The Crucible Character Analysis

The play, The Crucible, by Arthur Miller, takes place in the town of Salem, Massachusetts in 1692. This time in Salem, witchcraft was suspected of almost everyone in the town. Preserving one’s reputation becomes recurring concept throughout the play. The witchcraft accusations are usually made by people that have a biased view against others, which is why everyone tries to make sure their reputation looks well with the rest of the town. This concept is proven through the characters of John Proctor, Reverend Parris and Reverend Hale. These three characters go to great lengths to protect what the town of Salem thinks of them.

This is later confirmed when she threatens to “come to [them] in the black of some terrible night and … bring a pointy reckoning that will shudder” (Pg.175) Mary Warren and Betty Parris if they dare to tell the truth. This shows her determination at killing Elizabeth Proctor and securing her own reputation. Unlike many naive villains in other literatures, Abigail sets out a meticulous scheme to frame Elizabeth. First, she witnesses Mary Warren leaving a needle in a doll. Then she “[sticks] two inches [of a needle] in the flesh of her belly”(pg. 203) to frame Elizabeth of performing witchcraft. So mendacious is Abigail that she is willing to injure herself to accomplish her plan. Under her beautiful appearance also lays a manipulative heart. She is capable of manipulating not only the girls into doing things her way, but also the members of the court to her advantage. When questioned by Danforth whether the spirits she has seen are illusion, Abigail steps it up a notch by making the members of the court feel sorry for her and madly refutes, “I have been near to murdered every day because I done my duty pointing out the Devil’s people—and this is my reward? To be mistrusted, denied, questioned like a—” (Pg.210) This, following by Elizabeth's failure to tell the truth and the girl’s verisimilar acting toward the “yellow bird”, further demonstrates her manipulative power which brings the court in her favor. Altogether, many

The Crucible, a play written by Arthur Miller, is a chronological narrative including a large cast of characters with a constantly moving setting.* The Crucible is a dramatization of the Salem Witch Trials of 1692 and an allegory of the McCarthyism period. Throughout the play, Miller explores the destruction of freedom by the ignorant and tyrannical society in which his characters live.* By exhibiting how easily a member of the community can become an outcast, Arthur Miller displays social criticism in the Puritan society as well as in today's society in The Crucible.

The witch trials in this play were based on actual events that happened in Salem in 1692. Arthur Miller’s 1953 The Crucible is a dramatization of the Salem Witch Trials. His reasoning for writing it was because everyone was hysteric about the Soviet Union and communism trying to make its way over to the United States. It was like a modern day witch hunt. In the play, Abigail Williams and a group of girls get caught in the woods. They were dancing and doing other things that puritan’s looked down upon. The girls were caught by Reverend Parris, and soon after his daughter became ‘ill’. The girls then started saying that witches came to them and told them to do bad things. They sent innocent people to hang. After studying Arthur Miller’s

In The Crucible by Arthur Miller, it takes place in Salem, Massachusetts during colonial America. Throughout the story a group of girls makes accusations a mass of people of practicing witchcraft, one of the worst crimes to commit during that period, and people are being sentenced to hang for denying witchery. In the Crucible there are many lessons that Arthur Miller wants to teach you. To me a lot of the lessons that were taught in this story are important but I feel like one of them is the most important. Arthur Miller demonstrates that one of the lessons implied in the story is people’s character and how it affects those people and others. Examples of character are Giles Corey, John Proctor, Abigail Williams.

The Crucible is set in the seventeenth- century Salem, Massachusetts during the Salem witch trial. It starts of with Reverend Parris, a man very concerned about his reputation, accusing his orphaned niece Abigail Williams of taking part in witchcraft after his daughter is unconscious after dancing in the woods. A technique used by Parris is characterization, which utilizes the thoughts, actions and dialogues in the construction of characters. Arthur Miller uses characterization to build the character of Reverend Samuel Parris as arrogant , selfish, and deceptive.

The Crucible is a historical fiction play based on the Salem Witch trials. Throughout the book, Arthur Miller compares the Salem Witch Trials to the McCarthy Trials through intensive side monologues. Miller’s purpose in adding the McCarthy trials to the play is to show that history is periodic because of the reoccurring patterns within the two trials. The Salem Witch Trials, in The Crucible, and the McCarthy Trials show that history is periodic because of the reoccurring personality types, grave consequences, and trial proceedings.

