...John Proctor from the beginning of this play was a man who was well respected and trusted in Salem. “I nailed the roof upon the church, I hung the door,” Proctor says on p.54 further shows his loyalty and connection with the village and the community. However, as the play goes on and the mess of accusations (especially the accusation of his wife) begins to unravel John Proctor himself begins to unravel. Through his actions, he is serving a social cause. Sacrificing himself in order to save others and to stage a protest against his persecutors. He is driven by the impulse to preserve his integrity, and by the need to expiate his sins of adultery with Abigail Williams. Proctor is faced with a dilemma he can save his life if he confesses and betrays others, or he can sacrifice his life to his ideals....
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...John Proctor’s act is one that defines the word believable. The following quotes emanate the very understanding of why his actions are understood as credible to being honest and truthful. John Proctor, a good Christian man, is being sent to hang for two crimes: lechery and witchcraft. His only sin is that he lusted, but the crime of witchcraft isn’t a sin of his. Though he is to die for two crimes, he could have only died for one. He ripped up his one way out of witchcraft, which is the beginning of so many questions. Did he really need to die for two if he could prevent the one? The answer may never be truly justified, but the answers found here will prove that he was right in his mind to hang with his head held high. Arthur Miller’s The Crucible gives plenty of evidence to show that this deduction is correct, that John Proctor was believable. Proctor’s first authentic line is when he says to Elizabeth, “I have been thinking I would confess to them, Elizabeth. What say you? If I give them that” (Act IV. 465-468)? Here, he questions himself inside the lines. The quote shows that this is him in the process of rationalizing what he could possibly do to save himself. Someone who’s about to make a life-changing decision, such as one’s hanging, would question...
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...If someone makes sacrifices, how can they be selfish? In the story “The Crucible” by Arthur Miller, Abigail Williams makes many sacrifices that are not all for the best. She sacrifices the lives of many people in her town for herself. She also makes her lover, John Proctor, sacrifice his time with his sick wife. Abigail sacrifices the freedom of her fellow townspeople. All those actions made by Abigail Williams can only point to one thing, a selfish person. Abigail Williams convinces a town that many people are bewitched. She proceeds to lie on her uncle’s slave Tituba. “She sends her spirits on me in church; she makes me laugh at prayer!” (Miller 41). Abigail tells her uncle that Tituba has possessed her with the devil to save herself. That leads to Abigail telling the story that she seen many townspeople walking with the devil. The people she named were took to court and hung. Abigail’s lover, John Proctor, has a wife that was sickly. When the affair between John and Abigail took place, she...
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...suffering. In The Crucible by Arthur Miller, Salem was in a period of time where witch hunts were frequent which created chaos throughout the town. These witch hunts often targeted innocent, hard working people who were accused of witchery with no actual evidence. As a result when this conflict introduced itself to John Proctor, he exhibited tragic hero traits such as pride, catharsis, and nobleness. Pride plays an interesting role in the life of John Proctor in The Crucible. During the trials, Proctor daily wages an internal, war between his conscience and pride. His prideful mindset is what primarily caused his downfall; a person who rises and falls because of their own ignorant flaw, which is the true meaning of a tragic hero. Therefore there are several traits that exemplify a tragic hero in John...
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...Arthur Miller displays his perception of communism through John Proctor’s perception of witchcraft in the play The Crucible. The play The Crucible takes place in Salem, Massachusetts where John Proctor is accused of witchcraft, which was a massive dispute during that time. The Crucible is in part based on McCarthyism in the 1950’s which was similar to the Salem Witch trials. In The Crucible written by Arthur Miller, reverend Hale experiences changes proven by the things he says, the things he does, and others opinion of him. McCarthyism is a campaign or practice that endorses the use of unfair allegations and investigations. Marilyn Monroe was Arthur Miller’s wife. If you ask me I don’t think that Miller being married to Marilyn was the reason for the court's questioning I think that the play he wrote was why him and everyone involved were questioned.Arthur Miller wrote The Crucible...
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...the persecution of those 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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...tragic hero will have to sacrifice themselves due to their weakness. In the play The Crucible, John Proctor fits this description very well. Although Aristotle’s qualifications for a tragic hero include being of noble birth, John proctor is best described as a tragic hero because he ends up dying to save his name due to his flaw. In The Crucible, John Proctor is a common man and known throughout his community. Towards the beginning of the novel, he has an affair with a girl named Abigail. This will be the weakness of John. Throughout the rest of the novel, there is just about always conflict between John and his wife Elizabeth. However, when they start to resolve their issues, they have to go to court and John gets convicted of being a liar...
