In this play, Arthur Miller uses a lot of different universal themes, and the one I am going to use today is, false accusations lead to many innocent deaths in the small town of Salem. Many deaths happened due to false accusations and because of this; the town of Salem went insane. Everyone was being accused of Witchcraft and the town slowly started to disintegrate. One of the most controversial deaths in this play was John Proctor, mainly because he was well known and had an extremely well reputation. The priests and judges forced Proctor to accuse himself of Witchcraft and not be hanged in hopes that the people of Salem would recognize this action, and come clean. After this was all said and done, they made Proctor sign his name so they could hang it on the doors of the church, and after Proctor refused they hanged him for the crime of Witchcraft. This left the people of Salem shocked because nobody knew who to trust anymore. Rebecca Nurse was one of the most religious women in the town, and when she was accused it made Reverend Hale stop, and reconsider whether the accusations and proceedings were just and fair. “If Rebecca …show more content…
“I t discomfits me! Last night-mark this-I tried and tried and could not say my prayers. And then she close her book and walks out of the house, and suddenly-mark this-I could pray again!” (Miller40) Martha Corey, Giles Corey’s wife was later hanged for the accusation of her studying Witchcraft. After Giles Corey refused to cooperate with the priests and enter a plea of guilty or not guilty, he was pressed until his death. “I will not give you no name.. I mentioned my wife’s name once and I’ll burn in hell long enough for that. I stand mute.” (Miller97) Giles Corey suddenly becomes a hero in this play after his famous two word line; “more weight”. They put more weight, just as he asked, and Giles Corey died
John Proctor, a farmer from the Seventeenth Century town of Salem, Massachusetts, disbelieves the idea that the Devil can have any influence on the minds of the girls dancing in the woods. His belief that the children’s sickness had nothing to do with witchcraft does nothing to stop the court system from prosecuting and executing those accused of performing witchcraft. Although John Proctor provides clean-cut evidence to the court that witchcraft did not impact Abigail and her followers, the members of the court did nothing to stop the witch trials. One evening at the Proctor household, Reverend John Hale visits John and his wife, Elizabeth. He asks them a plethora of questions in an attempt to see if the Proctors could possibly have the Devil’s influence present in the house.
A crucible is defined as a severe trial. The title, The Crucible, refers to the many moral tests shown throughout the book. Many accused witches underwent tests of moral strength and truthfulness via the trials. Elizabeth was tested of her truthfulness in court, the girls being tested of their loyalty and truthfulness during the trials of the accused, and Proctor being tested by his lust for Abigail and his desire to live during the trials.
In the play “The Crucible” by Arthur Miller several characters risk their reputation in many different ways. One specifically, standed out the most. According to dictionary.com, “reputation” means “the estimation in which a person or thing is held, especially by the community or the public generally; repute.” In this town, reputation plays a major role. With lies bashing from left to right it is quite difficult to believe someone who is confessing without evidence to prove he or she is not guilty.
In Arthur Miller’s play, the Crucible, many characters are faced with a quandary that involves their honesty as well as their reputation. They have the choice to die nobly, or survive and be a stigma to the community and God. Reputation and good social status is a central concern in the town of Salem. Many characters found their actions based on their individual character, sometimes leading to negative choices. The protagonist, John Proctor, shows how truthfully confronting oneself requires bravery and sacrifice.
Although Salem, Massachusetts was founded on religiously centered morals, nevertheless it turned to sinful behaviors because Arthur Miller wants to demonstrate that community can be shaped by social pressures. Arthur Miller portrays the detriments of a close-knit community and illustrates how small Salem truly is through everyone knew each other's business. One night, John and Elizabeth Proctor had an argument over Abigail Williams. Elizabeth accused John of cheating with Abigail and told him “if it were not Abigail that you must go to hurt, would you falter now? I think not” (Miller 52) Elizabeth Proctor supports her accusation of adultery with this statement.
Soon after that Corey Giles ask Hale about his wife and if she could be stopping him from praying.
