of the play, a real witch hunt occurs, and in the Movie a metaphorical witch hunt takes place. In both the play and the movie, you see people's actions are often motivated by a desire for revenge. In The Crucible, there is a woman named Ann Putnam. She has had seven babies and only one of them has lived. This would obviously make any mother...
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..."The Crucible" by Arthur Miller was very interesting,...
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...The Crucible by Arthur Miller. This story is about the Salem witch trials in the late 1600s. The Salem society in The Crucible is a great example of the theme, persecution of the innocent destroys society, because of the blame of innocent people, lying to save’s one life, and factionalism in the community. Many people have been accused of something they didn’t do, it has happened in the past will happen in the future. That is one of the fastest ways to get people all worked up. Abigail gets so worked up when Reverend Parris asks what she was concealing that she shrieks, “She made...
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...LC Plays and Performance – Formative Assesment To what extent are the plays you have studied on this module concerned with issues of gender? Both The Crucible by Arthur Miller and A Midsummer Night’s Dream by William Shakespeare are highly evocative pieces of theatre that have transcended the category of brilliance and have had a profound effect on the course of Western literature and culture. Both plays explore a broad range of themes, from the supernatural to comments on the power of religion in society. However, I have chosen to explore the ways in which they portray the theme of gender. Firstly I will examine the issues regarding gender in A Midsummer Night’s Dream in particular the oppression of the female characters. I will explore Shakespeare’s portrayal of Titania and Hermia and his ability to disguise the deeper feminist consciousness that is at work. I will then look at the way in which gender is presented in Miller’s The Crucible, ranging from the heroic depiction of John Proctor to the oppositional presentations of Abigail and Elizabeth. William Shakespeare is a famously suggestive author in terms of highlighting issues regarding gender ideology. Although in some works, such as Othello, he reflects and arguably supports the stereotyping of men and women, he is also seen to challenge such representations. A Midsummer Night’s Dream dramatizes tensions between genders, from a young woman quarrelling with her father for the right to choose her own husband, to Theseus...
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...The Crucible is a tragic story, one of unjustified deaths and malicious lies. People died standing up for what they believed in, and according to the story, one of those people was John Proctor. However, he wasn’t the courageous individual who wanted to save the lives of others. He had something else in mind, his own reputation. John Proctor died to save his own reputation in his town. He chose to die rather than live with his pregnant wife and children, just to avoid losing his good name. As the story was spun, John Proctor was supposed to appear as a tragic hero, however this is not the case. John Proctor’s actions were driven by guilt, selfishness and arrogance, not because of heroism. Although John Proctor's death was not warranted, he...
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...The devil is not the only thing to fear. When rumors of witchcraft start to take over Salem, religious leaders begin to use their power in questionable ways. In The Crucible by Arthur Miller, the contrast between Reverend Hale's reasoned faith and Reverend Parris’ fearful authoritarian approach to religious thought reflects how personal motivations shape one’s interpretation of religious power. Reverend Hale practices his faith through a reasoned lens, seeking to understand the truth about witchcraft, and uses his power as a religious figure in an attempt to serve religious justice to protect the townspeople. First, when Reverend Hale is introduced, the stage directions characterize him as a man whose “goal is light goodness and its preservation, and he...
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...The crucible is a novel written by Arthur Miller, based around the Salem witch trials, which he reflected his own personal experiences into. Around the time of writing the novel Miller, was subjected to the McCarty trials of the 1950s which sole purpose was to destroy communism by questioning either those suspected of it or those who may have information regarding it. The protagonist of story John Proctor, is himself subjected lies within his town, regarding witchcraft. He and many others are thrown into a freefall of squirting due to the accusation placed by a group of young girls Proctors character is a many-sided, he shows strengths throughout the play, including his loyalty to his wife and friends, but shows flaws because of his guilty pleasures which are seen through his relationship with Abigail Williams, and although his pride seems to be a noble feat of his, it is his honesty which inevitable defeats him in the end. One of Proctors flaws as a character is his relationship with Abigail Williams. A man from a theocratic age lives by the laws of god, and his relationship with Abigail Williams is anything but holy. “I know how you clutched my back behind your house and sweated like a stallion whenever I came near” indicates the temptation Abigail was to Proctor, and how he gave into its persistence. The description of proctors actions, which are not detailed are still able to show the motions he performed which indulged his fantasy, such as the word “clutched”. This gives...
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