The Importance Of Sin In The Crucible

At the beginning of the play, Abigail Williams lies to avoid trouble. She tries to protect her life over the life of others instead of doing the right thing by being honest about what happened in the woods. She lies multiple times in the play accusing others of witchcraft, although it was false. When the courts put Abigail to the test to see if she tells the truth, she fails and drags most of the town down with her. Unlike Abigail, Elizabeth has always been known for her honesty. Her husband John says that Elizabeth never told a lie. Yet when it matters most, Elizabeth lies to try to save her husband’s life. Ultimately, when Danforth and Hawthorne put her up to the test she fails to tell the truth and kills John. John, attempting to save himself, confesses to witchcraft. He lied to the courts and told them that he indeed was practicing the sorcery, when truthfully he was not. John thinks that this is the right thing to do to save his

The Crucible, written by Arthur Miller, was a historical play written about the Salem witch trials that took place in the Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1692-93. The Salem witch trials created mass hysteria throughout the entire village of Salem, which was also mainly inhabited by Puritans. Puritans had a set ideal of firm beliefs that managed how they lived. Essentially, they were living as an elect, which meant they (referring to the Puritans) had a place in heaven for the righteous acts they have done in the physical world. Meaning, any sinful acts could potentially hinder the chances of entering heaven as an elect. The Crucible, questioned everything the Puritans abided by. It questioned the basic morals of a pure lifestyle, adultery and

In the court scene when Mary Warren was accusing the other girls, truth has no meaning when Judge Danforth refuses to believe her. He cross-examines Mary on the claims that the charges of witchery were pretense. He wants to believe what he wants to hear and he tries desperately to make Mary confess that she is speaking with the devil. Moreover, he chooses to believe Abigail "Child [Abigail], I do not mistrust you" (The Crucible, p.

“The essence of immorality is the tendency to make an exception of myself” (Addams). Immorality is a very subjective concept, but sometimes it is undeniable. In Arthur Miller’s The Crucible, Abigail Williams is shown to be the most immoral character through her constant disregard of others throughout the different events of the story, furthering the point that when in fearful situations people will only think about themselves.

Life in the 1600’s was arduous for members of Puritan society. Strict social rules, including defined gender-specific roles, mandatory attendance at church, no self-indulging activities, and limited personal freedoms, forced people to repress their feelings and opinions to maintain a good reputation. God was involved in every aspect of life, and punishment fell upon those who were seen as not doing God’s work and deviated from the norm. The Crucible, a play set during the events of the Salem Witch Trials in Massachusetts during this time, focuses on the mass hysteria which plagued the people and their reactions. A group of girls went dancing in the woods, and were caught by Reverend Parris. To avoid getting in trouble, the girls, led by Abigail Williams, claimed being the victims of witchcraft. John Proctor, who previously had an affair with Abby while she worked for his family, refused to believe the accusations of witchcraft. After Abby accuses his wife, Elizabeth, John does his best to prove her innocence, yet ultimately ends up being hanged himself. The events are tragic, and many people died as a result. Abigail’s “in the moment” survival is evident in her disregard for virtue in favor of reputation throughout The Crucible, whereas John Proctor ultimately decides integrity is more important than survival through his admission of guilt.

The fear of eternal damnation turns people against one another when in life-threatening trials. God’s wrath is being contained upon them as these test occur. In “Sinners in the hands of an Angry God” and “The Crucible”, Edwards and Miller use metaphors, imagery, symbolism, and allegory to display how they unveil their message with fear and persuasion.

The definition of judgment according to Encarta Encyclopedia, is the formation of an opinion. It is a simple definition,clear and direct. Although, there is more to the word judgment than meets the eye. What about the last word in the definition? What is an opinion? An opinion is described as a belief or conclusion that is held without any substantial proof. That word might not seem to have too much significance at this very moment, but it did back in 1692, in Salem, Massachusetts, during the witch scare. Making a judgment on somebody may seem harmless, but it can be very destructive.

In the play The Crucible by Arthur Miller, the theme “temptation” is displayed throughout the entire play. It is mainly shown through the characters John Proctor, Mary Warren, and Abigail. There is a lot of temptation in the play because of the events that occurred, such as the Salem Witch Trials, and because of how the characters acted and treated one another.

