Weakness In The Crucible

The Crucible, a production written by Arthur Miller, stays extremely true to its name. The definition of a “crucible” according to Prentice Hall is a severe test or trial, this theme is consistently shown in the play (1257 n1). The drama shows a village in 1692 Massachusetts controlled by puritans, where a large number of people are wrongfully accused of witchcraft (Miller). The village itself could be mistaken as a crucible since the people's values are tested, the trials themselves are the crucible of the story. For many of the characters the test sees if they will lie and accuse someone else of witchcraft, or if they will face death for their honesty. Many characters do not pass their individual tests, others like John Proctor however do

So during the course of the drama, John is trying to find himself again by gaining back the trust of his wife Elizabeth Proctor, who is often called Goody Proctor (Miller). While Proctor does have moments of weakness, he is overable able to find himself again. One moment of John’s weakness can be seen when he and Abigail are talking; she tries to convince him his actions are not wrong and to continue on with the affair (Miller 1271). This plan however does not work. After their conversation Abigail decides to frame Proctor’s wife as a witch by stabbing herself with a needle and blaming Elizabeth with voodoo (Miller 1306). After Abigail pulls this stunt, John is able to get himself together so that he can save his wife (Miller). At this point, he claims that “I will fall like an ocean on that court! Fear nothing Elizabeth (Miller 1309). Proctor true to his word tries to save his wife (Miller 1358). And he may not be the saving grace of his wife, he found himself in trying. And for this he was able to die a saint (Miller 1358). Giles Corey had a similar ending and also died with his

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). Giles last words were “more weight,” he asked for the weight so his chest would be crushed and his children could get the family land. Both Giles and John passed their specific tests, Mary Warren did not however (Miller). Mary tried to defend Goody Proctor from Abigail’s accusations when Goody was to be arrested, but it did not help (Miller 1306). And after Proctor pressured Mary to tell the court that the girls were falsifying information, Abigail accused Mary of witchcraft (Miller 1317). This prompted Mary to turn on John Proctor calling him the devil’s man, to save herself (Miller 1338). And as absurd as it sounds, Mary Warren was allowed to continue her life as normal even after she costs many people their lives. It was much easier to save oneself by lieing than face death for