In his statement Giles noted that Martha stays “in a corner reading’ of a book” (Miller 1281). When she reads the books, Giles is not able to remember parts of his prayer but can remember them when the book is closed (Miller 1281). And while people may argue whether he actually meant for his wife to be hung or not, she was. He however proved himself aswell through death (Miller 1352). Giles knew that his land would be stripped from his family and bought buy Putnam if he denied or comformened his accusations of wizardry, so he refuses to give a response while he was pressed (Miller 1352).
Throughout literary work every reader will come across a theme, or themes, present. A theme is the central idea or ideas explored in a story. Each reader will decipher the themes of a story differently than another but open interpretation is what makes literature beautiful. One widely known literary work that I will write about is The Crucible, a play written by Arthur Miller. The play was not only inspired by the Salem witch trials that took place in Massachusetts in 1692 but the McCarthy trials during the 1950’s.
Abigail Williams: The First True Witch of Salem, Massachusetts “Controlled hysteria is what’s required. To exist constantly in a state of controlled hysteria. It’s agony. But everyone has agony. The difference is that I try to take my agony home and teach it to sing” (Arthur Miller, AZ Quotes).
The Salem witch trials were a time period when any individual could be accused of witchcraft for numerous reasons. In The Crucible, Arthur Miller focuses on the deviation of the trials and how the town’s most religious and honest members of the community are tried with witchcraft. John Proctor, the town’s most honest man, is accused of being a witch and must decide if he should confess or not. Proctor’s confession will stop the town from rebelling and uphold the reputations of Deputy Governor Danforth and Reverend Parris. Hale also wishes for Proctor’s confession so he does not have to feel responsible if Proctor were to be hanged for his witchcraft accusations.
The best character (The crucible) John proctor was the most admirable character in the play because he sacrifices himself for his for his children, also he was a good husband and because he was much known in the town he had a lot of problems and also a lot of things to do like, takes care of his children and a ranch that he has. In act 4 the author wrote “Because I lie and sign myself to lie! Because I am not worth the dust on the feet of them that hang” (page1232) Act4. That John mean in this seen is that he was regretful about lying, and because, of him a lot of people was hang he apprehend that lying is not good and he needed to pay for his act .
In my opinion John Proctor is the protagonist of the crucible, because there are some reasons. One reason for me is that John Proctor is starting the Salem witch trials indirectly. It is Abigail who starts the trials, but she only does it to kill John’s wife to be the only one John love and they finally can get married. Because of that the relationship between John, his wife and Abigail is in the foreground. Another reason why John is very important in the Crucible is that he has a strong voice in the community.
This book the Crucible, it takes place in Salem in which a series of problems have come up. In addition, a girl named Abigail persuaded and intimidated people to get what she wanted, which is John Proctor. However, Danforth accused Proctor for working with the devil and gets hanged for it with Sarah Good. These events caused people to take revenge on others and killed, out of greed. To begin with, the Salem witch trials had a negative impact to the people, Judges, and the people of the Church.
In The Crucible, a drama by Arthur Miller, John Proctor demonstrates courage by speaking out for what he believes in while knowing his consequences, admitting his wrong doings with Abigail to save Elizabeth’s life, and choosing to be hanged over having his name posted on the church door because the second his signed confession is posted, his and his loved ones reputations will be ruined. In the beginning of the play all John Proctor cared about was his reputation. However, ultimately he sacrificed his reputation by telling the court he committed adultery. John telling the court he was guilty ruined his reputation, which made all hell break loose.
In 1692, the theocratic town of Salem fell apart. Neighbors began accusing one another of Devil-worship and the illegal act of witchcraft. Arthur Miller’s play, The Crucible, reenacts the horror that took place in this Puritan society. One dark night, a group of girls went out into the forest to perform a ceremony. The leading antagonist, Abigail Williams, drank blood as a charm to kill the wife of John Proctor, the protagonist with whom she was infatuated.