Lauren Kendrick Ms. Todd English 11 7 November 11 The Crucible: A Tragedy One day in November of 2009 a young girl was killed in a hit and run by a negligent driver. Her name was Courtney Snipes; she was only 11 years old. Courtney’s family suffered from tragedy much like the characters in Arthur Miller’s play The Crucible. These characters lost dozens of their neighbors all because of one group of girl’s ability to lie. Through Aristotle’s definition of what a tragedy in literature is; The Crucible can be easily defined as being a one with its tragic hero being portrayed through John Proctor, the feeling of catharsis, and the seriousness of the overall play. John Proctor is a perfect example of a tragic hero. John …show more content…
John had even said “Because its my name! Because I cannot have another in my life!” (143). This quote clearly shows John’s anger about loosing his name to something so unjust as the witch trails. What also makes the play so serious is what happens to the character, especially their bitter ends, for example Giles Corey was pressed to death because he wouldn’t reveal an informant. Through the tragic hero characteristics that John Proctor has shown, the feeling of the catharsis at the end of the play, and the overall seriousness of the play proves that The Crucible is most definitely a tragedy. It’s hard to believe a tragedy so intense and so lucrative like this has happened in literature and in the world, and hopefully society has learned its lesson, however history has been said to repeat
The Crucible is a historical play by Arthur Miller, and is set in the town of Salem during the late 1690s. The main characters are John Proctor, the protagonist, and Abigail Williams, the antagonist. The conflict occurs when Abigail falsely accuses others of witchcraft. This leads to hysteria in the town, with people turning in innocent people for witchcraft. Many people including John and Elizabeth Proctor are arrested and put on trial, despite their innocence. John Proctor is sentenced to death after refusing to denounce his friends as witches, forgiven by Elizabeth for his affair with Abigail, and restores his reputation of being a good man. The Crucible delves into the extent people will go betray others in order to benefit themselves
The only way John Proctor can save himself is by falsely confessing to being involved with witchcraft; however, he does not confess. This describes another example of situational irony. Proctor decides to tell the truth and not lie to himself because he now understands the meaning of a good reputation. As critic Richard Hayes says, “The dilemma of man, fallible, subject to pride, but forced to choose between the ‘negative good’ of truth and the morality, and the ‘positive good’ of human life under any dispensation.” Proctor would rather die than live with the town believing untrue statements about him. When Proctor is asked to explain why he decides to tell the truth he replies, “Because it is my name!...How may I live without
In 1692, in Salem Massachusetts a small group of girls joined together to go in the woods at night to meet a slave woman name Tituba. Tituba is a slave of Reverend Parris. During their meeting all the girls are dancing
How many people have you met in your life that is stronger because of a difficult experience they went through? Most people are because we take these difficult experiences and grow from them and become better people. This is the exact case is expressed in the play, The Crucible, by Arthur Miller. The story begins in Salem, Massachusetts 1692 right in the middle of a period of witchcraft hysteria. During this time many people were accused of being witches and wrongly convicted by judges Danforth and Hathorne. The characters in the story are struggling because of a girl named Abigail who gets caught practicing witchcraft and then starts naming and accusing others so that she doesn’t get in trouble; one of these people being a well-respected farmer, John Proctor’s, wife Elizabeth. The title, The Crucible, refers to a test, trial, ordeal, formation by fire, and vessel baked to resist heat, and the entire story is an allegory meaning it has a hidden meaning. John Proctor symbolizes a crucible by embodying the definition of one, as he went through a test and was formed by fire.
“The Crucible” is a play that takes place in Salem, Massachusetts in 1692. The play starts in the woods, the characters Abigail, Betty, Tituba, Mary Warren, and Mercy Lewis were casting spells in the forest. Samuel Parris catches them in the woods and Betty passes out. They go to the Proctors house to make sure Betty is okay. Parris is contemplating on what the town will think of him when they find out what has happened. He tells Abigail to tell him what happened in the woods. Abigail tells him they were dancing.
