Hysteria In The Crucible

John Proctor’s character is one based on reputation, and guilt. The guilt comes from his affair with Abigail Williams. The reputation aspect comes from when he is accused by Mary Warren of trying to turn her to the Devil. I believe that John Proctor grows tired of the accusations, as to why he speaks of his false involvement with Satan in front of the town. Specifically, Deputy Danforth uses John Proctor as an example for conviction as he is certain he will be able to turn others

The main character, John Proctor, may seem to be a normal, middle aged man living in the Puritan town of Salem, but however, he holds a dark secret: he cheated on his wife with a girl named Abigail Williams. What he doesn 't know, is that by cheating with Abigail, he partly started the Salem witch madness; John makes Abigail very envious of his wife, and thus, she begins accusing others of dark sorcery and witchcraft. John, at first, is very reluctant to tell everyone the truth about why Abigail and other young girls are accusing his wife and other older women of being witches because he fears it will ruin his good name and reputation. However, after he realizes that the situation has truly gone out of control, he tries to confess his wrongdoing, but is only imprisoned and accused of witchcraft as well.

Abigail worked for Elizabeth Proctor as a maid in the house. Later fired amidst an affair with John, Elizabeth's husband. The accusations didn't end there; as the orphan desired to end the conflict with Elizabeth. Abigail proceeded to spread rumors saying that Elizabeth was bewitched. Salem, being a very religious village, had very harsh consequences for those accused of witchcraft.

As the play progress and people confess he starts to notice that what people are saying and accusing people of is not true but just getting to people they do not like. Lastly, At the end of act 3, Hale quits the court. Hale quit the court because he knew that a lot of innocent people were getting killed for not confessing to a crime they did not

In Act II, it states, “ Hale: why...why did you keep this? Proctor: I never knew until tonight that the world is gone daft with this nonsense.” This quote explains that Proctor knew the truth about the girls but didn’t go to the court to confront them. This is Proctor’s biggest mistake this decision results in tragic events that take place in the future of this play. These events include, the girls accusing some of the townspeople of witchcraft, and the hangings.

The play, The Crucible, written by Arthur Miller demonstrates the implications of a society in complete chaos over an irrational fear of witchcraft in the town of Salem, Massachusetts. Fear plays an immense role in the way people make their decisions, such as when the characters of Danforth and Mary Warren resort to hypocrisy when no other options remain. Danforth and Mary Warren both embody hypocrisy, as seen when Mary says she cannot lie anymore and then lies when she becomes scared for her life, and Danforth when saying lying will send a person to Hell, but then forcing people to choose between lying and death. Mary Warren exemplifies hypocrisy extraordinarily well in the scene when she and Proctor travel to the courthouse so she can confess that the girls have pretended everything and they never actually saw spirits.

Abigail Williams’s intentions when she dabbles in witchcraft are anything but innocent, as she is trying to kill Elizabeth Proctor after she was fired from the house when she learned about the affair with John and Abigail. However, after suspicions arise that she is a witch, she coerces the court into thinking several people of were witches to alleviate the blame from her. She paints herself as a worried, innocent girl who just wants to rid the town of evil, when on the inside she is dogmatic and manipulative, which causes her to indirectly sentence about twenty people to death. Her ruse starts when she needs to distract the people from her own iniquity and she spouts out a stream of accusations: “I saw Sarah Good with the Devil!

As the trials go on, John sees with increasing horror how the citizens’ and judges’ blind faith are bringing ruin to the town in their complete belief that the girls are telling the truth, despite lack of proof. Throughout the play, the character of different citizens are put to the test as the girls increasingly accuse more and more of the townies of being in league with the devil. The Crucible explores themes of envy, infidelity, greed, resolve, and fanaticism, among others. The tale of Reverend John Hale’s actions in Salem is a clear testament to why The Crucible, the test, is an appropriate title for the play. John Hale, in the play referred to as Reverend Hale, was a minister who came to Salem

Inherently, Madame will not stop because she is too shaken up by Marquis St Evremonde and how he ruined her childhood by murdering her family. In essence, she is seeking revenge through Lucie and her child since they are both French so they “belong to the aristocracy” so they “must pay” for the murders of her family members. This is Madame Defarge’s inner conflict since she is struggling to seek justice for what happened to her family members, but she is losing her sense of perspective in doing so by terrorizing innocent people (like Lucie and Darnay) in the process.

Judge Danforth is also an antagonist as he is corrupt and a villain. He is arrogant and has high authority. He fails to examine evidence critically or to act when he could to stop the hysteria. Even at the end, when it’s obvious that the society is disintegrating, he refuses to see the role that the witchcraft trials and hangings have played in it.

Once the idea of witchery took deep root into the hearts of the people, many were accused and arrested. Out of the selfishness of her heart, Abigail accused Elizabeth Proctor of witchcraft in an attempt to be rid of her so she could have John. She kept telling herself that she was in love with him, and she would use any opportunity to her advantage to be rid of Elizabeth. This however, would not bode well with John.

22. Tituba was forced to confess what really happened because, they were going to beat her until she confessed about what happened. She confessed to witchcraft, and also because Mrs. Putnam’s told Tituba to do the ritual and that is why Tituba did what she did 23. Abigail and the girls knew that at one point they would get caught so Abigail would do anything to keep herself from getting in trouble, so when she found out that people were accusing them, she stared to say that the devil forced them in to doing all those things because she knew that they would get some serious consequences for doing what they did by dancing and doing witch things and plus she is the leader of the group so they do what she says 24. She wants john to go in town and tell the authorities that the girls are lying about what really happened.

Meanwhile apprehension grips Parris’s mind that it also compels him arbitrarily to allege many townspeople. Parris blames others to divert attention away from himself. He worries that if the townspeople learn that his daughter and niece have fiddled with witchcraft, his position as pastor could be expelled. Yet at the same time, in the beginning of the play, because Parris placed the title witch on the heads of even the most pious members of his community, he converts into an overly insecure character. All in all, Parris horrors the loss of his job, others finding fault in him, and

Many of those accused as witches died not just because of the accusers but, because of the unfairness of the trials. The judges of the trials used spectral evidence, ignoring the accused, and the judges were unfair because they believed in witches and want those who were witches dead. In the trials judges used spectral evidence. Spectral evidence is when the accused claim that they saw the spirit of the person on trial do something that they should not have done.

He almost solves this problem by letting John Proctor to confess his sins, but unfortunately he rejects it. Although the characters are concern about their reputation but it often