Arthur Miller's 'The Crucible' The Crucible, written by Arthur Miller, is a tragic story of injustice suffered by an innocent community who are subjected to the hypocritical, prideful judges of their trial. These Judges use their power to eliminate evidence of their mistakes and return their community to puritanical ways. The leaders of Salem are not concerned with seeking the truth and justice, but with maintaining their authority and reputations; this objective leads them to consistently rejecting truth, against all logic and evidence of their senses. The symbols of truth portrayed throughout the play are exhibited through a handful of innocent hearted characters in the book such as Elizabeth Proctor. Her virtues of dignity and …show more content…
These people who embrace the truth in Salem are the victims of their prideful accusers who are intent to pass the blame as to not be accused themselves no matter what the cost. Equally as relevant as the symbols of truth portrayed in this play are the symbols of falsehood. The puritanical views of the community and the fear of being exposed as a sinner are driving reasons to turn to a life of hypocrisy and lying to cover up sins so not to be judged by their peers. Reverend Parris is the embodiment of a hypocritical puritan of this time. He uses his title and status as the town religious figure to hide his sins and those of his family. Abigail embodies many of the main issues in the play especially those of demonstrating fallacies. She used accusations that to cover up her own actions that start the entire witch hunt. These characters are the main symbols of falsehood which provide much of the conflict in the play. Another pivotal development in the plot of the play is the reactions of Mr. hale to the happenings in Salem. He is a man of integrity, although at times misguided and overzealous, he is willing to change his mind when confronted with the truth. Despite this admirable trait, he lacks the moral conviction to act against proceedings that will condemn innocent people to death. He comes to realize that John Proctor is
The Crucible was written by Arthur Miller. In the town of Salem, the people’s obsession of trying to provide justice only caused injustice against the accused. The law of Salem was guilty until proven innocent. Their government was also a theocracy, and their obsession with religion also caused the injustice.
Appealing to the reader’s ethos, Abigail’s actions in the play allow one to question their own ethics. To exemplify, “You did, you did! You drank a charm to kill John Proctor’s wife! You drank a charm
"He states that you coldly prompted your daughter to cry witchery upon George Jacobs that is now in jail" (96). In the play The Crucible by Arthur Miller, people would do anything to get what they want. In the town of Salem good vs. evil plays a big role. The people of Salem are constantly debating about who is telling the truth and who is lying. People are also judged based on their religious views. Even though they had a lack of evidence, the town of Salem mislabeled people as good or evil.
The Crucible, a play written in 1953 by arthur miller was written to be a fictional and dramatized version of the salem witch trials in massachusetts 1692. The book teaches about how greed, narcissism, and selfishness can corrupt people and spread throughout a community. In the play the actions of all of the characters shows how easily a person or a group of people can start a series of occurrences causing an event that can generate the death of 20 people.
Abigail Williams is a cowardly, manipulative, desperate, stubborn, and dishonorable young girl. Abigail would get every single person she knows in trouble before herself and she rarely tells the truth. When her Puritan uncle Parris the reverend caught Abigail and her friends dancing in the woods naked, she denied it. “No one was naked! You mistake yourself, uncle!” (17). Abigail acted like the victim and made people think her uncle was just seeing things by saying “you mistake yourself, uncle”. This helps to show how cowardly Abigail acted and instead turned the blame on her uncle for incorrectly seeing what was happening in the woods. When Parris leaped out the woods Betty was frightened so bad that she spent the next day in bed acting crazy. In order for Abigail to stay out of trouble the girls started to accuse women in the town of being witches, starting with their servant Tituba. “ I saw Sarah Good with the Devil! I saw Goody Osburn with the Devil! I saw Bridget Bishop with the Devil”
In conclusion, the numerous characters in The Crucible embodied ranging themes. Abigail rose to power through the witch trials. Many innocent villagers were accused and executed. Her power to manipulate her followers and the town served to prove her deceptive nature. John Proctor protected his reputation by refusing to the sign the confession, and became the tragic hero of the play. The crucible came to be a symbol of superstition and paranoia that tore the community apart in the play, which provided this play meaningful significance
Have you ever felt like you were among frauds and liars in a group supposedly full of devotees? The people living in late 1600s Salem were known as God-fearing, yet often projected their personal vendettas onto one another through the witchcraft trials. In The Crucible, Arthur Miller utilizes characterization, dramatic and verbal irony, and symbolism to the the convey the conflict of piety and corruption, therefore exposing the hypocrisy of a theocratic community.