“The Puritans, like many societies in this time period, believed that women were culturally inferior to men,” which is why a young woman, like Abigail Williams, had to be so manipulative to gain control because a women in power was a very contentious topic at this time. (“Women in Puritan Society”). Abigail was both lower class and a woman, making it a challenge to be respected, which is why she used the witchcraft accusations for her own personal gain. From the beginning, she was just, “waiting for an opportunity to gain power,” when she made the girls perform witchcraft, lie about it, and then accuse other people (“The Crucible”). Her true intentions were to accuse Elizabeth Proctor, John Proctor’s wife, because she loved John, and with Elizabeth out of the picture, she could have him. In this case, being a young woman worked to her advantage because in this society she was looked at as this innocent girl, but being as manipulative as she is, she used that to her advantage to ultimately convict Elizabeth. Although this was her goal, she accused many people along the way, saying, “It’s God’s work I do,” (Miller 115). By accusing all of these people, Abigail is not only gaining power but attention too. Unlike Parris who doesn’t want this negative attention, Abigail doesn’t mind because it’s better to have negative attention on her than not having any attention at all. Also, she gains

Thou shalt not lie, thou shalt not murder, and thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor are three of the ten commandments that God created for his people to follow. The Puritans valued the commandments and devoted their lives to following them. They supposedly believed in going to church every sunday, having their children baptized young, and living day by day in accordance with the scripture. The Puritans were thought to be holy and without fault, but no one is perfect; therefore, the Puritan society was bound to make a mistake. Instead of confessing and publicly stating that they were deviant, they chose to cover it up and hide. They claimed to be the innocent Christians that they were raised to be, but deep down, they were

Quintavious Kinney Mrs. Bowles November 20, 2014 5th period Lying in The Crucible Arthur Miller’s play is phenomenal example of how hysteria can spread throughout a small community. The play plots in Salem, Massachusetts in 1692 during the Witch Trials. The characters in the story use the trials to get revenge on their enemies. Although this may seem satisfying at the time, it eventually led to the downfall of salem.

In the Crucible, witchcraft is presented in Salem Massachusetts, where many young girls are accused of being witches. During these times, accusations kept occuring and hangings took place for their sins. Furthermore, Elizabeth Proctor, the wife of John Proctor, was accused of lying to the court. Even though she lied to the court, she should be proved innocent or given a shorter or less harmful sentence. Henceforth, she should be excused from her sin because she lied out of fear and to save her husband from being accused of committing adultery.

In The Crucible and The Scarlet Letter, they are both known to be a part of the Puritan religion. The puritans are known to be very strict. Often people are put to cruel punishments for mistakes or sins they had committed. The actions they take to “punish” a person are extreme. The Puritans act and seem so committed to their religion. The people seem “Holy” but you never really know what happens behind closed doors. The Puritan religion is so strict is causes members to become corrupt.

John is a very happy prideful man until he commits adultery with Abigail Williams which at the time was John and his wife, Elizabeth Proctor’s housekeeper. Elizabeth catches Abigail sleeping with John and fires her. Abigail is jealous because she is not John’s wife so she lies and says that Elizabeth Proctor is involved in witchcraft. While Elizabeth is in jail, John tries to get Mary Warren, one of the girls that is lying about witchcraft to confess but soon betrays John and continues to lie with girls. John soon confesses about sleeping with Abigail. “A man may think God sleeps, but God sees everything, I know it now. I beg you, sir, I beg you—see her what she is. . . . She thinks to dance with me on my wife’s grave! And well she might, for I thought of her softly. God help me, I lusted, and there is a promise in such sweat. But it is a …... vengeance. . . “. Miller, A. (n.d.). The Crucible. Retrieved December 3, 2014, from http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/crucible/quotes.html. Judge Danforth brings in Elizabeth Proctor to confess if John is telling the truth but she lies and says John never committed Adultery to try and save John but it is too

Abigail wants to keep the adultery private, but John is trying to confess. While in court, Proctor cunningly admits to adultery to make Abigail resemble a whore. Danforth questions Proctor’s reasoning to call her a whore, but Proctor exclaims “I have known her sir, I have known her”(Miller 110). Proctor puts forth this statement to reassure Danforth about Abigail being a whore. He insists that he is telling the truth because he knows Abigail extremely well and imagines that it would be typical for her to commit adultery. Proctor also was attempting to prove that Abigail is not a good individual. However, this ends up backfiring on him as Abigail proves that John Proctor is lying. This is the principle confession that destroys Proctor's life, as it empowers Abigail to have additional sentencing power, which permits her to blame Proctor later on for witchcraft, and that paves the way to his demise. After Proctor makes the confession, many people in the court are startled because adultery is a severe crime. Danforth, being the judge, is the most appalled that Proctor perpetrated such a wrongdoing. He then tries clarifying Proctor’s confession of participating in an iniquity by asking once again, “You - you are a lecher?”(Miller 110). This question by Danforth demonstrates that Proctor is, truth be told, conflicting with the standards of Theocracy by