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The Crucible Situational Irony Analysis

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Miller uses irony to demonstrate the flaws, the corruption, within the court’s justice system. In this case, it’s emphasized when Giles is found guilty; even though, he did have evidence to prove his accusation. He states, “if Jacobs hangs for a witch he forfeits up his property that's law! And there is none but Putnam with the coin to buy so great a piece”( Miller 89). In addition, he has a witness that heard Putnam thanking his daughter after she cried out on Jacobs. With these reasonings and an eyewitness that proved his accusation, wouldn’t they give Jacobs a fair trial instead of hanging him with the only evidence being a child’s yelling “witch” on someone? Sadly, it’s a situational irony where the event that occurs is the completely opposite. …show more content…

Another occurrence of irony emphasizing the flaw within the court’s process of prosecution is when he states Mary Warren’s punishment and the girl’s punishment. He states that if Mary Warren “has been conquered by Satan...her neck will break for it but if she speaks true, I bid you now drop your guile and confess your pretense, for a quick confession will go easier on you”( Miller 95). A situational irony is an event that surprises the audience. This would be considered ironic since both crimes of Mary Warren and the girls are on the same level of severity and seriousness.However, Mary Warren is the only one being killed for her confession of her crimes, while the others live. This simple example shows Miller’s belief on the corruption within the court system as Danforth is allowing his favoritism control over his actions throughout Mary Warren’s trial. In addition, his fatal punishment on Mary Warren puts more pressure on her to lie, as her life is put on the stakes. Because of these ironic moments throughout the play, the audience are able to see Miller’s annoyance over the unfairness within the court’s

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Dramatic irony is a huge part of 'The Crucible' as throughout the play, there are many ideas and notions that the audience knows but the other characters do not. In many scenes, especially scenes with Abigail Williams, there is an ounce of dramatic irony that causes frustration among the audience, whilst also creating a story line. An example of this is when the audience knows Abigail and "the girls" are lying about witches in Salem because of the scene in Act One describing how scared they were about people finding out what happened in the woods. The audience, Abigail and "the girls" know the whole witch idea is a huge rouse but the other characters in the play do not have any idea. This causes the audience to become overly frustrated and

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Danforth’s reckless abuse of authority and biased proceedings make him the most despicable character in Arthur Miller’s The Crucible. As a judge presiding over the court in Salem, Danforth’s

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He would not answer yay or nay to his indictment; for if he denied charge they’d hang him surely, and auction out his property. So he stand mute, and died Christian under the law.” (Miller, pg. 125). Irony can be found in an event or statement that’s meaning is directly opposite to what someone might expect.

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In our society, many people rely on the power of law and justice in order to protect themselves. Some powerful men abuse and misuse their power which brings many unfairnesses and tragedies. In Arthur Miller’s The Crucible, Judge Danforth is a deputy governor of the state, and he is also the judge for the witchcraft trail. Judge Danforth represents the authority and supremacy in the entire play. Throughout the play, Danforth’s tyrannous and stubborn personality caused many wrong decisions that he made in the court.

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Judge Danforth’s unwavering egotism culminates in the unfortunate deaths of Salem townsfolk. Arthur Miller’s classic play The Crucible demonstrates how the actions of one person can affect many others. Judge Danforth cares more about his own reputation than what is right. Often times people try to think of what is right instead of saving their own face, Judge Danforth is an exception to this stereotype. The Salem Witch Trials were a horrible time where many people lost their lives due to an unjust court system.

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800 Words | 4 Pages

The author also tried to show the similarity of the courts, and how corrupt they both were considering that it was 300 years later and they were using the same methods of prosecuting in court today: manipulating the media, the same way the aristocrats of the 15th century manipulated the minds of everyone in Salem by making them truly believe that everyone accused of witchcraft is evil, and deserves nothing more than to die a humiliating and public death, even though there was little to know hard-hitting evidence of either that anyone was a witch, or in Miller’s case, a

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548 Words | 3 Pages

The accused Margaret Jacobs confessed to doing witchcraft during court. Later on, she states that her conscience was in such horror (Aronson 161) and that she has been unable to be at ease with herself because of her fear with the devil “for telling such horrid lies” (Aronson 161). Margaret also told that she spoke a false testimony consequently of being “terrified by the display of the accusers” (Aronson 161). Jacobs taking back her dishonest testimony displays how the contribution of society affected the path that the trial led to. Moreover, the involvement of judges and minister in the trial also brought upon many different ending results in the court cases.