The Crucible is a tragedy written by Arthur Miller. We read about the spooky stories of Salem often, yet this book tells more about the heartbreaking accusations that tear loved ones apart. Elizabeth Proctor is innocent, and would not be persecuted in current times.
“The Crucible” is a story by Arthur Miller based on the events of the witch trials that took place in 1690’s Salem, Massachusetts. Abigail Williams, an orphaned young woman, has an extramarital relationship with John Proctor. John Proctor is a farmer in Salem, known to be sharp with hypocrites and not easily led astray. However, Proctor’s actions in the story, including withholding pertinent information about his affair and Abigail’s sins, includes him in the blame game. After events set in motion by Abigail, Judge Danforth refuses to grant release to those in his custody for accusations of witchcraft. This decision led to
Abigail Williams is a main antagonist that shows the personality of being vengeful, selfish, manipulative, and a magnificent liar; she has the ability to control people and she conveniently has the power of destruction towards those around her. She gets the girls to agree on a set story in order to selfishly protect herself. She uses a threat of violence, which goes along with their belief that she might know witchcraft, in order to keep them in line. When Reverend Parris discovers the girls dancing in the woods, Abigail attempts to mask the situation because it will reveal her affair with John Proctor if she confesses to attempting to cast a spell on Elizabeth Proctor. This is her main act of deceit within the play. She lies by using her abrupt ways to accuse others of witchcraft in order to draw attention off of herself. Abigail then flees because she cannot have what she
you?" He asks first to see if he would be doing the right thing. After
In the play The Crucible by Arthur Miller in 1692 a thing called the Salem Witch trials started. People around Salem were accused of being a witch for no reason at all. If you were a single old lady with a bunch of cats and marks on you, you were considered a witch. A girl named Abigail basically ran the town. Everyone was scared of her, she had a lot of power.
The Crucible, Arthur Miller’s famous tragedy, depicts the hardships of multiple different people during the events occurring in Salem, Massachusetts in the year 1692. The witch trials made many people view themselves and their surroundings differently, including Reverend Hale’s view towards the court. Although he first believes that witches are in Salem, he starts to question the court due to false judgement by the judges with no clear evidence. First, Hale believes that witches are present in Salem. When questioning Tituba, Hale believes that she is in a pact with the Devil.
One character in particular, represents Miller’s view of individuality and is seen as a hero figure because he chooses to defend his individuality. This play shows one man, John Proctor, in his struggle to keep his pride and name from being destroyed with lies, deceit and accusations of consorting with the devil. Proctor tries to expose Abigail and the girl’s deceit but he is punished for it because children were thought of as the voice of god and they were innocent. When the trial was brought in front of the court officials, Deputy Governor Danforth feared that he will lose power therefore weakens the testimony from the girls which broke the power of theocracy in Massachusetts.
Reverend Hale is a great example of self betrayal. Hale came to Salem for one purpose, to find and eliminate the witch in Salem. After Abigail and the other girls started accusing others he never bothered to investigate or question the accuser’s reason for suspicion. He went along with the hysteria and ended up signing 72 death warrants along the way. When Proctor and Mary Warren came to the court to provide proof that went against all the accusations made by Abigail and the other girls, judge Danforth and Reverend Parris were worried and tried to discredit everything he was saying by simple accusing him of trying to overthrow the court. However, Reverend Hale wanted Proctor to return home and come back with a lawyer so that he could provide a stronger and well structured argument against the court's decisions. Hale said the Danforth, “Excellency, I have signed seventy-two death warrants; I am a minister of the Lord, and I dare not take a life without there be a proof so immaculate no slightest qualm of conscience may doubt it”(243). Hale is a man of God. However, he had signed seventy two death warrants, even though he knew that there wasn't enough proof for such punishment. For example, he signed the death warrant for Mary Warren, even though she is the most respected individual in the play. He states that he will not take another life, without a modicum of truth. Reverend Hale