Telling the truth may seem like the right path to take, but in the Puritans’ society it leads to nothing but consequences. In Arthur Miller’s play, The Crucible, reasoning and logic play a huge role in the society’s fear and paranoia. Proctor, Hale, and Giles are the main characters who have reasonable explanations for the chaos that has occurred.
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.
The Crucible, published in 1953 by Arthur Miller is a very popular book written about the 1692 Salem Witch Trials. While most people use the book to study the Witch Trials, with closer examination it is easy to conclude that it is a direct allegory to the Red Scare and the McCarthy era of 1950s America. An allegory is an extended metaphor in which the characters or objects in the story represent an outside meaning. The Crucible is an allegory to the Red Scare and the McCarthy era drastically by its plot, characters, and the flow and outcome of the court trials.
In January 1953, the American playwright Arthur Miller debuted his new play “The Crucible” on Broadway in New York City. It tells the story of the speculative, baseless hysteria and witch trials that took place during the seventeenth century in the village of Salem, Massachusetts and the horrific calamity that ensued. It examines the haunting reality of a society based on rigid, religious customs, superstitious norms and how these can be used as a weapon and prey on people’s irrational fears.
The threat of Communism and the Red Scare put fear of group mentality into many people during the late 1940-50s. The authors of 1984 and The Crucible used their respective works to comment on the social injustice going on in their own lives, which connects to injustice the exists throughout time anywhere in the world. Miller wrote his play, set in 1692, about Puritans and the Salem witch trials because he believed that, similar to his trial for HUAC in the 1950s, the trials in Salem were caused by false accusations and mass hysteria led by powerful individuals. In 1984, Orwell creates a world in the near future that shows group mentality and its threat to conform society with the government. In The Crucible, Arthur Miller illustrates a world
“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.
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
Millions of people through history have been treated unfairly. During WWII, the Holocaust was one of the greatest atrocities of all time. People were also wrongly accused and punished during the witch trials in Salem that occurred during the 1600s. these two events have differences but they also have similarities as well.
The Author Charles Frazier wrote in his book Cold Mountain “[No] matter what a waste a man has made of ones life, it is ever possible to find some path to redemption, however partial” John Proctor is a prime example of this quote. Towards the beginning of the play Miller gives the reader an impression that he is a selfish and immoral man that does not care about his family or the feelings of his wife, Elizabeth. As the play goes on however Miller’s representation of proctor can sway the opinions they have of John when he decides to let himself be hanged for good reason. Within the short timeline of the story John Proctor was able to look past his mistakes and restored his morals. John Proctor was denounced in the story when he was seduced
The Salem witch trials were a series of court trials held during the colonial times in Salem Village, Massachusetts. Up to twenty people were executed by hanging after being accused of witchcraft. Arthur Miller’s The Crucible is a play that retells the stories of the Salem witch trials while incorporating some a few of Miller’s imaginative ideas. One of the major driving forces in The Crucible is coveting a good name because in the town of Salem, one’s good name holds him at a high status and ties in to his credibility. With that, reputation has proven to be a vital theme in the play, shown by John Proctor’s actions in court and Reverend Parris’ fear of a tarnished name.
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.
However, at what cost? In supporting the Patriot Act, American citizens succumbed to a moment of absolute hysteria, and disregarded any rationale and concern for the future in order to assure temporary security. In doing so, Americans sacrificed their unalienable freedom for protection, granting the government direct access to their privacy. Similarly, in Arthur Miller’s play, The Crucible, written in the mid-twentieth century, the people of Salem, Massachusetts capitulate their unalienable rights to reasoning and liberty at the price of safety. In his play, Arthur Miller juxtaposes humanity’s desire to feel safe with its needs for logic and all other rights through the character Parris, the willingness of the girls to lie, and the downfall of Salem society’s justice.
We never touched, Abby” (Miller Act 1). The Crucible by Arthur Miller is an incredibly complex play depicting the fictional events of the Salem Witch Trials. If one is to begin to dissect the contents of said play, you must look at it from a psychological point of view. Particularly, a view of Freudian psychology might provide insight as to why some characters made certain decisions and carried out the actions they did. Using a Freudian psychological lens to examine The Crucible, readers can take a closer look at the actions of John Proctor and Abigail Williams and form hypotheses as to their deeper motives.
Multimodal Speech Analysis Power has influenced society throughout time and is acquired through knowledge, a patriarchal society, monarchy, a family name, birth right, reputation or placement within social hierarchy. This has been revealed in various ways through texts such as The Crucible. A good name or reputation can influence, empower and determine how much respect a family or person gets from others. The Crucible was written by Arthur Miller and was set in the Massachusetts town of Salem in 1692. Salem was a theocratic and patriarchal society.
Fear, it causes people to be blinded by the truth. People can’t tell right from wrong. Arthur Miller wrote The Crucible to show how no one could see what was right. During the 1950’s communism was spreading throughout Europe like a wildfire, then it slowly made its way over to the U.S. This was known as The Red Scare. People were terrified of communism spreading to the United States, so when accusations started floating around everyone would believe them. McCarthy accused people of communist behavior, although many were falsely accused, no one knew better than to think they were guilty because of how scared they were of communism spreading. This resembles how certain characters were accused of witchcraft in The Crucible. The Red Scare caused nationwide hysteria just how the Salem Witch Trials caused hysteria to the people of Salem.