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...Crucible/Central park five In The Crucible and Central Park Five people are being wrongly accused to either death or life ruining situations. In the crucible there is a breakout of witchcraft and people are losing their lives. Also their is an affair between John Proctor and Abigail. In the Central Park five innocent boys and men are accused of rape and assault. In the play the crucible by Arthur Miller shows that a hero is based on bravery, courage, and being kind which John Proctor and Reverend Hale show throughout the story. A hero in the crucible is John Proctor although he is more of a tragic hero he is still a hero. “A man may think god sleeps, but god sees everything, I know it now. I beg you sir,I beg you see- her what she is… she thinks to dance with me on my wife's grave and well she might, for I thought of her softly. God help me, I lusted and there is a promise in such sweat. But it is a whore’s vengeance” (act 3). The character trait being shown is his honesty and bravery to tell the truth even though he did wrong. Saying this is heroic because he knows saying this is going to hurt him but it shows his bravery. This is a sign of bravery and shows his personality throughout the story. Another hero is Reverend Hale even though throughout the story...
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...No, I do not believe that John Proctor’s design to hang instead of admitting that he was consorting with the devil is an act of excessive pride or stubbornness. I instead believe that John Proctor is the tragic hero of the Crucible and that his decision to choose principle over self preservation was an honorable act with the goal of affirming his goodness before God. In the second act of the Crucible, the audience first meets the character of John Proctor while he is in his home with his wife Elizabeth. The reader’s initial reaction of Proctor is that he is a benevolent husband as he states “I mean to please you Elizabeth” (50) and is otherwise kind and respectful towards his wife. However, as the act progresses, the reader comes to find out...
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...Putting oneself on the line, and willingness to sacrifice oneself for the greater good of the community is an attribute borne by very few people in history. However, such people do exist - and they are the individuals that 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,...
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...Arthur Miller’s play “The Crucible” is about the mass hysteria of the Salem witch trials that took place in the Massachusetts Bay Colony around 1692. The conflict arose after many young girls went around accusing people of witchcraft. As fingers were pointed and accusations were made, many people were put on trial and hanged to death. One of the characters in the play who is put on trial is John Proctor. Proctor is a highly respected individual who is proud of his good name. As the story of the play develops, secrets of John's past are leaked and threaten to ruin his reputation. However, Proctor refuses to lose his integrity. To combat the accusations made against him, Proctor displays characteristics of honesty, bravery, and dignity....
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...Discuss how an idea developed in a text you have studied. In the play ‘The Crucible’ written my Arthur Miller an important idea the developed throughout the text is reputation and injustice. It shows us that in an environment where people are shelter, oblivious, and ignorant, peple may behave in ways that are unjust in order to protect their reputation. Arthur Miller was able to develope these ideas through the setting and characters. He was able to incorporate his own experience into his play as he was a victim himself of McCarthyism. The Crucible is set in a small town, Salem in Massachusetts, America in 1692 where people were oblivious of anything other than God, believing that they were self righteous. In such time, reputation determined how people looked at you and was considered something of great importance. “A man will not cast away his good name“ shows us the importance of people’s reputation at that time. When something is regarded as such a high level of importance to someone, people will do anything in order to protect it even if the means are considered unjust and ‘unrighteous‘. Abigail accuses Elizabeth Proctor of ‘blackening my name in the village‘ after commiting adultery with John Proctor, Elizabeth’s husband. This cause her to fear for her reputation, and how people will view her. Afraid of her reputation, Abigail Williams acts in fear to and pointed the finger at Tituba claiming that she was practising witchcraft ‘she sends her spirit on me in Church; she...
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...ENG3U1-05 November.11.2015. The Crucible: Is John Proctor truly a tragic hero? A tragic hero is a person with admirable qualities yet they have a tragic flaw that leads them to their downfall. In Miller’s play “The Crucible,” the protagonist, John Proctor, is a tragic hero known for his good reputation yet commits adultery with Abigail thus making it a tragic flaw that leads to his death. John Proctor is a tragic hero because he is a well-mannered person that has a good reputation. John strongly believes in Elizabeth’s good morals by proving his honesty and bond towards Elizabeth and speaks up for her as he tries to get her and his friends’ wives out of jail. He tells Danforth...
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...John Proctor as a Tragic Hero In The Crucible, John Proctor is an example of someone who would rather live and end his life with pride rather than live with the humiliation. John is portrayed as a man with good intentions and morals, from the beginning to the end of the play he managed to stick with how he felt, make sacrifices for his wife to prove he loved her, and stay true to himself. Although, in the beginning of the play he cheated on his wife and struggles to win back her forgiveness he did everything he could, so he could gain redemption from her again. In the beginning of The Crucible John Proctor had an affair, the girl he had an affair with, Abigail, struggles to tell John that she still loves him and that they love each other,...
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...In The Crucible many bizarre things happen because of individuals trying to get personal wants in the society. For example, Abigail Williams accused many innocent people of witchcraft just so that she could get John Proctor to be her husband because of the adultery they committed months before. Abigail especially accused Elizabeth Proctor, John’s wife, so that Elizabeth would be out of the picture. The society went crazy and many people were in the jails because they believed some people like Rebecca Nurse were innocent. The town needed to be restored in any way possible. Arthur Miller suggests that people must make sacrifices to restore society. How this town is restored is from the sacrifices of Giles Corey, Elizabeth Proctor,...
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