...John Proctor, one of the main characters in The Crucible, has a crucible moment after having an affair with Abigail. Although John and Elizabeth are married, he cheats on her with Abigail. Proctor’s crucible moment within the play happens when he has to make a decision to either tell his wife about the affair, or keep it a secret, and feel guilty for the rest of his life. Because John can not forgive himself after the affair, he decides to tell Elizabeth about what happened. John Proctor passes the crucible test because he did the right thing even though his relationship with his wife will never be the same. Now that Elizabeth knows the truth, John now feels guilty about what he has done because his wife is upset with him. The wrong thing John...
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...Condemned Do you know the story of the crucible, if so do remember abigail williams. I just wanted to tell you do you think that abigail is guilty for the lies she made. She has committed in the town of salem. Is Abigail to blame for everything is she responsible? Abigail in the crucible is a very chaotic girl. She is a girl that hates everyone she wants everyone to do what she wants to do. She is a girl who will do something bad and she will get in trouble and she won’t get in trouble. Abigail is a horrible girl she made up a lie to get out of trouble and it cause many of innocent people to die for it. How much is Abigail to blame for the events that took place? She is all to blame for all of the horrifying events that happened in the town of Salem. She did...
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...Having someone executed for a false accusation is an extremely horrid offense. Although, in 1692 to 1693, it was a trend upon the people of Salem. Arthur Miller specifically wrote The Crucible about The Red Scare so this generation could know how there was a lack of knowledge among the men and women in the court. “It would probably never have occurred to me to write a play about the Salem witch trials of 1692 had I not seen some astonishing correspondences with that calamity in the America of the late 40s and early 50s. My basic need was to respond to a phenomenon which, with only small exaggeration, one could say paralyzed a whole generation and in a short time dried up the habits of trust and toleration in public discourse,” Miller states...
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... 11/3/13 The Crucible as an Allegory English 101 In 1953, American playwright Arthur Miller produced a play titled, The Crucible. It takes place in 17th century Salem, a small town in colonial Massachusetts. The play focuses on the actual events known as the Salem Witch Trials, in which dozens of people in and around the town of Salem were wrongfully and chaotically accused of witchcraft, Satanism, and devil worship by a group of teenage girls. It is firmly established that the play is an allegory of the hysteria and chaos that took place throughout the events of the Red Scare in the United States during the Cold War; a period in which politicians and ring leaders also wrongfully accused numerous amounts of people for supporting communism. It makes perfect sense as to why Miller wrote The Crucible allegorically to these events, 1953 was a time in which American fear and madness concerning communism was frankly getting out of control, just as the experiences in Salem were in the 1690s. The Crucible is a historically fictitious adaption of the Salem Witch Trials which as previously stated, was an episode of unjust accusations of witchcraft/devil worship carried out by a group of female teens. In the play, the group of accusing teens is led by girl named Abigail Williams. In order to refocus the “heat” on another source in order to save...
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...During the Crucible there were many different, complex ideas and questioning of the characters’ own ethical values. Of these, I have chosen to write about the topic of recovery of the charcter and reputation of somebody and how it was seen and used in the Crucible. Within the Crucible, several people hope to be redeemed. The forward most would have to be John Proctor. Proctor wanted to recover himself from a couple of different things, one of which was to renew himself in the eyes of his wife, Elizabeth, from the affair he had with Miss Abigail Williams. John tries very hard to make his wife see the contrition and forgive him for being unloyal to her. John also looks for redemption within himself. John can’t seem to come to terms with...
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...The Revolution in Salem: John Proctor The Crucible was a pay that was written by Arthur Miller in 1952 because he was accused of being a communist and he didn't agree with McCarthyism. During the Cold War many were accused of McCarthyism, which is making accusations without proper evidence, and Arthur Miller was a victim of this. Arthur Miller wrote The Crucible as an allegory to McCarthyism. Arthur Miller wrote about people being accused of involvement with witchcraft. Throughout the play The Crucible many of the characters are changing because of what is happening around them, with everyone getting accused of witchcraft. One of the main dynamic characters, a character that has a significant change in attitude, personality, or behavior, in this play is John Proctor. John Proctor is a considered an honest man in Salem. In the first two or three acts we see that John Proctor could be considered non-religious. John Proctor wasn’t very religious...
