The Crucible By Arthur Miller

John Proctor and Reverend Parris are both prominent men in Salem; however, Proctor does not care how he is seen by the town whereas Parris is willing to do almost anything to protect his reputation. Parris divulges his true feelings when talking to Abigail about his reputation, as he calls the Salem’s citizens “stiff-necked people” who, “just when some good respect is rising” for him within the parish, have called into questioned his “very character” due to Abigail’s accusations (11). In contrast to Parris’ concern about how he will be perceived, Proctor willingly admits he had an affair with Abigail, begging the men in the court to “see [Abigail for] what she is” (110). Parris attempts to coerce Abigail into compliance in order to save his name while Proctor accuses Abigail of lechery in order to save his wife. While Parris’ self-consciousness turned him into a selfish man, Proctors’ self-confidence taught him selflessness. Much like her uncle Parris, Abigail is willing to protect her reputation at all costs. When she believes Goody Proctor is ruining her name, Abigail declares “My name is good in the village! I will not have it said my name is soiled!” (12). Abigail is terrified at the thought the Salem community could believe her character was tainted. Out of concern for her reputation, she angrily blames others for seeking to spread rumors and lies about her. In contradiction, Elizabeth tells John that whatever he does “it is a good man does it” (137). Despite John’s confession to lechery and societal pressures put on her to shun him, she still believes John is a good person. Abigail’s fear of the public’s reaction has turned her into a vengeful and jealous young woman while Elizabeth’s apathetic attitude toward public opinion has allowed her to become loving and forgiving. This

One of the few people who tried to call attention to the injustice of the witch trials was John Proctor. He had an advantage of having a closer relationship to the “strikingly beautiful” (Miller 8) Abigail Williams, as she was a maid in his household until his wife discovered John’s affair with Abigail. He tries to use this leverage to convince Abigail to stop the trials. However, even he cannot convince her to stop this trickery, to the point where he declares in court that he does “[I] believe she means to murder.” (96); this just escalates the trial as he accuses her of many things from not seeing the Devil to “laughter during prayer” (96). Abigail, however, tries to deflect the blame from herself, first pointing fingers at the slave Tituba before she and other girls begin to cry witch on notable town members, from Elizabeth

The Crucible, a novel/play by Arthur Miller displays the chaos of the witch trials within the small town of Salem, Mass. Of the many characters of the novel, John Proctor and Mary Warren are both characters that serve an importance to the novel. The two characters both interact in the stories in different ways. Even though both characters can be seen as minor characters because of their inferior power in the novel, Proctor and Mary Warren serve as important characters to the story line. One reason being the fact that they both bring about problems with and/or against antagonist Abigail Williams such as Mary Warren, who likes the feeling of have authority but gets into unwanted conflict often, and Proctor, who is an very aggressive person

Arthur Miller has created John Proctor the protagonist of The Crucible to be a 30 year old farmer in Salem, Massachusetts, powerful of body, even-tempered and not easily led. John speaks his mind when he recognizes injustice. He is highly respected, even feared, by some in Salem. His name is synonymous with honour and integrity. He takes pleasure in exposing hypocrisy and is respected for it. However John is a sinner, a sinner not only against the moral fashion of the time but against his own vision of decent conduct, he has come to regard himself as a kind of fraud. After admitting to lechery, John is accused of witchcraft, on this charge he is condemned.

Arthur Miller’s play The Crucible show the hysteria that took place in Salem in 1692. Even though this play is fiction, Miller based the plot of his play on a real historical event which was McCarthyism in the late 1940’s and early 1950’s. There’re many connection in The Crucible to be considered as an allegory due to similarities themes and how the characters are being portrayed. Miller does an excellent job of portraying numerals characters used fear for benefit and they showed selfishness and malfeasance. This is also similar to how Joseph McCarthy’s oppressive by using intense fear of the spread of the economic system called communism.

In the play The Crucible by Arthur Miller, one of the many themes that stands out to most people is the importance of a having a good name and reputation. Miller uses certain characters outcomes in the play to prove that reputation was actually not the biggest concern. He consistently shows that reputation means nothing when it came to being accused during the Salem Witch Trials because many innocent people were killed. People began to use these accusations for their own benefit and that’s when it became chaotic. These random accusations of witchcraft could immediately cause someone’s admirable reputation to disappear. He provides evidence in the play through most characters that we would consider to have a good reputation such as: Rebecca Nurse, Elizabeth Proctor, and John Proctor.

In the novel The Crucible by Arthur Miller, the story was based on McCarthyism. This book is based on a real story and real people. John Proctor tore up his confession and goes to his death because he can’t lie about himself and ruin his reputations. He also doesn’t want people to think he is a bad person by confessing a lie just to save his life.

