Arthur Miller’s play, The Crucible, is set in Salem village where an atmosphere of enmity and mistrust has been created through the conflicts and disagreements many villagers experience throughout the play. Many of these are caused by or, similar to the conflict between Parris and Proctor, are inflated by the many accusations of witchcraft occurring in the village. John Proctor is very rarely involved in village affairs, preferring to spend time on his farm than getting involved in politics. He does however still have conflicts with others in the village, especially Parris, whom he mistrusts greatly. Proctor genuinely dislikes Parris and disagrees with all that he does. Proctor’s hatred of Parris causes him to rarely attend church …show more content…
Proctor vows to “cut off [his] hand before [he’ll] ever reach for [Abigail] again”. Abigail is devastated that Proctor is now loyal to his “sickly” wife. Abigail holds a grudge against Goody Proctor because she had her fired and is now “blackening” her name in the village. Although the original accusations of witchcraft were made to avoid a whipping, Abigail sees an opportunity to eliminate her competition, Elizabeth. The awkwardness between Abigail and Elizabeth is increased to hatred when Abigail accuses Elizabeth of witchcraft and devises a plan to frame her. When Elizabeth discovers that Abigail saw Mary Warren push the pin into her poppet and that she is willing to go to the extreme lengths of stabbing herself with a pin, her loathing of Abigail increases to the point where she exclaims that Abigail is “murder” and should be “ripped out of the world”. The hatred between the two has stemmed directly from the affair between Abigail and Proctor, thus adding to the hostility of Salem Village. Although Parris is the Minister of Salem Village, he is far from the most respected and decent man and has many grievances and conflicts during the play. Parris’ main conflicting personality is John Proctor but he has many other grievances that may seem insignificant to many, but to Parris, the threat that they provide appears enormous. The danger that Parris is concerned about most is the possibility that his reputation
The Crucible, by Arthur Miller, is a rich and enticing play set in the late 1600’s describing the epic horrors and emotions through the events of the Salem witch trials. The Crucible, focuses primarily on the inconsistencies of the Salem witch trials and the extreme behavior that can result from dark desires and hidden agendas. The play begins with the discovery of several young girls and an African American slave, Tituba, in the woods just outside of Salem, dancing and pretending to conjure spirits. The Puritans of Salem stood for complete religious intolerance and stressed the need to follow the ways of the bible literally without exception. The actions of the women in
He is keen on protecting himself and his family’s name, which involves preserving the trials and its integrity. He cannot have the trials proven to be fraud because the illegitimate support he has for his lying daughter and niece will end his career thus making the community lose their trust and respect for him. The people of Salem are realizing that the assumptions of witchcraft in the village could be false and therefore they no longer believe what Parris and the girls have to say. As a result, Parris desperately craves for Proctor’s confession when he feverishly says, “It is a great service, sir. It is a weighty name; it will strike the village that Proctor confess. I beg you, let him sign it” (Miller 141). Parris is left feeling threatened and scared after finding a note and dagger on his front door from angry villagers who are upset about the noble people in their community being executed. As an act of self-preservation he pleads for a respected person such as John Proctor to confess, so that he can validate the trial to which he strongly favoured, protect his reliability within the society and prove that witches are present in Salem. Parris’ constant acts of self-preservation has backfired and initially if he were honest about the girls dancing in the forest, he could have avoided the complicated court trials that left many innocent people to die
John Proctor and Reverend Hale are similar characters in the way they are very prideful people and start doubting the authority of others as the events unfold throughout the play. John Proctor is a very prideful character who values his reputation. He believes he is above others in the way he mocks Reverend Parris, after Parris says there is a faction against him he says “Why, then I must find it and join it” (Miller, Act I, 31). Proctor sarcastic statement shows how he believes he can mock others and show authority over Parris.
To everyone Parris was a good man, he was a Pastor. In Act I he speaks to his niece Abigail and says to her, “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. I have given you a home, child. I have put clothes upon your back—now give me an upright answer. Your name in the town—it is entirely white, is it not? (Parris 63)” Parris can’t believe what he is hearing in the town that Abigail was out in the woods dancing and trying to conjure spirits. He has been keeping his name clean for many years and now Abigail might mess that up so he tries to tell Abigail that she needs to stop. In Act III Parris tries to accuse Proctor of being un-Christian because he dislikes Proctor. He states, “Such a Christian that will not come to church but once in a month (Parris 116).” Proctor is trying to get the attention off of his niece so that his good name will not be soiled by her wrongdoing. He would rather accuse Proctor of being un-Christian than see his good name be destroyed. In Act IV Proctor is about to sign a paper that states that he was the one who was dealing with the devil, even though he wasn’t just so he could save his wife. Parris is yelling at Danforth, “I will strike the village that Proctor confess. Let him sign it. Let him sign it (Parris
Purist Salem, Massachusetts in 1692 suffered from a rapidly increasing phenomenon: witchcraft accusations and trials. The Crucible is a play that recounts the times of this incident. For the most part, it follows a man known as John Proctor. He is a sensible, honest, and hardworking man who made the mistake of succumbing to lust which sets off a chain of events that leads to the witch trials, and to his own demise. Arthur Miller’s The Crucible’s protagonist John Proctor proves to be a flawed human being who struggles to make sense of his past relationship with Abigail, his love for his wife, and his pride.