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Arthur Miller wrote The Crucible in 1953, as a response to McCarthyism, which is, in general, accusing people of crimes with little to no proof. It ran rampant through the United States during the Second Red Scare through the early 1950s (exactly when Arthur Miller wrote The Crucible). In The Crucible, Miller juxtaposes the leaders, who rationally think for themselves, and the followers, who believe what everybody else believes, through irony, imagery, and denotation. The Crucible is riddled with irony, and Arthur Miller utilizes situational and dramatic irony to show the difference between followers and leaders.

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If your study involved paired texts of contrasting text types, compare the ways in which the authors use conventional features of each text type to explore similar ideas. Arthur Miller in The Crucible and Fred Zinnemann in High Noon underline comparable ideas through conventional features of drama and film. The Crucible, a 1953 play set at the Salem witch trials, is an allegory of McCarthyism. Similarly, High Noon, a 1952 American film, can be interpreted as an anti-McCarthyism parable about an isolated man defending his moral principles in the McCarthy era. Despite dissimilar text types, ideas including effects of moral ambiguity, fear and self-interest, and the strength of courage are concurrently uncovered in both texts.

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The Ironic Truth Irony is a complex and important element of literature that can help discover hidden perspectives within characters or hide the truth in plain sight. The story by Edgar Allen Poe, “The Cask of Amontillado” is a great example the dark ironic twist that happen in the story. The main character, Montresor, is hell-bent on getting his revenge on the man who shamed him, Fortunato. The verbal and dramatic irony that is being used in the story “The Cask of Amontillado” helps hide the true intentions that Montresor has planned for Fortunato. Verbal irony happens when one character says one thing but actually means something completely different.

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Situational irony is created in the text through Proctor reciting “ thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image… You have said that twice, sir… Adultery, John”(Miller.II.12.). This is an example of Situational Irony because the only commandment Proctor couldn’t remember is the one he broke. Proctor’s inability to remember his commandments causes the community to question his faithfulness to his religion and in return creates conflict later in the trials when people question his judgment and accuse him of witchcraft.

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Verbal Irony is when words are expressed contrary to the truth or someone says the opposite of what they really mean, in other words or to sum it up Verbal irony is sarcasm. Peck uses Verbal Irony commonly in the short story, for example he states,”Then quicker than the eye, she brings the side of her enormous hand down in a chop that breaks the Kobra’s hold on Melvin’s throat…... You could hear a pin drop in that hallway(peck 14)”. This shows that peck used Verbal Irony to express how quiet it was in the hallway.

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575 Words | 3 Pages

John tells the truth but Elizabeth lies to protect him which is ironic because He told the court she would never lie. John refuses to sign the confession to protect his family name and the people that look up to him, this event helps dramatize the play. Finally, Elizabeth living to the court and John not signing the confession lead to his death which dramatizes the play because of the death of the protagonist. Throughout the play I explained how this ironic event in the play dramatizes the

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333 Words | 2 Pages

“If you tell the truth, you have to worry about anything.” - Mark Twain. To me, this quote means that if you just tell the truth then the guilt of know what you’ve done won’t haunt you anymore. Everybody has done something that they regret, and if they don’t admit to what they’ve done that guilt could gnaw away at their psyche.

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1332 Words | 6 Pages

When Oscar Wilde ended his play, The Importance of Being Earnest, with the main character, Jack, announcing, “I’ve now realised for the first time in my life the vital Importance of Being Earnest,” did he really mean that Jack finally realized the vital importance of being ironic? (Wilde 54). From the beginning to the end of the play, irony, mainly dramatic irony, plays a fundamental role in the plot. Mr. Jack Worthing and Mr. Algernon Moncrieff both use the name of Ernest Worthing to advance themselves in their own distinct situations. Jack uses Ernest as his brother and as an excuse to go into the town, while Algernon uses Ernest as a way to pursue the love of his life.

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