In the English dictionary, there are three definitions of the word crucible. One is a metal container in which metals are mixed and melted. Another is a severe test. But the third definition, and the one that I think fits the best for this book, is a place or situation in which different elements interact to create something new. In my mind, this fits because all of the characters had their little grudges and dirty secrets. But when all those seemingly little things interact, they formed something new and a lot bigger: a witch hunt. This strange transformation that happened, occurred because of people exacting revenge. Revenge is a theme in the crucible because Abigail Williams, Mr Proctor, and Ann Putnam acted out of revenge.

One of the numerous things that a man can never outrun is his reputation. Several authors throughout the history of literature have used this characteristic of citizens as major conflicts in stories and plays. One such author is Arthur Miller, playwright for the famous 1950’s play, The Crucible. In Miller’s The Crucible, reputation plays an influential role in the outcome of the play. A major portion of the population is led to plead guilty in order to save their reputation, have their reputation ruined by pleading innocent, or ruin their reputations so as to protect others. Several of these characters are Sarah Good, Rebecca Nurse, and John Proctor.

It is necessary to have trust, loyalty, forgiveness, and honesty when living in a healthy community. But when people within the community begin to show betrayal, revenge, deceit, and suspicion, then the balance of the community is disrupted. In the Puritan community, they focused on doing God’s work by taking care of their neighbors and made sure to not be distracted by matters unrelated to God. Their extremely religious and simplistic lives isolated them from any disruption in the community. However, motivations of others led to the accusations of those in the community, which resulted in chaos. This occurred in the event known as the Salem Witch Trials, where twenty were executed and hundreds of others were accused. Arthur Miller, in his play, The Crucible, demonstrates how the thirst for revenge fuels the devastation of a community through the characters of Thomas Putnam, Ann Putnam, and Abigail Williams.

Imagine being able to hold your enemies in your hands. You had the say whether or whether not they died. You were the one that accused them of being a witch or you were the one that let them live. Abigail had this power in The Crucible by Arthur Miller. In the Puritan town of Salem, Massachusetts cries of witchery were getting out of control. A group of girls were led by Abigail Williams, who led them to accuse 80 people of witchery which resulted in 19 people hanged. These girls and especially Abigail had a very high impact on the outcome of the society and who lived or not. This hoax lasted longer than it should have and many people were harmed by these girls’ horrible actions. The Puritan society was responsible

What is a reputation? Is it something you earn or is it something you are just handed? The dictionary describes it as a favorable repute; good name. One could conclude that one is given a reputation based on certain actions or characteristics. Also valid for argument is the importance of having a good or bad reputation. Having a good reputation can be for the sake of having others view you as a good person and someone that they can rely on. On the other hand, a person with a bad reputation would be treated with little respect and not taken very seriously. All of these factors based on what society chooses to name you as, a person with a good reputation or someone with a bad reputation. The birth of a reputation is created by society and it alone. If having a reputation were all up to one’s self we would all have superb reputations. The Crucible by Arthur Miller focuses on upkeeping a good reputation and showing the importance of having a good clean name.

In Arthur Miller’s historical fiction play The Crucible (1953), witchcraft surfaces in the town of Salem leaving everyone to fend for themselves. Generally, people will do whatever they can to save their lives. In The Crucible, a group of girls are found dancing in the woods and are caught by Reverend Parris, minister of the Salem church and uncle to Abigail Williams. One of the girls, Betty, faints and draws many to visit and try to find the source of her illness. Reverend Parris has Reverend Hale, a minister well versed in affairs of the devil, to come and cure Betty. Many people accuse Betty’s symptoms of witchcraft, including Hale. This witchcraft conviction starts the “witch trials”. Abigail and the girls are

Social prejudice is an occurring phenomenon that is designed to estrange some members of society and condemn those who hold different lifestyle, beliefs and practices. In today’s warfare, ISIS and their extensive murder hunt of everyone that does not hold Muslims views and practices is an example of a modern witch-hunt. Arthur Miller’s play, “The Crucible” is a dramatic story about the Salem witch trials that took place in the Province of Massachusetts Bay. In the small town of Salem, a group of girls became ill and began experiencing hallucinations and seizures. The extremely religious Puritan society was convinced that these frightening occurrences were often attributed to consorting with the Devil. This “unknown sickness” provoked fears of witchcraft, causing the residents of Salem to accuse the other townspeople of practicing magic and associating with the Devil. The pressures of social conformity push Reverend Parris, Abigail Williams, and Reverend Hale into becoming victims of their reputation, fear, and pride.

In ancient Greece, Aristotle formulated a new format for drama where there would be a beginning, middle, and an end. As years went by, this format or structure became known as the five-act play. This structure contains five parts that allow a smooth transition throughout the play. These five parts include the exposition, the rising action, the climax, the falling action, and the denouement or resolution. Although Arthur Miller’s play, The Crucible, only contains four acts, it can be analyzed through a combination of acts into a five-act structure.