Is there anyone in the World perfect? No, of course everyone is partly flawed. If there are perfect ones, they should be princesses or princes in the fairytale, and no one thinks they actually exist. Because anyone can’t be perfect and everyone makes mistakes and has their own flaws, drawbacks and insecurities. In the Crucible, Arthur Miller shows two imperfect characters – John Proctor and Abigail Williams. The two imperfect characters affect the Crucible in many ways- they affect the plot, tone, and the reader of the book. First, imperfect characters affect the plot and tone. In the beginning of the Crucible, Abigail Williams and other girls drink blood and dance in the forest, naked. Because even though John proctor’s and Abigail Williams …show more content…
On the other hand, John Proctor gets an offer to save himself by providing false confession to public. He struggles between his religious integrity and his reputation. This struggling shows his imperfection, but, by the end of the play, he feels shame for his fellow prisoners, who are brave to die for their integrities. He says, “For now I do think I see some shred of goodness in John Proctor. Not enough to weave a banner with, but enough to keep it from such dogs.” (Miller IV.133), tearing the paper he signs. He rather chooses to die for his integrity than providing false confession. He was controlled by other people before, but this was the time that he got to control his life by himself. Elizabeth says at the end of the play, responding to Hale’s asking to convince Proctor to confess: “He have his goodness now. God forbid I take it from him!” (Miller IV.134) The whole play is led by Abigail and Proctor. Tones are also led by their acts and emotions. Second, imperfection affect the reader, because imperfection gives reality to characters. Readers find it easy to relate with someone who is partly flawed, makes mistakes and is sometimes controlled by emotions. Because that’s what makes them human to reader. Readers feel the sense of similarity and reality when they see such characters. Readers have always been attracted to read books where they can find the characters are flawed, or even have a really dark memory of
In The Crucible by Arthur Miller, Abigail Williams and John Proctor are known to have had an adulterous affair with one another. Even though both John Proctor and Abigail are worthy of blame for their actions, Abigail is the most culpable of the two. In The Crucible, Abigail is the most to blame because of her “tempting” Proctor to carrying out the act more. During Act 1, Abigail is shown to keep egging on Proctor although he does not want to have the affair with her anymore.
With accusations of witchery and his guilt of lechery, Mr. Proctor feels he has a duty to save his name for his children. He can 't stand the idea of his family suffering for the mistakes he has made now and in the past. John 's initial reaction to his wife being accused based off the lust Abigail has, he says, "My wife will never die for me! I will bring your guts into your mouth but that goodness will not die for me!" (Miller 80) John knows he 's done wrong and will do anything to save Elizabeth 's reputation.
3rd, Meyer, Cyrus Proctor’s Journey John Proctor, one of the main characters in Arthur Miller’s, The Crucible, defines the perception of a sinned man. The play explains an outbreak in a village in which a Puritan society using a theocracy government convicts hundreds on the word of a few girls, falsely accusing townspeople of witchcraft, therefore bringing havoc to the town and John seeks to end the lies of the main antagonist, Abigail. Through the play, Proctor gets introduced to many different situations showing the reader changes of Proctor’s character such as being depicted as a corrupted, sinned man in the beginning of the play to a righteous character near the end. In the second act, John Proctor acts very aggressive towards others and commits cruel acts in the name of his Puritan village showing a lack of good moral values as well as respect for others.
1. Miller, Arther. The Crucible. New York: Penguin, 2003. Print.
A paradox is a statement that appears to be self-contradictory or obvious but may include a hidden truth. It is also used to illustrate an opinion or statement contrary to accepted traditional ideas. Authors often use paradoxes in their works to make them more interesting. In the play, The Crucible, Arthur Miller presents the audience with a paradox, which he developed from the Salem witchcraft trials. In the small town of Salem, a theocracy was created for good purposes.
In Arthur Miller’s play, The Crucible, Miller demonstrated that it was Abigail William’s flaws: lust, vengeance, and jealously that led her to be responsible the most for the tragedy of the witch hunts in Salem. Abigail Williams started the entire suspicion of there being active member of witchcraft throughout Salem, Massachusetts. She did this for her own benefits and used trickery to get what she wanted. Abigail was corrupt and only cared for her own desires. There are many reasons that these flaws are crucial to the outcome of the play.
