Reputation is a very present theme in Arthur Miller's play The Crucible. In this play, many people are accused of being a “witch” based off of false evidence. Because of this, people are very concerned about losing their integrity or their name. The purpose of writing with this theme is to emphasize that witchery is major way of ruining your name at that time.
Parris reveals the theme of Reputation by confessing, "I pray you, leap not to witchcraft, I know that you --you least of all, Thomas would ever wish to disastrous a charge laid upon me. You cannot leap to witchcraft. They will howl me out of Salem for such corruption in my house.” (20) Parris is afraid to lose his name because of his niece Abigail, who is being accused of witchcraft. Abigail was accused of witchcraft. She is the most responsible for the girls dancing in the woods with Tituba.
John Proctor does not want to ruin his name or be viewed as a bad father to his three children. This alters the play because John Proctor mood completely changes when he
…show more content…
A major example of a character who demonstrates reputation is Danforth. He does not want to ruin his name from falsely interpreting the law of god. He says, “I will not receive a single plea for pardon or postponement...Postponement now speaks a floundering on my part; reprieve or pardon must cast doubt upon the guilt of them that title now. When I speak God's law, I will not crack it's voice with whimpering.” (131) He claims that his job is to interpret God's law fairly and correctly. He also does not want to mistakenly hang someone who is later found innocent, which is why he does not want lengthy trials, because it leaves more time to find someone innocent. He does not want to be viewed by other people or by God as an unfit judge by lengthening trials and making decisions based off of people's feelings not based off of the