...act play, Arthur Miller, author of The Crucible, utilized the five-act structure to further develop his plot. The exposition of a five-act structure introduces the setting, main characters, and conflict of a literary work. The audience gains critical information that is crucial for understanding the...
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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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...Authority is 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”...
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...“A man may be aware that there is something...hollow in his own way of life, but still lack the power to express it in memorable language.” (Prudhoe). In the Crucible, several people notice the obvious corruption that lies in the Salem witch trials, but are unable to fight it due to lack of power. In Act three of The Crucible (1953), Arthur Miller expresses his frustration at the perpetual power grab under the façade of justice. Miller uses juxtaposition, dramatic irony, and selective dialogue in order to show how when struggling to clear one’s name, cold-hard facts are often overlooked in exchange for the promise of influence. The purpose of the act is to demonstrate that in every play for power, there must be pawns to manipulate and facts...
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...Lauren Barash Mrs. Dachille ELA: Hour 4 25 November 2014 John Proctor Tragic Hero A tragic hero is one who holds a high status in a community. The protagonist habitually faces a supernatural force of misfortune in which they conquer and gain admiration from the audience. In The Crucible, by Arthur Miller, John Proctor was not the ordinary resident living in the small town of Salem, Massachusetts. Salem during this time period embodies pure unintelligence. The community faced ruthless weather, deceased crops, and sickness. They didn’t know how these dreadful happenings arose. The only knowledge they had came from books, which did not contain the solutions for their troubles. The idea of witchcraft was proposed, and with this being the only possible...
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...may be, yet in reality a courtroom is not pure, but laden with injustice. The courtroom in Arthur Miller’s The Crucible, his recreation of the Salem Witch Trials in Salem, Massachusetts, is synonymous. The theocratic court reviews cases regarding witchcraft brought to the gavel by a group of hormonal teenage girls, who have been willing the court to arrest and execute whom they see fit. This literal courtroom is allegorical to the interactions of Senator McCarthy with potential traitors during the 1950’s. As the girls of Salem exploit the fears of their community, McCarthy capitalized on the fear of the entire U.S. nation: Communism. McCarthy’s tactics and actions were highlighted in a CBS broadcasting led by Edward R. Murrow titled, “We Will Not Walk in Fear”. The broadcast was received by the U.S. in 1954 during the Cold War, a decade dubbed ‘The Red Scare’. While the empowered teens of Salem and McCarthy were daunting, their injustices were matched by John Proctor and Edward R. Murrow, respectively. Proctor and Murrow fought against the false accusations and biased plaintiffs to stop the injustice posed. Proctor and Murrow combat their oppressors on the hollow claims made. Proctor is roped in to the Salem courts when his wife is accused. He points out to the judges that “so many of these women have lived so long with such upright reputation” (Miller 84). Proctor’s aim in convincing the court is so that “[he] would free [his] wife” (83). His lack of participation in the court...
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...In today's world, there are many reasons for mass hysteria. In "The Crucible" by Arthur Miller, the mass hysteria was that many girls were accused of being witches because they were "dancing in the forest". An entire town went balistic when they heard the word witch. In the twenty-first century, people panic and become frightened over terrorist attacks and bombings. Numerous attacks and bombings have occured in the United States and an infinite amount of people become terrified that something worse might happen. In "The Crucible" by Arthur Miller, the people of the town go insane when they heard that a number of girls were bewitched. Once the people heard, their only reaction was to run and see if it was the truth. Reasons why a diverse amount of people become frightened is because people are going to get hurt or killed and also are worried about themselves because they can also be accused. Humans cause problems as a result of not having a satisfying childhood and want to make others lives miserable....
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..."The Crucible" by Arthur Miller was very interesting,...
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...other historical events in history when social/political norms disintegrate for a period of time. Compare one of them to the Salem witch trials. CITE REFERENCES. The Salem witch trial started because of the seven girls that were up at the forest dancing. Unaware of what was happening reverend Parris burst into the scene at that time and caught the girls dancing, but the girls all ran away when they noticed reverend Parris’s presence. After the girls escaped they started to fall sick, then with the pressure and post on the line reverend Parris being to suspect the girls of conjuring spirit’s the last time he saw them at the forest because of the way they were dancing at the woods and also because of their reaction after they ran away from the forest. But when he confronted his niece Abigail Williams she denies that she and the other girls engaged in any witch craft. But later on when she was pressure and confronted again she falsely confessed and accused Tituba of conjuring the spirit while they were dancing, to be safe and not be persecuted she too falsely accused Goody Osburn and Sara Good of witch craft, because the consequences she will face. In the case of Abigail Williams false accusation on people she was trying to get rid of people that are in her way in order to achieve a goal, like Elizabeth Proctor and this was what caused people their lives because of jealously, anger, greediness and resentment...
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