Examples Of Pride In The Crucible

The definition of morality is the principles concerning the distinction between right and wrong or good and bad (Webster 1). In stories, characters have varied moralities like; John Proctor and Judge Danforth, Elizabeth Proctor and Abigail Williams, and Reverend Hale and Reverend Parris. In The Crucible, Arthur Miller uses the characters to show how one's morality can be skewed because of the pressure and influence of society.

In the book, The Crucible by Arthur Miller the large and diverse characters add to the story, with their dialogue and personas. Some of the characters change from good to bad, or change their opinions during the course of the plot, but others like Judge Danforth are static and remain the same, with the same viewpoints throughout. He stays stubborn, is unjust and believes in witchcraft from beginning to end of the book.

In the play, The Crucible by Arthur Miller, authority causes hubris within characters which allows them to persuade the witch trials negatively. Abigail Williams, the niece of Reverend Parris, gains authority through her multiple accusations during the trials. Later she uses her power to stretch the witch trials onward by threatening the judges to believe her or go against God. Abigail has caused an uproar in the town which leaves people in fear and torn between what to believe. Judge Danforth, on the other hand, uses his authority in a slightly different way to influence the trials. Danforth believes highly in the law and doing what is right. He does not show mercy for he feels that would be weakness upon his name. This mindset allowed Danforth

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.

During the late 17th century a total of 200 people were accused of participating in witchcraft, while 19 people lost their lives to the mass hysteria. In The Crucible by Arthur Miller, a group of girls start a huge uproar in Salem, Massachusetts when they start screeching about Salemites being associated with the Devil. Throughout the play write, it shows the consequences of mass hysteria and how it puts people's lives in danger. Abigail Williams causes a wave of mass hysteria and because of her trickery, innocent people have died by her and the other girl’s actions, for this Abigail is the most unforgivable character in The Crucible.

In The Crucible by Arthur Miller, the setting is Salem, Massachusetts during the late 1600s where the town’s pious Puritan beliefs directly influence their government. A 17-year-old girl named Abigail Williams had an affair with John Proctor, a wealthy, married man. Abigail is told by John to move on but instead, Abigail starts accusing the townspeople of witchcraft, including John Proctor’s wife Elizabeth. As this hysteria begins to rise, other people such as Thomas Putnam, a rich landowner, start to also allege Salem villagers. In this play, the author illustrates the central idea that people should not allow jealousy to control their actions.

A stain in one’s name is a serious dishonor. Rumors, as well as wrongful actions, affect how the world sees us and how we see the world. Thus human beings are victims of their own reputation. To avoid this, one tends to use pride as a shield. However, instead of protecting us, pride hurts us even more by impeding us from solving our issues. This concept is clearly portrayed in Arthur Miller’s play, The Crucible. The play is plotted around the 1690’s during the Salem Witch Hunt in Massachusetts. This sets the stage for excessiveness of pride, thus people would do anything in order to keep their name clean of accusations associated with witchcraft. Through the characters of Parris, John Proctor, and Elizabeth, the author interprets different

The Crucible by Arthur Miller is about the corruption, lying, strict actions of the Salem witchcraft trials in Salem, Massachusetts. Miller was inspired to write this play to relate to the era of McCarthyism during the 1950’s that he and American citizens were experiencing. In the 1950’s Joseph McCarthy starting accusing public figures of being guilty of treason by supporting the communist party (of Russia). But McCarthy had no physical proof or evidence that suggested his wild accusations. The accusations caused havoc in America, hundreds imprisoned, and thousands to lose their job. The Crucible is focused on the wrongful and unjust accusations on townspeople guilty of “witchcraft” by a young teenager Abigail. If guilty, the town holds a trial, which if the accused confesses to witchcraft the accused would live; if the accused will be hanged. The accusations and trials led to twenty deaths of innocent people. These deaths are the fault of court official Danforth, integrity of John Proctor, and the lies told by Abigail are the reason these people were hanged.

Secondly, Judge Danforth’s irrationality and ignorance brings about poor decisions on his part. One of the instances where Danforth reveals his following attitude is when he denies to even look at a deposition presented by John Proctor as described by his words “ No, no, I accept no depositions” (Miller 88). John Proctor hands him a deposition signed by Mary warren, stating that the accusations made by Abigail and the girls are false. In this regard Judge Danforth replies to John Proctor by repetitively says “No” thereby emphasizing his adamant view on this subject. He has irrationally made up his mind that the John Proctor is trying to overthrow the court and this mind set leads him to take a poor decision of ignoring a potentially eye-opening

In The Crucible, John Proctor the protagonist, becomes a victim of the witch trials when his wife Elizabeth, is accused of witchcraft. In order to free his wife, Proctor must convince Judge Danforth of his wife’s innocence. Judge Danforth does not sign condemnations lightly and takes meticulous inspection of his cases to determine the guilty party. He is also a highly religious man who takes matters between God and men seriously. It is because of Danforth’s dedication to the law and God that Proctor utilizes ethos, logos, and pathos to persuade him. Ultimately, Proctor uses ethos, logos, and pathos to convince Danforth to free his wife, but is unsuccessful.

In Arthur Miller's play The Crucible we are introduced to the dynamic character of Judge Danforth. We first meet Thomas Danforth in Act III where he is in his sixties depicted as the gullible deputy Governor of Salem, Massachusetts. Alongside Judge Hathorne during the witchcraft trials of 1692.

The Crucible, written by Arthur Miller, is a surprising story of a town plagued by the belief that witches have invaded the streets of Salem, Massachusetts. With the use of heavy dramatic irony, those that encounter the story experience frustration as the result of many innocent townsfolk being condemned to death. The readers of the story recognize the fictitious proclamations of witchcraft, but those in the town of Salem actually validate the accusations against the alleged witches. Falsely accused and falsely condemned, the “witches” are sentenced to the rope; all this occurred simply because Abigail Williams wanted to obtain the affection of the man she loved, John Proctor. Through crazy stories and expressive writing, Miller took the reader on a captivating journey back to 1692 where bizarre things befell those residing in Salem.

Of the themes propagating The Crucible, three are prevalent among others. These are Authority vs. Individual Freedom, Abuse of Power, and the Search for self, or internal struggle. Abuse of power is probably the most extensively used theme amongst those three mentioned.

In The Crucible by Arthur Miller the head judge, Danforth, is both feared and looked up upon. While presented with the challenge of ruling all of the witch trials, Danforth takes the position with confidence. Danforth sets all of the rules for the trials including one that dismisses ones hanging if they plead guilty. Slowly, everyone becomes less fond of Danforth as they realize their ignorance, however, Danforth fails to do the same. Danforth’s superstition and arrogance obscures his view to the law and causes unjustful hangings.

Imagine, a world where your character does not matter. The truth of your words is