G.Williamson 27 January 2023 CCR English III Block 2 ¨The crucible¨ is a story that revolves around the salem witch trials.Many different themes could come from this story.One main theme I thought of was irony.Irony is known as a state of affairs or an event that seems deliberately contrary to what one expects and is often amusing as a result. In act 1, Abigail Williams puts on a fake front to get what she wants,creating a persona that's even worse than the hypocrites she criticizes. Hale also makes some unintentionally ironic statements in act 1. He says they must not jump into conclusion based on superstition in their investigation of betty's affliction.He´s convinced that a scientific inquiry based only on facts and reality can …show more content…
He does this when he confronts Tituba and hits her with the whip.Also in act 2 when hale ask him to recite his commandments,the only one he forgets is adultry.This is also what he has violated the most,so you would think it would be the first to come to mind.This shows he was trying to let go of his guilt. Abigail's presence is always along the lines of irony.In the story she constantly blames others for sin that she committed.When she is brought in for questioning and claims to see marys familiar spirit,she says ¨envy is a deadly sin,mary¨ Abigail herself has acted out of envy for the entire play.Her jealousy of elizabeth as john proctor's wife has lead her to attempted murder,first by the charm in the woods and then accused her of witchcraft. Act 4 is Danforth's turn for irony.He is concerned by elizabeths lack of emotion when he ask her to help the court get a confession out of her husband.This attitude comes from a man who has shown no remorse at all for condemning people to death.He refers to John's refusal to confess as a ¨calamity¨,looking past his own involvement that led john to where he was.Later in act 4 Danforth is mad that john's confession may be a lie.He states¨i am not empowered to trade your life for a lie¨. However we knew he had been doing that exact thing the whole story. This is why I said the theme of The Crucible is irony,but I'm sure there´s many more that could go
The truth and self salvation dont always coincide. This is shown in The Crucible by most every character, be it an internal or external conflict. Author Arthur Miller shows this himself by writing The Crucible as an allegory to the Red Scare. The main antagonist Abigail Williams shows this many times.
‘The Crucible’ is an allegory for the McCarthyism Red Scare era of the 1950s. An Allegory is a story that can be interpreted on both a literal and a symbolic level. Arthur Miller uses the Salem witch trials as a symbolic story of what happened to him. The allegory that was created between ‘The Crucible’ and The Red Scare is that people were being accused of something that was false.
He has taken notice of the large amount of witchcraft which that is present from act one and begins taking accusations against others for granted and does not investigate their legitimacy to bring justice. Since Reverend Hale is not looking for evidence when he investigates people, this allows Abigail to manipulate him. She makes it appear that Elizabeth used witchcraft to stab a needle in her stomach, which results in Elizabeth being wrongly accused. In this way not only has Reverend Hale changed by not looking for evidence but he has also changed the
Oh the irony.... Arthur Miller portrays the irony of the puritan society through Elizabeth Proctor. Through the way she carries herself, by what others say and how she reacts in certain situations. Arthur Miller reveals irony throughout the story by the judging of others. Miller shows this through the character Goody Proctor when she states, “I can not judge you.
An interesting fact about John Proctors affair with Abigail affects the story a lot because I wasn’t expecting that secret to ever come out. I honestly didn’t think it was that deep because he curved her twice. So I thought she would get the hang of he don’t want her anymore and that he wants his wife. But, instead she wants to frame Elizabeth and put a lot of people life in risk just to get something she isn’t even going to get. Abigail puts a lot of people live in danger and goes through all this mumbo jumbo just run out of town.
Out of the many varying types of irony presented in Arthur Miller’s, The Crucible, situational is by far the most evident. Miller included this to show the idea that the entirety of the Salem witch trials was ironic. The Puritans followed the concept of a theocracyin an attempt to bring the community closer together and ultimately rid themselves of the danger of wicthraft. However, this was most certainly not the case in Salem. Sotuational irony playes a part in this towards the end of the play when the survuors are starting to realize all of the bad things that have come from their actions over the past year, “there are orphans wandering from house to house; abandoned cattle bellow on the highroads, the stink of rotting crops hangs everywhere,
In Act 3, Abigail is seen to be getting questioned in court by Judge Danforth because he has reason to believe she has something to do with all of the girls becoming sick and conjuring spirits. Abigail then manipulates Danforth into thinking she did nothing wrong and that the least he should do is thank her by saying, “I have been hurt, Mr. Danforth; I have seen my blood runnin’ out! 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, question to like a–”(Miller 100). This suggests that Abigail wants Danforth to pity her.
She says ,"I have been hurt Mr. Danforth; I have seen my blood runnin' out! I have been near to murdered every day because I did my duty pointing out the Devil's people- and this is my reward? To be mistrusted, denied and questioned like a-"(Act 3, Pg. 108). This statement shows her that Abby likes her newfound power and will let no one take it away and power-hungriness is a villainous trait. The scene that truly shows Abigail as the villain, is the scene where she leads accusations against former accuser Mary Warren when she tries to admit to faking the fits, driving her insane to the point that she rejoins the accusers.
The scene is needed to confirm that Abigail’s actions are motivated by her love for John Proctor. When John Proctor comes over to see what is wrong with Betty in Act One, Abigail believes that John has come to see her. She informs him that she knows that he truly lovers her. Proctor denies her ludicrous statement, but she doesn’t believe him claiming, “You love me, John Proctor, and whatever sin it is, you love me yet!” (Miller 22).
His job is to diagnose witchcraft if it is presented. During the play Hale is getting manipulated in his own beliefs, by Abigail and the girls. His power starts to slowly fade as the play goes on. ”I-quite the court” In this line Hale is trying his best to find out the witchcraft situation, but Abigail is making it worse, and taking over.
He still tries to be heroic and noble in this scene, like the man should. John is trapped in the role of the strong one. Danforth gives Elizabeth a chance to tell the truth and she still lies because the thinks she is saving John. This could be her one chance to condemn him for betraying her. Yet she stays the weak, loyal one.
Now we learn that all of the problems lead directly to Abigail. She is not to be trusted and would just bring pain. Abigail presence is felt throughout the story in many ways. At the beginning of Act 2, they are eating dinner and talking. After they're done, Elizabeth starts talking about how Mary Warren went to the court to accuse Abigail.
He then explains how “no crack in a fortress may be accounted small” (II.573-574.) after John could not remember his last commandment. Meaning that Puritans should be perfect, and any small crack in their faith makes them susceptible to going against their religion. Hale does not want to turn against his religion, so he continues to agree with the court, whereas more innocent people are being accused and hanged.
Arthur Miller wrote The Crucible in 1953, as a response to McCarthyism, which is, in general, accusing people of crimes with little to no proof. It ran rampant through the United States during the Second Red Scare through the early 1950s (exactly when Arthur Miller wrote The Crucible). In The Crucible, Miller juxtaposes the leaders, who rationally think for themselves, and the followers, who believe what everybody else believes, through irony, imagery, and denotation. The Crucible is riddled with irony, and Arthur Miller utilizes situational and dramatic irony to show the difference between followers and leaders.
Abigail 's heartless attitude is shown in act two when she frames and accuses Elizabeth Proctor for witchcraft. She desired and longed for this revenge on poor Proctors innocent wife, aiming for her through out the play. Later on in Act Three she seems to lose her last attachment of society by destroying John Proctor, who she claims to love with all her heart. When John attempts and threatens to expose Abigail’s wrong doings, she skillfully manages to turn the whole problem around on him, sending him off