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...In the story, The Crucible, Abigail Williams accused many of the people in the town of being witches. Abigail Williams is not a victim of her society. People of Salem in the 1600’s believed anything they heard about someone being possessed by the devil. If someone accused you of being a witch, you would most likely be taken to trial and questioned. How it usually worked is if you admitted to being involved with the devil and told on someone else, you would not be hanged but your reputation is no longer any good. Other than the part of the court believing anything someone said, this situation was bad due to people making stories up and blaming other people. It was an endless cycle. Abigail Williams is in the wrong doing because she falsely accused many people, lied about being possessed by witches, and got innocent people killed. Abigail Williams falsely accused many people of practicing witchcraft in the town The Crucible took place in. The most important in the story though was Elizabeth Proctor, John Proctors wife. John had an affair on Elizebeth with Abigail, which was the motive behind the whole ordeal. Elizabeth fired Abigail from being their servant after she had figured out about the affair. She then wanted to get rid of Elizabeth so she accused...
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...Abigail Williams drives The Crucible. She is Reverend Parris’ niece who initiates witch trials by falsely accusing others of witchcraft. She acts as though she sees spirits along with instructing the other girls to act as well. Abigail at first wants to avoid punishment. When she sees how the adults react to others crying witch, she sees this as an opportunity. Once things get started, she sees an opportunity for self-interest (John Proctor). Abigail is the most responsible for the girls being in the woods. Once the girls were caught by Reverend Paris, Abigail tries to hide her behavior because it will expose her affair with John Proctor if she admits to casting a spell on Elizabeth Proctor. Abigail found herself attracted to Proctor while working in their...
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...three-act structure common today, calling the sections protasis, epitasis, and catastrophe. Famous authors like Shakespeare expanded the original divisions into a five-act structure comprised of an exposition, rising action, climax, falling action, and denouement. Although it was a four 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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...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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...Many of the characters in the play, The Crucible, all have a lot of pride. Most of them are considered good citizens who would all like to keep and maintain their good name. Reverend Parris is known for living by the bible and its teachings. Judge Danforth is known as a persistent judge who always make the right decisions. When put between the option of life or death, all of these characters chose to keep their reputations by doing the right thing and saving their lives. The importance of having a good name is a very important theme in The Crucible as shown by these characters. John Proctor was a very courageous man. He was the town’s model citizen and the person that everyone looked up to as a leader. For many reasons it is hard for Proctor to give up his good name. One being because he has a lot of respect for it and everyone sees him as the good guy. When Proctor had an affair with Abigail Williams he tries to show that she is guilty although he is hesitant...
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...The 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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...In the novels, The Scarlet Letter, by Nathaniel Hathorne, and The Crucible, by Arthur Miller, committing a sin was frowned upon and anyone who was to commit a sin would be punished. With society being as strict as it was, those who had committed a sin would try and keep it hidden to save themselves from being punished or have their reputation ruined. Over time, society views and social views have changed in becoming more accepting of this sin. In the novel, The Crucible, John Proctor had an affair with Abigail Williams. This action was taking because of the jealousy that Abigail had built up towards John´s wife. ¨Abigail: She is blackening my name in the village! She is telling lies about me! She is a cold, sniveling woman, and you bend to her¨ (Miller 23). Although Elizabeth, John´s wife, had done nothing wrong, Abigail plots her revenge by trying to get the town to believe that Elizabeth is a witch. This being said, Elizabeth would be hanged and Abigail would have John all to herself. In Hawthorne's novel, The Scarlet Letter, Hester Prynne had an affair with Reverend Dimmesdale. Chillingworth decides to plot revenge as well by prying through Dimmesdale´s guilty conscious. ¨It was the constant shadow of my presence! The closest propinquity of the man whom he most vilely wronged! And who had grown to exist...
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...creating problems and chaos. In Arthur Miller’s play, The Crucible, the effect of hysteria led to disorder and complete mayhem in Salem from the sudden spread of witchcraft, exemplified by Abigail Williams, Tituba and Danforth. Once the accusations and stories arose in the plot, it was almost impossible to restore order and peace in Salem. The beginning of the hysteria influence in Salem began with Abigail Williams and her attempt of witchcraft. Abigail worked as...
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...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 ruin his name further. His thoughts of action were to control the rumors to save himself. Doing so, he tried to get Abigail to admit playing with the devil, but she withheld information...
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