In the play The Crucible by Arthur Miller, the characters John Proctor and Reverend Parris are some of the major characters during the course of the play. John Proctor is a farmer in Salem that lives in the outskirts of town, and is religious like the rest of Salem but rarely makes it to the church due to living far away have having large amounts of work. He is seen as strong and confident by most town members, however “Proctor… has come to regard himself as a kind of fraud” (Miller 20-21). Reverend Parris is Salem’s religious leader. While he does regularly speak to the entire town, he has very little confidence and “believed he was being persecuted wherever he went, despite his best efforts to win people and God over to his side” (Miller 3). By comparing and contrasting both Parris and Proctor’s actions and beliefs throughout the play, underlying truths regarding self-realization and the consequences of our actions can be discovered.
The Crucible by Arthur Miller is a historical play set in 1962 in the small town of Salem, Massachusetts. As you may know, you've all placed your trust in the words and actions of someone close to you. And what do they do? They betray you! It's rarely justified, and can happen to the best of us. Based on authentic records of witchcraft trials in the seventeenth-century this play explains how a small group of girls manage to create a massive panic in their town by spreading accusations of witchcraft. These rumors in turn are the causes that many citizens are hung for. This essay will show how the lies and betrayal of a few individuals eventually leads to the downfall of Salem and its society.
Furthermore, in Act II, it is revealed that John Proctor attended mass scarcely because he hated Reverend Parris so much. His materialism (as proven with the gold candlesticks) was something that greatly bothered the town of Salem. In Act IV, Reverend Parris is humbled. Having been robbed by Abigail and her friend, Mercy Lewis, he is almost penniless, and thereby modest and sorrowful. He does not talk with the same biting command as he used to.
The Crucible by Arthur Miller, explains the marvels of witchcraft and the world of “magic”, which unravels a set of confusing disasters in the town of Salem, Massachusetts. While confronted between a choice of life and death, situations hastily get out of hand, and soon become uncontrollable. These events are based on true happenings that led to the writing of this play, which contains the themes mass hysteria, groupthink, and abuse of power. The vast world of witchcraft may not have seemed too intimidating, but it is proven that it’s more dangerous than one can truly imagine.
Both Parris and Proctor dislike each other and never agree. Because of this Proctor rarely attends the church services, and instead spends the days on his farm. A reason Proctor does not attend is that he disagrees with Parris’s morals and motivations. He feels that Parris is unholy and is going against their Puritan ways of teaching, “I see no light of God in that man. I'll not conceal it”(71). Parris is a great influence in the witch-hunt and is often expressing
The year is 1692. Throughout the small, Puritan, seaside community of Salem, rumors and accusations fly like gusts of ocean wind. Neighbors turn on neighbors, and even the most holy church-goers are accused of being the devil’s servants. The Crucible details this real-life tragedy of the Salem witch trials, in which nineteen members of the Salem community were hanged for alleged witchcraft. Abigail Williams, a seemingly innocent girl, accuses dozens of Salem’s citizens of witchcraft through the support of her mob of girls and the complicity of the court officials. The title of this play gives significant insight into the experiences of several of these Salem citizens. Although a crucible is often used in chemistry for heating up substances, the title of the play carries a much greater weight. In his famous play The Crucible, Arthur Miller uses the title of “crucible” to signify the severe and unrelenting tests of faith and character that many of the community members endure throughout the Salem witch trials, which he achieves through the use of figurative language and fallacies of relevance and insufficiency.
In Arthur Miller’s the Crucible, which in located in Salem,Massachusetts had a troublesome time called the Salem Witch Trials, it was a time of murder and assumptions based on people’s thoughts of their neighbors it had to deal with Witchcraft. Relationships have changed threw this time some for good and some for bad.
One concept is capable of more destruction than almost anything else. It can change a person’s life, or end it. The Crucible, by Arthur Miller, is a play that is set in Salem, Massachusetts in the early 1690’s. The play revolves around the infamous Salem Witch Hunts and their proceedings both within the court and outside of the court. Within this plotline, a theme of greed functions in the play, influencing the actions of certain characters, including Reverend Parris, Thomas Putnam, and Abigail.
Imagine the year is 1692. In a small Massachusetts town a culture of highly religious folk live in peace. Salem. It´s late January and the reverendś young niece Abigail and only daughter begin to act strangely. Rumors of witchcraft fly through town and fear runs rampant.In around a year 200 people are unjustifiably accused and 20 sentenced to capital punishment. Who is next? The strange widow down the road? The Coreys? In a time of obscured justice, line were crossed and innocent lives lost. In his breakthrough play, The Crucible, Arthur Miller spins a tale not far from the truth.Letting his readers explore a gruesome tale of blind hatred. In Arthur Miller's The Crucible, Abigail Williams embodies the wrongdoings of the Salem Witch Trials.
Arthur Miller’s The Crucible is about the people of 17th century.Salem, Massachusetts situated in a dangerous and dynamic period. The Puritans of Salem joined the bandwagon of the witch hysteria that was first caused by girls falsely accusing others. The inhabitants of Salem feared for their lives as the people who were accused were subjected to death. However, the accused have a chance to save themselves by admitting to a crime they did not commit. Many took the opportunity for self-preservation because it is a human instinct of survival. However, there others who chose to uphold their ideals, name, and reputation. Self-preservation is the motivates the characters to behave and act when they are situated in a compromising situation about the involvement of witchcraft, but there are also times when it is abandoned.