The Puritan woman life is centered around nurturing their children, taking care of their husbands and all of his needs, and to keep straight on their religious paths; to be God fearing women. Puritan women never stray from these ideals and if they did these women would be ostracized and be forever shunned in the Puritan community. So, Puritan women have to keep secrets hidden and keep things to themselves; secrets for them and them only. Great examples of these Puritan ideals are The Crucible , by Arthur Miller and the poetic writings of Anne Bradstreet. Though these writings may have many similarities they also differ in many ways as well. In the example of The Crucible, Arthur Miller illustrates refined examples of these ideals in the …show more content…
Elizabeth loves her two boys and her other child on the way, for example, “When the children wake, speak nothing of witchcraft-it will frighten them.”(Miller 73), takes care of her husband and is extremely patient with him and she is extraordinarily good at holding things back no matter what it is. Elizabeth's husband John Proctor has been unfaithful to her and she subtlety ask John of his fault. John confesses of his utter mistake but then blames Elizabeth for being too cold to him. At this time the girl whom John was having an affair with, Abigail Williams, was creating city-wide havoc pertaining with witches and she recruits all the girls in town to play along with her wicked ruse. Abigail despises Elizabeth for her relationship with John and decides to pull the witch trick on Elizabeth, for revenge.Elizabeth is then …show more content…
Both literary works were written about the same time period, the Puritan era, hence their strong views on women and their roles in Puritan society, though one is a larger extreme than the other. Arthur Miller and Anne Bradstreet both have God as a main theme in their works. Though the writers have Puritan life as a major theme they also have many differences in their writing styles. The Crucible was not written in the Puritan era, the story was written as an allegory to Communism (The Communist Witch Hunt); because in the 1950’s Arthur was accused as a Communist spy. Rather than Anne Bradstreet who lived in this time period. Also in Bradstreet’s writings she largely focuses, with her Puritan-related works, on more of the familial side of the Puritan lifestyle. When Arthur Miller writes more closely relate to the Puritan woman's relationship with her husband and the corruptness of Puritan society. In Bradstreet’s portrayal of the Puritan woman in her poem Upon the Burning of Our House, is an attached woman, to her memories in her possession and with reason she figures out that God is the only that is constant and everlasting in her life. Arthur Miller portrayal of the Puritan are at opposite spectrums of the Puritan, the loyal Elizabeth’s; which her husband knows when he says, “ That woman will never lie, Mr. Danforth.”(Miller 85), or
The poem by Anne Bradstreet and the play by Arthur Miller are both similar ,because they are showing meanings of real love. To begin with, in the poem she tells how much she loves her husband. For example when she says “I prize thy love more than whole mines of gold,or all the riches that the East doth hold”. That statement shows that she wouldn't sell her husband for any amount of money. Secondly, in the story of Arthur Miller it shows what Elizabeth Protector would do to show her love for John Proctor. Specially,when Elizabeth lies for her husband in court so he wouldn't be punished. Furthermore, both of these express what they will do for the love of there spouse. Anne shows that she wouldn't sale her husband for any amount of money ,that's
In the beginning, Abigail mentions Elizabeth to take her away from John Proctor. Abigail had an affair with John Proctor, making her now obsessed in wanting John as her lover. The readers can recognize how Abigail took Elizabeth into witchery through Cheever, appointed by the court, to accuse those arrested of witchcraft, “wife's familiar
The Crucible is a play written in 1953 by a New Yorker named Arthur Miller. The play revolves around the Salem Witch Trials in Salem, Massachusetts, which happened during the late 1600’s. This was the time period where people would accuse others of performing witchcraft and “signing the devil’s black book in their own blood.” The witches would then either be jailed, hanged, or burned at the stake. It was a very dark time for the Puritans of Massachusetts. In the play, it is caused by a group of girls falsely accusing people they don’t like of being witcher. Miller threw in references to the “Red Scare” and the Communist Hunts during the 1950’s as well, as he was comparing the two events to each other. The characters and events in The Crucible were based on the diaries Miller found, so every character in the book were real people who were alive during the trials. Even though Rebecca Nurse, a wealthy old woman, and Elizabeth Proctor, wife of John Proctor, are separated by wealth, social status and likability (how liked they are), but they are very similar to each other because they have both been accused of witchcraft, and their personalities are more similar than once thought.
