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Respect And Reputation In The Crucible By Arthur Miller

937 Words4 Pages

Respect is a quality that, although highly valued, is very hard to attain. Therefore, once you achieve the point of being respected in society, it is important to maintain a good reputation to avoid losing that title. Reputation, which goes hand in hand with respect, is the way you are viewed to an outsider or stranger. On the contrary, your actions are not necessarily perceived as your reputation; rather, reputation is what people in the society believe to be your actions. During the Salem Witch Trials of 1692, many innocent citizens had their reputation and level of respect tarnished as a result of gossip that had been spread. Arthur Miller, author of the playwright The Crucible, carries the idea of respect and reputation throughout the drama …show more content…

Once convicted, the “criminals” chose amongst two options that would ultimately determine their fate. The first, which a majority of the population chose, was a matter of admitting to committing the crime, whether guilty or not, and claiming to return their faith to god. When following this path, the victims were left unharmed and were respected for their change of fate; in reality, most, if not all, were completely innocent. On the other hand, the second option resulted in definite fatality; this option was a matter of standing up for oneself and denying any sort of involvement with witchcraft. Those who chose this route had too much pride to follow the dominant beliefs and assimilate into everybody’s …show more content…

However, Warren, in spite of the fear of death, turned against Proctor. John, determined to set the record straight, admitted his actions of adultery with Abigail, claiming that this had been “a whore's vengeance, and you must see it now”; he argued that Williams was trying to take Proctor for herself. Proctor also shares that “a man will not cast away his good name”; in other words, he would not tarnish his reputation with a lie obtaining such severity. This demonstrated a major change in character for Proctor; after caring so much about the way he was viewed in society, he destroyed his reputation in an instant in the hopes of fighting for

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