Pride Over Everything The Crucible is a play rooted in the issue that people often care more about their titles than the truth. There is lying, cheating, and falling into guilt that occurs, but it is all pushed under the rug in order to keep the people's name respectable. The definition of pride is the consciousness of one's own dignity and deep pleasure in one's achievements (Oxford). Arthur Miller the writer of The Crucible conveys that excessive pride can cause self doubt and a loss of identity.
Arthur Miller's The Crucible highlights a human frailty, arrogance, responsible for the witch hysteria in the 1690s. Each character portrays arrogance which make him abuse power. The play explores the human nature of being arrogant and the fear of tarnishing one's reputation, by acting unmorally. Through Hale's, Parris's, and Danforth's actions, Miller indicates that arrogance is the frailty most responsible for the witch hysteria.
"Never let pride ruin everything. Its better to lose your pride than to lose the love of your life because of your pride. "-Unknown. John Proctor was a man wo honored his pride more than anything else. He tried his best not to let anything or anyone get in the way of that either, but soon enough it catches up to him and he chooses to only think about himself.
The act of bravery is the ability to stand up for what you think is right even when other people disagree or influence you to do other things. In the play, “The Crucible", by Arthur Miller, the main protagonist named John Proctor shows great bravery when he goes against the whole town and stands up for what is right. During the first act of the play, John Proctor approaches Paris to confront him about making quick assumptions of witchcraft taking over Salem. John confronts the reverend of the town to question him which displays true bravery. As the plot thickens, John forces Mary Warren to admit the corruption of the girls' claims in front of the court.
The Crucible “We are only what we always were” -Arthur Miller. The Crucible is a story about a family that is in trouble with the court. Also two other people (Proctor and Abigail) are having an affair with each other, which they can be hanged for. Proctor’s actions of pride was not being a hero but instead of owning up to what he has done. Proctor’s actions were an act pride and not stubbornness.
Pride is not more worthy than an innocent life. Arthur Miller clearly illustrates that some of the characters, such as John Proctor, choose pride over their own lives. I’ve learned throughout the book the lack of limits characters will endure, to make sure their name is clear. I saw how often the “justice” in the book favored what it wanted to hear and thought was the truth. Ironically, the characters had to lie to feed into the “truth” that there are witches in Salem, in order to keep their own lives.
However not all pride in these two books is bad. In The Crucible, John Proctor has so much pride that not only did it cost the life of others but it also cost him his own and in The Scarlet Letter the minister, Arthur Dimmesdale’s pride also caused him to perish. On the other hand, Hester Prynne’s pride in the book made her a hero and a strong character to admired by readers. In The Crucible, John Proctor is
He goes from an individual who is prideful in himself, to someone who believes that showing loyalty and respect for others is superior to being a selfish person. In Arthur Miller’s The Crucible John Proctor changes in his willingness to confront the court, admitting to his affair, and altering his perspective of himself, which demonstrates Miller’s emphasis that too much pride causes selfishness but pride is acceptable when it shows respect for others. John Proctor is unwilling to confront the court at all because he knows the legitimacy of the court and does not want to admit to his mistakes. John struggles to do what he knows is right, which is to reveal his affair to the court. This information could expose Abigail as a liar and show that she is falsely accusing Elizabeth strictly because of her jealousy.
He defends his wife and tells the court that his wife fired Abigail because of their affair. When the court brought Elizabeth Proctor into the court and asked her about the affair she denied it. Even though she knew the affair was true she denied it because she didn’t know Proctor had confessed and wanted to take her husband’s name
Ethos. Miller continuously uses the ethos appeal by using sophisticated words and adding in his own person experience to show us as the reader that he knows what he is talking about. Throughout his passage he consistently adds very advanced word choice. For example, he says things like “Lucifer’s many faced lieutenants, diabolism, bemused, cosmology, and social antagonist”. However, with all these words and phrases there is another much less complicated way to say the same thing.
John Proctor, the protagonist of The Crucible, qualifies as a tragic hero because he has a tragic flaw, is ethically superior to the other characters in the play, and struggles to find peace with himself in midst of the lies and chaos during this play. John Proctor possesses a tragic flaw that forces him to hide his prideful mistake, which eventually brings about his downfall. I guess the old saying is true, “Pride comes before the fall”. John Proctor’s tragic flaw is his excessive pride, and he expresses it abundantly throughout the play. In Act I, it states, “ Proctor: Abby, I may think of you softly from time to time.
Hero: A person, typically a man, who is admired or idealized for courage, outstanding achievements, or noble qualities; however, heroism is not synonymous with perfection. Man can be a hero in spite of having some flaws. This is apparent in The Crucible, by Arthur Miller, a story about the Salem Witch Trials in which Abigail Williams accuses dozens of innocent people of witchcraft. Despite being flawed, John Proctor, Reverend Hale, and Elizabeth Proctor can demonstrate their heroism in The Crucible. John Proctor is shown to be both a hero and a flawed man in regards to his lechery.
The Witch Hunt Leading a life of regret is a challenging existence for any man for guilt weighs heavily on the soul. John Proctor, the protagonist in Arthur Miller’s, The Crucible, is burdened by an immoral act, a torrid affair, which has cost him his name and integrity. Forgiveness comes at a great price, one that he must come to terms with. John Proctor undergoes a transformation from a man battling internal strife to a man who rediscovers his personal integrity.
In Arthur Miller’s dramatic play The Crucible, John Proctor, the protagonist, symbolized truth and justice by displaying honor and pride in his name. The change in balance between those two attributes acted as a catalyst in defining moments of the play. In the beginning, Proctor equally reflected both pride and honor in separate events. However, when forced to make a decision, he chose honor over pride. Ultimately, both his honor and pride pushed him to commit the ultimate sacrifice.
John Proctor is well liked and respected in the Puritan community and is trusted by everyone. In Act I, on page 1269, It says “Proctor, respected and even feared in Salem, has come to regard himself as a kind of fraud.” This quote shows that John has a lot to lose if his secret gets out because everyone looks up to him. Although John is a great man, his tragic flaw is his pride.