The Crucible is a story of a tight-knit community who is largely based on their religious beliefs in regards to decisions and organizational value. Religion is a huge basis in the community. If one did not show up to church, they were questioned of their whereabouts and those who danced in the woods were considered worshipping the Devil. They would not tolerate these acts. They also did not tolerate adultery, which is a big theme throughout the story. Many were tried for witchcraft as well. The Scarlet Letter is also largely based on religion. The story opens up with Hester on the scaffold being presented in front of all of a crowd for committing
The literary works, The Scarlet Letter, a romantic work of an American writer, Nathaniel Hawthorne, and the Crucible, a play written by an American playwright, Arthur Miller both show two different narratives of the Salem Witch Trials. The Scarlet Letter is mainly on adultery, meanwhile, The Crucible is about witchcraft. Amongst these two literary works, there are several similarities and contrasts: setting, sin, reasons behind committing the misdemeanor, guilt, and loyalty of the Puritan people to their appointed officials. Although there are several similarities and comparisons, the greatest controversy is how the authors portray the female characters. Women get treated differently than men; it is the idea of women being inferior creatures and lesser human beings.
Elizabeth Proctor can be viewed as the most loyal woman in the play. In spite of the fact that her better half, John Proctor, admitted to having an affair with their housekeeper, Abigail Williams, Elizabeth was still devoted to John. At the point, when Elizabeth was questioned as to whether her significant other, John, was having an affair behind her back, she lied for him and denied it. When Danforth stated, "To your own knowledge, has John Proctor ever committed the crime of lechery?” and Elizabeth reacted, "No, sir". Elizabeth had never lied before this incident, yet she did now, to save her cheating spouse. Elizabeth is a strong woman who took the fault for something that she was not associated with. She thought she was the reason behind on why her husband cheated, ”I have sins of my own to count. It needs a cold wife to prompt lechery". Elizabeth is portrayed as a woman with a strong, loyal character and a faithful wife, yet she has her flaws
Abigail was driven by jealousy when John Proctor slept with her and then moved on and married Elizabeth. Elizabeth was known for telling the truth no matter what. Abigail was outraged and was ready to murder Elizabeth. When Abigail was performing these pretending acts, people were starting to believe what they were seeing, they started to believe Abigail. Abigail was only doing this because she was doing whatever she could to get Elizabeth accused as a witch. During this time of mad accusing, 20 innocent people were hanged just because of false accusations. “ I have a sense for heat, John, and yours has drawn me to my window, and I have seen you looking up, burning in your loneliness. Do you tell me you’ve never looked up at my window” (Miller, 23)? Abigail is trying to get into John Proctor’s head. She wants John to join her side and get rid of Elizabeth, together. She feels that John loves her but he doesn’t and that's why she is driven by jealousy. John did not give into Abigail’s
After having an affair with John Proctor, she couldn’t accept not being without him. Abigail also admires “how such a strong man may let such a sickly wife” like Elizabeth be unaware of the affair she had with John Proctor(act1pg#). As a result to the affair, Proctor is trying to rebuild his marriage with his wife. Abigail continues to intervene in John Proctors marriage and attempts to manipulate Proctor so he would confess his love for her. Proctor admits his love for her, but does not continue his affection because Abigail seeps of vengeance for other individuals. He portrays her “as a lump of vanity” who thinks to dance on his “wife’s grave!”(act 3). For her own selfish desires, Abigail accuses Elizabeth of witchcraft and tries to intentionally sabotage her. She does this for the purpose of her own selfish and fictitious relationship that she has with Proctor. Abigail believes she has the capability to influence Proctor, but her egoistic actions to win his undefining love makes her appear as the criminal in the
The Crucible is a dramatic play written by Arthur Miller in 1953. Miller intrigues his audience with the story of the Salem witch trials, which he loosely based on real events and people from that time period. While there are many different themes at work in this tragedy, the most thought provoking of these is the theme of religion. Puritanism was a large part of everyday life in Salem and this play clearly demonstrates its effect on society back then. Arthur Miller’s The Crucible exposes the evils committed under the guise of religion and the terrible things people are capable of doing in the name of God.
