The Theme Of Reputation In The Crucible

Excessive Pride through The Crucible In the play, The Crucible, everyone holds an excessive amount of pride which is an over exaggerated sense of ones own proper dignity or value. “Dictionary.reference.” This critical play takes place in Salem, Massachusetts in 1692. (883) Throughout the story, it indicates what happened during the Salem Witch Trials.

The Trials and Testimonies of John Proctor The Crucible by Arthur Miller is set in the spring and fall of 1692 in a small, Puritan town in Salem, Massachusetts. The times are often desperate with people wondering if they can trust their neighbors that they have known all of their life, people who have been settled in the town since it first cropped into existence. Fear races through the villages like the whispers of the wind that stir the hanging bodies on the village greens. The Salem Witch Trials are occurring and no man, woman, or child is safe lest they follow the rules of the theocracy set about by the church and government.

Reputation is the beliefs or opinions that are generally held about someone or something. Reputation can directly correlate with pride, which is a feeling or deep pleasure or satisfaction derived from one 's own achievements. Reputations are very important to the characters in The Crucible and if they want to preserve their reputation, through pride, they do whatever is necessary to keep it. In The Crucible by Arthur Miller, the characters John Proctor, Abigail Williams, and Judge Danforth all show dramatic actions to preserve their reputations, each of these characters either hurt themselves or others by being prideful and dishonest for the sake of their good name. There are several ways that Abigail Williams shows her objective of preserving her reputation in the book.

In Salem, having a good reputation is extremely important. You are accepted by society, and if you don’t have a good reputation you will be completely rejected. John Proctor would no longer be thought of an honorably straight and moral person. Reverend Parris would lose all of his respect and not be accepted by the citizens. And Judge Danforth would always be questioned and looked bad upon for accusing the innocent.

It took just forty five days for United States citizens to acquiesce their rights to freedom and privacy for the sake of safety following the events of September 11, 2001. Forty five days is how long it took the United States Congress to pass a law that gave up the very concept of liberty upon which this country is founded. The morning sky was a brilliant shade of blue with not a cloud in sight in New York on that fateful day of September. That all changed at 8:45 AM when a Boeing 767 jet plane tore into the north tower of the World Trade Center. Eighteen minutes later, a second Boeing 767 bit into the sixtieth floor of the south tower.

In Arthur Miller’s play, The Crucible (1952), one’s name is considered their reputation. Names are held at very high stakes. Many do anything to save their name in town. For example, Reverend Parris is trying to defend his niece Abigail from being accused of lying about witches. Referring to John Proctor, Reverend Parris exclaims, “excellency, since I come to Salem this man is blackening my name” (Miller 105).

When reading The Crucible by Arthur Miller the audience is pulled into a world of lies, witchcraft, and overwhelming authority. The book takes place in Salem massachusetts in 1692 where a group of girls are claiming witchcraft on whomever they may please, and following accusations by these ever so trusted girls characters must either confess to the acts of witchcraft or likely hang for lying about it. But there is also one main theme that is prominent in the crucible which is that authority is used as a way to convey oneself as dominant. The hierarchy of authority in the story is used as the audience reads through the book, they see more that authority is a way to convey themselves as dominant to characters who may be thought as lesser to them.

According to Biblical Proverbs 22:1, “A good name is more desirable than great riches; to be esteemed is better than silver or gold.” (Book of Proverbs, 22:1). The pursuit of a distinguished reputation is not reprehensible in itself, however, excessive ego in oneself makes the pursuit dangerous for oneself and the community. In Arthur Miller’s play, The Crucible the actions made to preserve one’s reputation are put into moral question. Arthur Miller uses Abigail and Dansforth to disclose the egotistical need for the preservation of reputation in these characters.

As Bob Marley once said, “The greatness of a man is not in how much wealth he acquires, but in his integrity and his ability to affect those around him positively.” Integrity is the quality of being honest and upholding one’s morals and principles. Living in a fast-paced and ever-changing society, human beings have come into contact with adversity and hardship all throughout history. Those who act with integrity during tough times have a major influence on those around them, and taking a stand and upholding ones’ beliefs and morals at great self sacrifice can inspire and encourage others to do the same. Arthur Miller’s 1953 play, The Crucible is a prime example of upholding integrity, and the characters within the play face difficult choices between doing

The Crucible by Arthur Miller is a historical fiction about the Salem witch trials in the late 1600’s. John Proctor plays the protagonist and throughout the storyline his masculinity decreases due to Abigail Williams. Throughout the play it's clear the female characters have more power than the men in the Theocratic society of Salem. The girls are put in court after being caught in the woods for witchcraft. They exploit their feminine traits and manipulate the men in charge of the court.

In the play The Crucible written by Arthur Miller, John Proctor was internally triumphant when he gained respect for himself, primarily due to his mission of personal redemption and his integrity. Overwrought by regret of his actions, John Proctor is driven on a mission to personally prove himself. He realizes the enormous mistake of committing lechery with Abigail, and wants to prove to himself he has a good will. Near the final pages of the play, Proctor was asked if he was accompanied when doing the devil’s work, he responded “I speak my own sins; I cannot judge another. I have no tongue for it” (Miller 141).

Reputation is how we’re seen among our peers. If the person is charitable, honest, and kind, they’re going to have a pretty good reputation. But if that person is constantly getting into trouble and doing things they shouldn’t, then they’re gonna have a definite, bad reputation. But depending on the individual, hopefully we don’t want to have a bad rep for anything, right? In The Crucible most of the main characters are concerned about reputation because they hold a good standing in the town and people respect them, they don’t want to lose it in any way, especially if it had to do with witchcraft.

Quincy Tyler Ms. Levack Honors English 9 October 10, 2015 The Crucible: The Conflict Within Do people change? Well in the Crucible John Proctor seems to have changed his ways before he dies. John Proctor, the protagonist in Arthur Miller’s drama The Crucible, struggles with his internal conflicts. All of these conflicts cause him tremendous suffering which cause him to change his actions, the way he thinks and how others think of him.

In Arthur Miller’s The Crucible, innocent people are falsely accused of witchcraft and are killed as a result. The importance of one’s reputation is one of the themes presented in the play, as the townspeople are held to very strict moral values and must uphold their good name in society. Some characters in the play that apply to this theme are John Proctor, Elizabeth Proctor, and Abigail Williams. Those three characters pertain to the theme the most out of all the other characters in the play because their reputations are misrepresented in the court in some way or another. Each one of them were, at one point in the play, being accused of witchcraft or lies from another person so that the person accusing them might save themselves.

Respect and reputation was important to the people of Salem because it was a way that people know that they could do business with and be social with. When the movie begins Reverend Parris is scared that with Abigail’s bad behaviors or actions and the hints of witchcraft surrounding his daughters coma the Reverend is afraid for that all of Abigail’s actions will ruin his reputation. Towards the middle of the movie John Proctor has the chance to stop the girl’s from creating more accusations and ruining their good name but he does not come forward because he does not want his affair with Abigail to come out again. At the end of the movie John Proctor has a chance to save himself from being hanged by signing a false confession. John signs it