While his wife was sick, he had an affair with Abigail Williams who was half his age. Later, Abigail even told him that the witchcraft accusations were false. When John ended the relationship, Abigail was livid and wanted to get revenge. She accused John’s wife, Elizabeth Proctor, of witchcraft and she was taken to jail. Now, John had to undergo a huge test of courage.
Ever wonder what was so interesting about the witch trails and how many lives were lost due to people getting falsely accused and getting hung. In the book, The Crucible, the author was Arthur Miller and his book was based on the Salem witchcraft trials during the modern times. Some of the many flaws that Abigail showed throughout the book was spitefulness, jealousy, and lust. Abigail shows the flaw of spitefulness when it comes to the point of her trying to be a part of John’s life or to try to get what she wants in life. “Elizabeth: She wants me dead.
The stage is set, the French and Indian War has recently ended and tensions between the colonists and the British are only just beginning. However, despite all these influential happenings the people of Salem are focused on something totally different. In Arthur Miller’s The Crucible these colonists in Salem are focused on something never seen or thought of before, witchcraft. This word and thought throw this small town into a frenzy and even some of the surrounding towns are caught up in this. The suspected witchcraft tests the colonists spiritually, emotionally, and politically.
Although Salem, Massachusetts was founded on religiously centered morals, nevertheless it turned to sinful behaviors because Arthur Miller wants to demonstrate that community can be shaped by social pressures. Arthur Miller portrays the detriments of a close-knit community and illustrates how small Salem truly is through everyone knew each other's business. One night, John and Elizabeth Proctor had an argument over Abigail Williams. Elizabeth accused John of cheating with Abigail and told him “if it were not Abigail that you must go to hurt, would you falter now? I think not” (Miller 52) Elizabeth Proctor supports her accusation of adultery with this statement.
During the Salem Witch Trials, many people were accused of dealing with the devil and causing mischief among their neighbors and fellow citizens. These allegations caused rifts in the community and isolated nearly everyone from fear of being affected or accused themselves. Although it seems that they handled it as they saw fit, there are several ways that the community could’ve been a little more lenient. There are several courses of action that the Crucible should’ve taken that might have saved lives or more effectively condemned the accused: hold all court proceedings in private with an unbiased jury and judge, make sure all evidence was absolutely irrefutable in every aspect, also be sure to not to hold the accusers above the rest. Several people could’ve been spared and their personal standings upheld in Crucible, by Arthur Miller, if the trials would have been held in
Arthur Miller wrote The Crucible to show the alarming similarity between the witch trials of Salem, Massachusetts in the 1600s to the witch hunts of his own time, the communist investigations of the 1950s. Arthur Miller was an American playwriter. He spoke out against the government and, once was even questioned by the United States Government about his un-American views. In the 1950s through the 1960s the United States and Russia were in the Cold War.
In reading The Crucible by Arthur Miller, it seems unfathomable in today’s world of science and logical reasoning, that such mass hysteria could break out. While we don’t blame supernatural witches any longer for strange behaviors, there are still many cases in recent history that can be paralleled to the Salem witch trials. One example is a 2012 case of over a dozen high schoolers in Le Roy, New York who developed uncontrollable tics with no obvious cause. When I chose to read The New York Times article, “What Happened to the Girls in Le Roy,” by Susan Dominus, I thought the case would give a clear psychological explanation for the cause of the girls’ afflictions, and give insight into why girls in Salem acted the way they did. However, like
The Salem Witch Trials were blamed on mental illness and superstitions. Some people even said they were poisoned by contamination of their wheat supply. Arthur Miller writes a fictional play about what happened in Salem, where Abigail accuses more than 200 people and 20 were executed. She faked seeing the devil to call witchcraft on the people that have done wrong to her and to save herself. In the crucible, Arthur Miller shows that distrust can ruin relationships.
“The edge of the wilderness was close by. The American continent stretched endlessly West, and it was full of mystery for them. It stood dark and threatening, over their shoulders night and day, for out in Indian tribes marauded from time to time, and Reverend Parris had parishioners who had lost relatives to these heathen” (Miller,5). In the beginning of the book, Reverend Paris one night found his niece and all her friends dancing (which is forbidden in this time period) in the woods, which is known to be the Devil’s playground.
In defense Abigail and the other girls go onto point fingers at the rest of the town and accuse people of witch craft, those people are then tried in trial, and then hanged. Reverend John Hale thought everything was going fine until the conviction of two specific individuals caused havoc in Salem. Rebecca and Francis nursehttps://cdncache-a.akamaihd.net/items/it/img/arrow-10x10.png are two highly respected elder town officials who were convicted by Abigail Williams to witchcraft. This sends an uproar through town, John Proctor, Reverend Parris, etc. go on a revolt to stop all this witchcraft nonsense, but in their midst, they were too also convicted of
The events that partake in the Salem Witch Trials turned the simple Puritan village into the dark, twisted society that was portrayed in The Crucible. These Puritans’ disciplined religious values were practiced to create a better, holier world. In irony, it was these beliefs that pushed the people in Salem to bring about the paranoia and destruction of the Trials. The characters that are the most responsible for the Salem Witch Trials are Reverend Parris, Reverend Hale, Abigail Wilson, and Judge Danforth.
The Crucible by Arthur Miller follows the story of Salem as they battle the devil and witchcraft. This story goes through the many unfortunate deaths and sacrifices that occurred in the 1690s. Murderers follow these deaths. Many people in the town are wrongfully accused and convicted without any evidence. Those innocent people who were murdered died because of the lies of their peers, so now the liars have become the murderers.
A dark history of time is the Salem Witch Trials which has been told and reacted to many times. One of the most popular forms is a play written, and produced, by Arthur Miller. The play “ The Crucible” brings to life the past of the Salem Witch Trials. Although the play and real life have many similarities there are also many differences that Arthur Miller decided to make.
The Salem witch trials were a time period when any individual could be accused of witchcraft for numerous reasons. In The Crucible, Arthur Miller focuses on the deviation of the trials and how the town’s most religious and honest members of the community are tried with witchcraft. John Proctor, the town’s most honest man, is accused of being a witch and must decide if he should confess or not. Proctor’s confession will stop the town from rebelling and uphold the reputations of Deputy Governor Danforth and Reverend Parris. Hale also wishes for Proctor’s confession so he does not have to feel responsible if Proctor were to be hanged for his witchcraft accusations.
The Salem witch trials proved to be one of the most cruel and fear driven events to ever occur in history. Many innocent people were accused of witchcraft, and while some got out of the situation alive not everyone was as lucky. Arthur Miller the author of The Crucible conveys this horrific event in his book and demonstrates what fear can lead people to do. But the reason as to why Arthur Miller felt the need to write The Crucible in the first place was because the unfortunate reality that history seemed to have repeated itself again. In the article “Are You Now or Were You Ever”, Arthur Miller claims that the McCarthy era and the Salem witch trials were similar and he does this through his choice of diction, figurative language, and rhetorical questions.
