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Characterization In The Crucible Essay

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Playwright Arthur Miller uses deliberate characterization and controlled conflict to highlight societal problems in his play The Crucible. His use of relationships between characters, as well as the interactions that these relationships instigate, in his telling of the Salem Witch Trials is helpful in his ability to convey his overarching idea. The ideas of human failings like hate or greed, blind religious faith or the corruption that occurs in giving power to the formerly powerless, are revealed in Miller’s use of characterization and conflict in The Crucible. Abigail William is a clear antagonist of this play. She stirs up the entire town to chaos. She is ambitious, selfish, vengeful, manipulative and a wily liar. Even her uncle, Reverend …show more content…

All characters in the crucible are puritans, which means that they are religious and they often attributed frightening occurrences to devil’s work, but Miss Putnam is the most pious puritan in this book. When Betty blacked out, Mrs. Putnam simply concludes that Betty is bewitched and cannot hear Lord’s name without pain, while Rebecca Nurse thinks that it is a normal disease that a child gets. Mrs. Putnam’s seven babies all died without any apparent reason. Convinced that someone used witchcraft to kill her babies, Mrs. Putnam sent Ruth to Tituba to contact the sprits of her dead children to find out who killed her babies. She doesn’t mean to harm anybody; she just wants to find out the reason why her babies have been dying. Nevertheless, her blind devotion to god convicts many innocent people as witches. In the court, she strongly claims that her babies were murdered because of witchcraft, “They were murdered, Mr. Parris! And mark this proof! Mark it! Last night my Ruth were ever so close to their little spirits; I know, sir. For how else is she struck dumb now except some power of darkness would stop her mouth? It is a marvelous sign, Mr. Parris!” (Miller 16). She is willing to blame the tragic deaths of her children on supernatural causes, and she seeks similar revenge for what she perceives malevolent doings of

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Irony saturates Arthur Miller's "The Crucible" as characters who profess to combat the Devil's influence ultimately perpetrate it themselves. The rigid pursuit of suspected witches, intended to cleanse Salem, instead plunges the town into deeper chaos and paranoia, culminating in utter havoc. Act 1 exposes significant ironies revolving around Abigail Williams. Despite John’s rejection, Abigail fabricates lies and seizes control over the society she despises. Her deceitful facade mirrors the duplicity she denounces.

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In The Crucible by Arthur Miller, the setting is Salem, Massachusetts during the late 1600s where the town’s pious Puritan beliefs directly influence their government. A 17-year-old girl named Abigail Williams had an affair with John Proctor, a wealthy, married man. Abigail is told by John to move on but instead, Abigail starts accusing the townspeople of witchcraft, including John Proctor’s wife Elizabeth. As this hysteria begins to rise, other people such as Thomas Putnam, a rich landowner, start to also allege Salem villagers. In this play, the author illustrates the central idea that people should not allow jealousy to control their actions.

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Miller best depicts the evils in people through the main prosecutor in the the play Abigail Williams. Abigail is undeniably the most destructive and corrupt individual in The Crucible. Through her vengefulness, threatening her peers, carelessness at others’ expense, and complete disregard for human life, she ensues a tumultuous event to Salem. Abigail’s initial accusation against the town beggar was solely to defend herself from punishment for dancing in the woods.

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During the late 17th century a total of 200 people were accused of participating in witchcraft, while 19 people lost their lives to the mass hysteria. In The Crucible by Arthur Miller, a group of girls start a huge uproar in Salem, Massachusetts when they start screeching about Salemites being associated with the Devil. Throughout the play write, it shows the consequences of mass hysteria and how it puts people's lives in danger. Abigail Williams causes a wave of mass hysteria and because of her trickery, innocent people have died by her and the other girl’s actions, for this Abigail is the most unforgivable character in The Crucible.

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Based off both of this text, one can see that in a time or crisis, people will abandon the morals and ethics they have, and essentially sacrifice the people around them to save themselves. The Crucible starts with small talk about girls dancing in the forest, and somehow, this begins to turn into talk of those girls being witches. As the story picks up, friends begin turning on each other. Abigail, a devious character, while in a heated argument with Betty and Mary on what to confess states, “We danced.