A man 's reputation in many forms is his, life’s work. To have your reputation dismantled is like taking away one 's accomplishments and life’s work. Arthur Miller 's The Crucible is a play about justice and injustice, and how our justice system can be easily corrupted. The story revolves around a man named John Proctor, the tragic hero of this story. John Protector is a symbolic character created by Arthur Miller, because he faced the justice system head on. Proctor’s biggest flaw would be his great amounts of pride, which unfortunately led to his own death. In Arthur Millers’ The Crucible, he characterizes John Proctor as the tragic hero of the story because of all that he lost, through his relentless crusade to free his wife and exposing injustice, illustrating that no hero is perfect.
	Arthur Miller 's play, The Crucible, and the movie with the same name have many differences and similarities, all of which contribute to the individual effectiveness of each in conveying their central message.
The play The Crucible written by Arthur Miller, withholds many conflicts that arise resulting in many themes as well. Such as weight, Reputation, and Good vs. Evil. These themes form from the Salem witch trials. Repeatedly people become accused of witchcraft, throughout the play this continues to drag out due to the people of Salem’s accusations and deceit for one another. The play continues to move to a tense and moving climax resulting in the death of many prominent people of Salem.
Mistakes are part of human nature. Mistakes can happen to anyone and anything. In the play The Crucible, written by Arthur Miller, mistakes are shown all throughout the story. The whole idea of The Crucible is that a wild witch hunt is going on in the town. Names are being called out at random, and people are turning on one another. This story was written by Miller after the McCarthy Hearings, which was the period during the Cold War where Joseph McCarthy began to call many high level officials out for being a communist. The Crucible is right on along like the Hearings. One character who was of high respect in the town of Salem was John Proctor. Proctor is shown to the reader and throughout the play as the hero of the town. Proctor is a simple but well respected farmer in the town of Salem, who gets himself mixed up with witchcraft and the twisted and treacherous Abigail Williams. Through the writings of Arthur Miller, Proctor is shown to have many strengths and flaws that attribute him as the tragic hero of the play.
I feel that extremism is dangerous because it can lead to intolerance, lying and hurting others.
The school day finished without a further peep from Gideon, to Judy’s surprise. She bid Angie a good-bye as the ocelot was picked up by her parents. Judy smiled, as her best friend climbed into the back seat, waving to her all the way to the end of the lot. Judy was about to make her way to the car until a large paw grabbed her mouth and made is so she couldn’t scream, another went around her waist picking her up. She was thrown again a metal pole, what she presumed to be the tetherball pole that was for gym class.
I went to go see the The Edythe Bates Old: Moores Opera Center’s Production of “The Crucible” at the Moores Opera House. The show was based on the play by Arthur Miller. I had no prior experience to Operas before this one. I didn’t really know what to expect except for it to be similar to a play where the actors sing their lines. “The Crucible” was projected on a screen on the stage when I first walked into the Opera House, along with music from the orchestra being played in the background.
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.
According to Aristotle, a tragic hero is a literary character of magnitude that “makes a judgment error that inevitably leads to his or her destruction”. Unlike the Greek philosopher’s description, Arthur Miller, the author of the essay “Tragedy and the Common Man”, considers a tragic hero to be a character of ordinary status that “is ready to lay down their life to secure his or her personal dignity”. Miller illustrates this belief in his Puritanical play The Crucible, featuring the honest and wholesome protagonist, John Proctor as the tragic hero. Proctor, a farmer who despises hypocrites, finds himself in a string of conflict when he commits adultery with his former house servant and becomes what he hates most, resulting in his death. Proctor’s role as a true classical tragic hero is demonstrated by his relentless fight to expose Abigail and the “witch trials” as lies, and save his wife and secure “good name”.
There’s a handful of plays that you just can’t go through life without watching. The soul-shattering immortal plays that lose no impact or resonance as time goes on. For Arthur Miller’s The Crucible, the emotional connection to present day is arguably stronger than at the time of production; transforming it from a historical tragedy to a contemporary morality play.