The Crucible Reputation Essay

However, throughout the play, he is able to prove the audience wrong. Firstly, when Proctor is arrested, he decides to confess to practicing witchcraft. He does this because he believes it could end the trials in Salem, which could save many innocent lives of others who have been accused. Proctor tells this to his wife, saying, “I have been thinking I will confess to them, Elizabeth.” (Miller, 135). This decision is then backed up by Reverend Parris, who says that Proctor’s name on the list of confessions could convince the town to stop accusing one another.

Instead of interrogating Abigail, he is silenced by her which most likely shows that he has accepted her demand of not being judged. At this point, there is a flip in power dynamics at the witchcraft trials, Abigail has overpowered Danforth in courtroom. Judge Danforth an honorable Judge of the supreme court has easily been dominated by a seventeen-year-old Abigail, proving that he is gullible to her lies. Lastly, right after the Andover witchcraft trial revolt, Abigail runs away and also steals Reverend Parris’s money (The crucible). The sheer act of fleeing away shows a sign of guilt and fear of punishment along with her act of stealing Reverend Parris’s money clearly speaks a lot about the criminal character of Abigail Williams.

Reputation is something that can be left to linger around, haunting people 's lives for years. In the Crucible, Reverend Parris feels the effects of reputation first hand. Parris is a godly man who wants nothing more than to preserve his image. Parris’s motives are portrayed throughout the story when he catches his niece and daughter dancing the woods, a sign of witchcraft. Yet, after this he is more concerned with how he is being viewed instead of their well being.

The Director’s Notebook: The Salem witch trials of the spring of 1692 began after a group of young girls in Salem Village, Massachusetts, started having symptoms of being possessed by the devil which then led to the accusations of several local women of witchcraft. Hysteria broke out in Salem; a special court convened in Salem to hear the cases. 19 people were hanged, and 150 more men, women and children were accused over the next several months. By September 1692, the hysteria began abate and public opinion turned against the trials. (http://www.history.com/topics/salem-witch-trials) Why did I choose this play?

The crucible, based during the Salem, Massachusetts witch trials of 1692. A constant theme through out the play is your personal reputation, maintaining a good name. Judge Danforth a well respected man in the society that has the supreme rule over the court. He is known for making the right decisions and never going against them. Innocent and guilty people have been put to death underneath his Judgement, to him this demonstrates his superiority and power.

The Salem witch trials was one of the most famous witch hunt in history. More than 200 accused witched occupied the local jail. 19 people executed, were hanged, one pressed with rocks to death and few more died in jail within a year from 1692-1693. It happened in Salem Village, New England in Massachusetts, now known as Danvers. Witchcraft was second among the hierarchy of crimes which was above blasphemy, murder and poisoning in the Puritan Code of 1641.

With the huge act they had going on; they caused people to die based on their lies. Towards the end of the play, Hale goes back into the town Salem and tries to have people confess to save them from being hang. Hale wants Proctor to confess so he can be with pregnant wife. Proctor ends up confessing to the judges to save Rebecca. In order for the confession to be complete Danforth tells Proctor to sign a paper stating that he is confessing about doing witchery.

The Future of Humanity and Preservation of Life When death is on the line, the definition of justice becomes blurred. Both morally and physically, injustice runs rampant when a life hangs in the balance. Two examples of this conundrum are the play, The Crucible, written by Arthur Miller, and “A Plea for Mercy”, a portion of the concluding statements of defense attorney, Clarence Darrow. Both works deal with the trial of someone that has been irreversibly condemned by the government, and the people trying to keep them alive. The Crucible takes place in Salem, Massachusetts, during the brutal peak of witch-trials and executions.

Over 150 men and women were accused and arrested for witchcraft and some were executed.10 The turning point for the Salem Witch Trials was the mass execution that took place on Sept. 22, 1962.11 (pg81-113) The Puritans, the court and even the Reverend were realizing that they made a mistake. After almost a year of terror, the trials were over. Over twenty innocent lives were lost. Those who were not the same as everyone else were given the title of a witch. Instead of being accepted as individuals, they were ousted, persecuted, and some executed.

Abigail Williams is the woman that started it all by telling the other girls to lie about dancing in the woods. Because of that, I do not believe she acts like a traditional Puritan woman should. One reason Abigail did not act like traditional Puritan women was because she danced in the woods. Abigail herself states that anyone caught dancing will be whipped. When her uncles caught the girls in the woods dancing by the fire, Abigail did not mention they were saying boys' names wishing they could marry them.

In Victor Hugo’s Les Misérables, it said, “Whether true or false, what is said about men often has as much influence on their lives, and particularly on their destinies, as what they do”. Reputation is an important part in many societies that determines the lives of many individuals. The Crucible, a play written by Arthur Miller, follows the town of Salem Massachusetts in 1692 during the Salem Witch Trials. It started when several young girls began to accuse people in the town of witchcraft, particularly people the girls don’t like. Then the accusations start to spiral out of control and the town government ends up hanging many innocent people.

John Hathorne was one of the main Judges in court, he believed fully in witchcraft and in the accusers, which is most likely why so many people lives were ended just from young girls acting up and accusing multiple adults. John’s great, great, grandson, author Nathaniel Hawthorne added a “w” in his name most likely to distance himself from Hathorne because of the role he played in the Salem Witch Trials. Samuel Sewall and William Stoughton were the two other judges involved in court. Deliverance Hobbs was one of the only witches that confessed without being forced. A warrant was issued for Deliverance on April 21, she was arrested two days later and committed to prison.

Though there were many people who contributed to what happened in Salem, I believe that Abigail Williams was mostly to blame. I think this because she lied to save herself, made up false scenarios and blamed innocent people, and enjoyed the attention and power. In the beginning of the play, Abby is caught dancing in the woods. She herself drank a blood charm in which she wanted to kill Elizabeth Proctor. Though Abby wasn’t the only one who was caught, she lied to Reverend Parris so that she would not be hung once witchcraft was being talked about throughout the village.

In other words she looked to be a merchant boy, on the cusp of manhood. Upon the princess realizing that this merchant was not like the others in one serious way Taylor had pulled her aside, where they were seen by some of the servants of the house. This was the start of the rumors, and they only grew from there. Taylor threatened the princess that if the secret was not kept there would be serious repercussions, in terms of the number of limbs the princess walked away with. However, the princess ended up spilling the beans about trying to fake her death, so that she might marry her love, a poor servant who worked in the kitchens.