In “The Crucible”, John Proctor is a courageous man who seeks proper justice, but isn’t honorable or truthful to himself, or his family. Furthermore, John Proctor lives on the outskirts of Salem; the home of many unjust witch trials during the late 1600’s. Arthur Miller, the author of “The Crucible”, wrote the play in 1953 for two reasons. First, to teach people the horrors of the Salem Witch Trials, which had many unjust cases. And secondly, he used “The Crucible” as an allegory for McCarthy's communist witch hunt during the 1950’s. Lastly, John Proctor’s lack of honor and truthfulness to his wife, Elizabeth, makes him a tragic home. He is a noble and respectable man, but has fatal flaws that lead to eventual demise. First of all, John
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 Crucible is a historical play by Arthur Miller that reviews the Salem witch trials which occurred during May of 1693, increasing the play’s profoundness through dramatization. Starring various characters, there are two main female characters: Abigail Williams and Elizabeth Proctor. Prominently, these two characters are compelling. Abigail Williams, the teenage adulteress who’s antagonistic and vengeful ways start the beauty and destruction of the Salem witch trials, like a wildfire her lies spread and create the story we have today. While Elizabeth Proctor remains the virtuous wife of John Proctor and victim of adultery. Both characters seeming equally important could not be any more different.
Arthur Miller’s The Crucible is a tragic play set in 1692 in Salem, Massachusetts, where Miller uses the Salem Trials as a metaphor for the 1950s McCarthy hearings. In Salem, people value their good names. The Puritan community acts as a theocracy in which there appears to be no right to privacy, and people must conform to a strict moral code. The theme of reputation, lying, and deceit are shown in Abigail, John Proctor, Elizabeth Proctor, Mary Warren, and other characters. In the play’s dialogue, Miller uses Biblical allusions, situational irony, and dramatic irony to develop these themes.
The air is warm, sweat dripping down his face. He longingly looks towards his wife with tears in his eyes; knowing the end is nigh. And then, with a bang, a crack, a whimper; his soul left, hoping to be in a better place. This was one man of many who was hung for witchcraft during the Salem Witch Trials. They all were admirable and died for a cause. One of them was an influential man by the name of John Proctor. John Proctor is an admirable man in the play “The Crucible” by Arthur Miller because he is respectable, has a need to protect others in his life, and has integrity/honor.
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.
''The Crucible,'' is a 1952 play written by Arthur Miller as an allegory of Mcarthyism. The play follows a theocratic society in which the church and the state are one, and reputation plays an important role in Salem where private and public moralities are the same. In act one, the secret affair of John Proctor and Abigail Williams was revealed that led to conflict between John and his wife. Divorce was not permitted in the late 16th century, hence, the Proctors had to maintain their marriage causing discord within the Proctor household. At the start of Act 2, Miller creates a tense atmosphere of animosity portrayed by John and Elizabeth Proctor in their lack of affection, awkwardness, appraisal and guilt leading to affliction.
American playwright Arthur Miller, in his play The Crucible (1952) displays to us that which hunt still exists in American society. Miller supports this claim by drawing parallels between the Salem Witch trials and the senator Joseph McCarthy. His purpose is to warn his readers of the dangers of mass hysteria. He uses emotional appeals and logic to convince the readers that mass “hunts” are still a danger to Americans today. The crucial way however, that Miller achieves his supreme objective of revealing the risks of reputation vs. integrity is through a fascinating character, John Proctor. John is an example of an internally conflicted character because he had a huge argument with Elizabeth over Abigail, Proctor also had an affair with Abigail, and lastly John had a choice between life and death at the end of the play.
Arthur Miller’s The Crucible is an unbelievable read that describe the everyday life of people in Massachusetts during the Salem Witch Trials. There are so many characters in The Crucible that all have different character traits and motives that distinguish them from each other. John Proctor is one of the main characters whose character traits help uncover the hidden theme, “Everyone deserves a second chance.”