The first way it is clear that this play deals with courage is John Proctor when he tries to tell the truth about Abigail and the girls. Although, John Proctor has a risk of being hanged he rather save his wife and innocents.
John Proctor in the eyes of the towns people is a sinner and now he has to try and prove to them that he is a good person. “If you’ll notice, sir-they’ve known the women many years and never
Proctor doubts his goodness and constantly seeks forgiveness. This is evident when he says "I cannot mount the giblet like a saint, my honesty is broke elizebeth, I am no good man. When Proctor finally has the bravery to go to court, despite the risk of exposure, he breaks down under the pressure of Abigails power and denounces god in frustration. As a result of this he is arrested. In act four, Proctor's integrity outweighs his will to live.
The play The Crucible by Arthur Miller is based on true events of the Salem Witchcraft Trials but is changed in some parts to make it a better story. One exaggerated part of the play is a character named John Proctor, who has an affair with a girl named Abigale and is trying to stop the Salem Witchcraft Trials because he knows that the afflicted girls are false. While he is trying to stop the trials he ends up being accused and is hanged because he would not “confess” to being a witch. Some people think John Proctor is a flawed person because he made a lot of poor decisions, but he is actually an honorable person because he tried to make up for his mistakes. Some people think John Proctor is a flawed person because he had an affair with a younger girl named Abigale
Using dramatic irony, Miller illustrates moral ambiguity in the play through Abigail William’s “holy” accusations of witchcraft against the innocent when she in fact “drank a charm to kill Goody Proctor” (Miller, The Crucible, pages 17 & 26). Conversely, a less direct approach is taken by Zinnemann to accentuate the townsfolk’s moral ambiguity by contrasting it with his film’s deep-focus black-and-white cinematography. In The Crucible, the audience is aware of Abigail’s false accusations in preventing herself from being exposed as a “whore” (97). However, her “sin” (30) is ironically interpreted by the judges as “infinite charity” (104) whereas “good souls” (40) like Rebecca Nurse are wrongfully “hanged” (113), which causes frustration for the audience about the injustice caused by moral ambiguity. In contrast to this ethical uncertainty, the juxtaposition of light and dark in High Noon starkly
In the play The Crucible by Arthur Miller, John Proctor is accused of performing witchcraft and contracting with the Devil. He is faced with the decision to either confess to or deny the accusations. Ultimately, Proctor chooses to deny the accusations and dies a martyr. Proctor’s decision to sacrifice himself is justified because he protected the reputation of those who died and risked being arrested to save his wife, Elizabeth Proctor. John Proctor’s death is justified because he was willing to sacrifice his life to protect the reputation of others.
“Character Analysis over The Crucible” Arthur Miller is a commonly-known playwright, most famous for his 1953 play, The Crucible. The basis for The Crucible came from the witch trials which occurred in Salem, Massachusetts during the puritan era. Miller even uses some of the same characters in his dramatized play that were a part of the original witch trials in Salem. However, Miller made a few alterations to the historical members of the Salem society in order to suit his dramatic purpose in The Crucible, particularly Abigail Williams, John Proctor, and Reverend Samuel Parris.
When people think of the play, “The Crucible”, they usually picture the witch trials and women being hanged, but Arthur Miller depicts the witch trials in a completely new light. He shows through a story that the witch trials were much more than just people calling others witches. There was deceit, pain, greed, and more. Through the play, we follow the character, Abigail, observe her actions and their consequences. We witness the lives of people she impacts, what happens to them, and how many times she lies to get her way.
Several characters exemplify the theme of moral weakness in The Crucible. The first example of this is when the people’s leader, John Proctor, has a relationship with Abigail Williams despite his status of being a married man. When addressing Proctor, Abigail says, “I know how you clutched my back behind your house and sweated like a stallion every time I came near… You loved me then and you love me now” (Miller 22).