There are various ways you can portray women throughout, The Crucible. Women are raised with high expectations, morals, and majority are raised in a Christian household. Although there’s the other types of women that are the complete opposite. In The Crucible, women are viewed in many different ways based on their actions and behavior. In Margaret Atwood’s poem, “Half-Hanged Mary,” she views women the same way. The author in The Crucible, Arthur Miller, uses very important women to characterize the certain roles of women. The author of the poem, “Half-Hanged Mary,” also uses a woman to portray the roles of how women were treated in the poem, as well as the story, The Crucible. Both of these authors, Margaret and Arthur, compare the similar roles of women based on their well being and moral upbringings.
The infamous play, The Crucible written by Arthur Miller takes place in the town of Salem, Massachusetts when a group of girls accuses innocent people in the puritan society of witchcraft. Abigail Williams, a young girl and her friends are caught doing a forbidden action considered to the puritan community, and try to draw the community’s attention away from their wrongdoing. As the puritan civilization starts to believe these juvenile girls about the devil being present in certain individuals, other authentic personals try to fight for their society as a whole. Throughout the book, characters show that the community is more important than the individual by sacrificing their perseverance, passion, and integrity when their morals are challenged.
As the various characters in The Crucible by Arthur Miller interact, the dominant theme of the consequences of women’s nonconformity begins to slide out from behind the curtains of the play. Such a theme reveals the gripping fear that inundated the Puritans during the seventeenth century. This fear led to the famous witch-hunts that primarily terrorized women who deviated from the Puritan vision of absolute obedience and orthodoxy. Arthur Miller presents his interpretation of the suffering by subtly introducing women who strayed from convention and paid the consequences. Throughout The Crucible, Arthur Miller delineates the historically austere Puritans’ perception and punition of women who differ from expectations, all while unraveling, through the characterization of Tituba, the harsh truth of how women were vided as lesser than men and feared if deviating.
Elizabeth still questions John’s loyalty throughout the play. Elizabeth comes off as an outspoken women and that isn’t really supported in the Puritan society. When convicted of witchcraft she doesn’t fight with the men because she knows she hasn’t done anything wrong. Even though she tries to do what she thinks is the best for John, she ends up saying the wrong thing and Abigail isn’t punished. Elizabeth ends up being pregnant and the trials end before she has her baby so she survives.
Arthur Millers’ novel “ The Crucible” is a wicked story, filled with love, hatred, and mysterious scandals. The Crucible introduces us to witchcraft and strange ways people walked with the devil. In this novel you’ll find out who’s a real Christian and who is misleading others in there path. In The Crucible it reveals the truth and the lies of everyone. Mostly women were accused of lying about witchcraft. The people in Salem thought witchcraft was a suspicious thing. In The Crucible, Abigail Williams takes out her pain and love for John Proctor, out on other people just so she can be with him forever. Abigail is a sneaky , conniving “whore” who is wrapped around John Proctor. As time goes on Abigail love for John Proctor grew so intense.
During the 1650s in Salem, Massachusetts, there were many beliefs about women perpetuated by society. They were considered to be impulsive, selfish and subservient. Women were pressured into conforming to these social standards. This is shown numerous times in Arthur Miller’s play, the Crucible. However, despite these social pressures, there were a number of instances where women we shown to have more power than men. The action of female characters were influenced by the beliefs, stereotypes and expectations promoted in their society.