We should not judge people by their peak of excellence; but by the distance they have traveled from the point where they started”(Henry Ward Beecher). In 1692 Salem, Massachusetts Madness is consuming Salem, and everyone is accused of being with the devil. John Proctor’s affair with Abigail jump starts the witch hunts. In the Crucible Arthur Miller embodies Proctor as a tragic hero with many flaws but his fatal flaw was his pride which caused his demise. Throughout the play we witness Proctor’s transformation as a person from a sinful remorseless adulterer, repentant, and to an honorable man.
Page 1 of 3Hai Nguyen John Proctor and the McCarthyism “The Crucible” by Arthur Miller illustrates the reflection of the anti-communist hysteria in the United States known as McCarthyism. Miller uses the character John Proctor as a force in demonstrating the way lives were destroyed by McCarthyism. Throughout the story, while Proctor is respected in the community, he has conflict secretly with many people as well as himself. John Proctor is a perfect character because the readers are able to view him as a victim in the society where McCarthyism took place. He is also an adulterer, husband of Elizabeth, and knows what is happening in and outside of the Salem society. Proctor was having a conflict with his wife, Elizabeth Proctor. Elizabeth did not trust John because he had an affair with Abigail Williams. Elizabeth was supposed to trust John, but she refused to because he said he was alone with Abigail for a moment. John cannot say or argue against Elizabeth because of his guilt:” Because it speaks deceit, and I am honest! But I will plead no more! I see how your spirit twists around the single error of my life, and I will never tear it free!” Elizabeth tried to make John feel guilt, so John wanted to make sure she understood her cold nature may have prompted his cheating. He also has conflict with Abigail Williams which is his mistress. John Proctor was so angry because Abigail accused his wife to witchcraft. She sent Mary Warren with a puppet that has needle inside its
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.
The novel, The Crucible was written in 1953 by Arthur Miller, which was based on the Salem Witch Trials existing in the late 1600s. In the play, Abigail and several other young women accuse innocent citizens of Salem for the action of witchcraft. During the trials, many individuals were unfairly persecuted; such as John Proctor. This event in history may be associated with the Red Scare, in which individuals were tried for their questionable influences of communism in the United States. When Miller compares the character of John Proctor to himself, the reader is able to relate the similar experiences that both men faced. The Crucible demonstrates the struggle against corruption involving the court, which lead to the death of many innocent individuals in Salem. The Crucible generates an allegory for Arthur Miller’s struggles with McCarthyism because of his similar experience relating to John Proctor’s battle against the Salem Witch Trials, and the relation between the actions of the court in both situations. Arthur Miller uses several writing methods in order to convey The Crucible as an allegory for his struggles with McCarthyism. Miller demonstrates how the Crucible represents an allegory for his conflict with McCarthyism by relating his experiences with the plot of the novel. Miller relates the novel to his struggles by stating, “Should the accused confess, his honesty could only be proved by naming former confederates.” (Are You Now… 34) Miller is explaining how the court
when people face certain circumstances in their life, it can affect who they are and change them greatly. The Crucible is partly based on McCarthyism in the 1950’s which was similar to the Salem Witch trials. John Proctor undergoes a huge change as he is involved in everything that goes on in Salem. Slowly, he goes from being a proud and confident man to being miserable and feeling worthless. The changes that John Proctor experiences in this play represent how powerful change could be and why people are so afraid of change. In “The Crucible”, written by Arthur Miller in 1953, the changes John Proctor experiences are proven by the things he says, the things he does, and others' opinion of him.
In Arthur Miller’s play, The Crucible, one of the most dynamic and influential characters is John Proctor. This man is a well looked-upon leader of Salem, who gets caught up in the witch trials of 1692. John plays a key role in the witch trials, who inadvertently affect its outcome throughout the story. Unlike other characters in the story, John gradually changes throughout the course of the play. He transitions from an unfaithful adulterer to a man of integrity who wants redemption for the sins he committed.
The play The Crucible is a play written in 1952 about the Salem witch trials and compares it to the McCarthyism communist hunt of the 1950s. John proctor was just a simple farmhand in the town of Salem but when word spreads of witches in Salem John eventually gets accused like those in the McCarthy communist hunts, and is hanged for witchcraft. Arthur Miller uses John to portray all of the people that were wrongfully accused during the McCarthyism era. John proctor has many defining attributes throughout the play The Crucible. some of which are Noble, Courageous, Religious, and Caring.