Examples Of Pride In The Crucible

Pride and the Downfall of Salem

A crucible is a laboratory instrument used to heat off any excess water. In the same sense, when “heat” is applied to the Protestant society in Salem, Massachusetts, the readers can see the true characters of the townspeople. The readers see whether the characters are motivated by greed, by pride, by integrity, or by other impulses. Most people are motivated by pride in one form or another. In the play, The Crucible written by Arthur Miller, the pride of townspeople drives the characters to commit wrongdoing, kills the opportunity of preventing a tragedy happen and motivates the breaking of a family.

Wounded pride drives Abigail William to commit knowing wrongdoing. Her pride directly and indirectly cause the

The threat of losing face kills the opportunity to prevent the tragedy happens. Even though he does not directly lead to the death of the innocent people, he could have prevent the tragedy by postponing the trial. It is true that the evidence is there, and it is corroborated by all those who confessed, but Danforth does not stop the trial even though he knows there is something amiss. Judge Danforth’s pride is that he is too proud to admit he has been wrong. He doesn't want to postpone the hangings because “twelve are already executed, and the names of these seven are given out”, postponement now speaks a floundering on his part and makes him looks weak (Miller 129). Stopping the trial means that he would have to admit that he is wrong, and he doesn’t want to be proven wrong because so many people have already died. In the cases of both Judge Danforth and Abigail Williams, the reader can see how the actions of many individuals, motivated in one way or another by pride, combine and precipitate the catastrophe known as the Salem Witch Trials. Judge Danforth’s pride, as a majestic Deputy Governor, finally causes much innocents to death and the downfall of