A fundamental and timeless part of literature, evil antagonists provide a source of conflict for a story from the Salem Witch Trials to the Red Scare to present day Disney movies. Instilling villainous qualities in one of his main characters, Arthur Miller initiates conflict. The Crucible, a story written by Arthur Miller about the Salem Witch Trials, demonstrates the power of those who strive for omnipotence compared to the outcasts living in Salem during those times. In charge of accusing men and woman of involvement with the devil, the main antagonist Abigail creates conflict in the story. Abigail’s core values and traits mirror those of various Disney villains. Abigail’s traits include omnipotent power, manipulation, vengeance, and motivation.

The Crucible written by Arthur Miller is a play that takes place in the 1690’s during the famous/tragic witch trials. The entire community is in chaos yet certain characters are also fighting internal conflicts of their own. Miller uses three characters who manifest this battle ever so clearly. Such as Mary Warren who whole personality turns upside down, John Proctor who contemplates between the importance of his family and his own name and Reverend Hale who battles with himself whether to carry out his job requirements or do what he knows is right.

In The Crucible, the author, Arthur Miller wrote the play to scrutinize the Salem witch trials that were held in Salem, Massachusetts in 1962. During the trials you can grasp an understanding as to how it is breaking families apart, and messing up relationships with each character. However; John would not let that happen with his wife Elizabeth. Even Though they went through many struggles during the witch trials that never seemed to stop them from trying to make their relationship stronger. As the trial continues to go on, you tend to notice the good and evil in most of the characters, because they will do anything to not be accused and hung for witchcraft.

Did you know, the book Crucible has been so know that there was a play about the book

In the play, The Crucible, Arthur Miller, presents the clergymen as strong, religious, and overwhelmed men whose actions of deciding on who was innocent caused the town to stir up chaos and continue confusion and anxiety. Miller displays the men’s weaknesses through the second meeting when Mary Warren confessed, Danforth discussing with Abigail about deception and Reverend Hale discusses his true beliefs to Goody Proctor about John. Without the flaws of the clergymen, the girls plan to get rid of some townspeople would not succeed. With those flaws and strong ideas and beliefs of religion, the suspects are remorselessly hanged for being innocent. Arthur Miller gives the solution to this problem to a group of men who society would see as doing justice, although they do none. The overall tone of the play is defensive being that the whole town is trying to defend their faith while trying to defend their friends and family.

In Arthur Miller’s, The Crucible, the figures of authority have to find ways to settle the uneasiness throughout the town, whilst proving their citizens guilty and innocent. This becomes especially difficult for Reverend Parris and Reverend Hale, when the townspeople put an immense amount of pressure on them, because of their social status and capabilities. Reverend Parris has authority because, in a Puritan society, church and government are closely tied together. Though, he does not use his authority in an effective way when the trials are occurring for the reason that, he is committed to protecting his reputation, and his social standing. When Parris finds out that the reason his daughter cannot wake is because of Abigail and the other girls dancing in the forest, he draws the conclusion that his name and reputation will be ruined, “I saw it! Now tell me true Abigail. And I pray you feel the weight of truth upon you, for now my ministry’s at stake … Abigail, I have fought here three long years to bend these stiff-necked people to me, and now, just now when some good respect is rising for me in the parish, you compromise my very character” (Miller 11). Parris is ordering Abigail to tell him the truth about what had happened in the forest, the day that all the girls were together. She denies that it was witchery or any activity that could harm anyone else, “it were sport uncle!” (11). Revered Parris continues to attempt to force it out of her, by informing her that he is

In the play The Crucible Abigail is Parris’s niece that lives in his home along with his daughter, Betty. Abigail is one of the girls that fake being witched and accuse many innocent people in Salem, Massachusetts of being witches. The question is whether or not Abigail is a victim of her society or just plain evil. It is my understanding, with the examination of her character traits, that Abigail is a victim of her society. While some of her actions were fueled by passion for John Proctor, I do think the way she behaved because of her situation resembles that of which the town reacted to the accusations of the “witches”. Abigail is a powerful individual that is influenced by her community, pardoned from her actions by the community, and a morally weak and prideless person.

In “The Crucible” the most valuable asset is your reputation, and how good of a christian you are. But reputation meant nothing when a witchcraft accusations were staring you in the face. And it was for the sake of his reputation and his friends’ reputations that John Proctor refused to sign a false confession. He would rather die, lie to everyone. It was for this that Reverend Samuel Parris chose to stick with the accusations even though he had found out it was all a lie. In the book we see how different and similar these characters are, both being religious and seeing themselves as authoritative figures. But yet they act differently by always challenging each other and being on different sides during trials. Proctor ends up fighting for his life and Parris ends up staying as an important person. As the play progress both Proctor and Parris have a change of characteristics, both going from of men of pride to having goodness and foolishness.