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“Character Analysis over The Crucible” Arthur Miller is a commonly-known playwright, most famous for his 1953 play, The Crucible. The basis for The Crucible came from the witch trials which occurred in Salem, Massachusetts during the puritan era. Miller even uses some of the same characters in his dramatized play that were a part of the original witch trials in Salem. However, Miller made a few alterations to the historical members of the Salem society in order to suit his dramatic purpose in The Crucible, particularly Abigail Williams, John Proctor, and Reverend Samuel Parris.

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She is accused of witchcraft for the murdering of Ann Putnam’s seven children. Rebecca Nurse is a very religious, reasonable, and caring women, who I can relate to based on my life. Rebecca Nurse is a religious woman in The Crucible and I am in life as well. In The Crucible, many people are accused of witchcraft and are put on trial to be hung. If the convicted admit to their witch actions, a sentence to jail, as well as a fine would be charged upon them.

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The Crucible by Arthur Miller is a dramatic play that expresses a very important message and that is how far people would go to save themselves from the hands of death. There are many characters in the Crucible who are guilty of taking innocent lives, but there are three major characters who, without a doubt, are the most at blame. The play takes place in the city of Salem, a city filled with people that would do anything to keep their reputation clean. Throughout the play, Miller is introducing multiple characters that experience changes in their decisions and negatively influence more people eventually leading up to the witch trials. The main point that the story revolves around is that people would rather lie and blame someone else instead of confessing and accepting the punishment.

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Human is a species that live in group, and conformity is one of the distinct characteristic of human nature. In the play The Crucible, Arthur Miller investigates various natures in community throughout Act 1 and 2. The play took place at Salem, a town that primarily based on puritanism, the major plot of this play is about witchcraft and witch hunt. Miller conveys a essential message of people always search for conformity from society as a form to prove their identity, further, any rebellion would consider as outcast from majority. The author explores the theme by the use of conflict, this literary element best demonstrates changes of characterizations and complication between others and internal struggle.

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Rebecca Nurse was blamed for the death of all of Ann Putnam’s children, except for one. The events also caused numerous people to be convicted of witchcraft, some of them being executed. Two of the most notable people convicted in the play were John Procter, condemned for adultery and later hung, and Tituba, who confessed, saving her own life.

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She has learned that lying is her weapon and her untruthfulness makes her the person she is and shows the growth of a vigorous character. She experiences the power to kill anyone off such as framing Elizabeth for the voodoo doll of herself which had a needle through it. She had also accused 40 more women she hated in the village “I saw Goody sibber with the Devil!... I saw Goody hawkins with the devil!... I saw Goody booth with the Devil!”(Miller 51).

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Published in 1952, during a period of cold war tensions, which culminated in the ideological witch trials of the mcarthy era in America; The crucible by Arthure miller is set in 1692 during the witch trials in salem massachusetts. The author has used allegory to position the reader to draw parrelels betweeen the to time periods and critisize the persecution that occured in both eras. One of the main themes that Miller has used to portray this viewpoint is the representation of personal integrity. Integrity is the quality of having strong moral pronciples. This is acheived through strongly contrasted characterisation of characters such as Abigail williams and and Rebecca Nurse, aswell as the inclusion of textual features such as irony, symbolism

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In Arthur Miller’s play, The Crucible, Miller demonstrated that it was Abigail William’s flaws: lust, vengeance, and jealously that led her to be responsible the most for the tragedy of the witch hunts in Salem. Abigail Williams started the entire suspicion of there being active member of witchcraft throughout Salem, Massachusetts. She did this for her own benefits and used trickery to get what she wanted. Abigail was corrupt and only cared for her own desires. There are many reasons that these flaws are crucial to the outcome of the play.

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Miller addresses a similar hysteria throughout his play. In The Crucible, there are many characters that feed into or contribute to the rapid spread of witch hysteria in the small village of Salem. The two characters that could have ended the mass hysteria are Abigail Williams and Deputy Governor Danforth. Throughout the play Abigail proves to be a fundamental character in the preservation of the hysteria.

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