Collective Hysteria is a significant aspect in making and ending relationships. In Arthur Miller's, The Crucible, hysteria displays a key role of tearing apart the community of Salem, Massachusetts by forming an environment where people act on their resent and hatred, which is exemplified by, the protagonist, John Proctor. Miller uses Proctor's internal conflict and logical fallacies to express his message of the harmful results of hysteria. Firstly, Miller uses Proctor’s internal conflict to forebode the harmful results of collective hysteria in the Puritan society. Proctor is deeply challenged to tell a challenging and shunned truth. Proctor has committed a form of lechery on his wife, Elizabeth, with Abigail. Still in love, Abigail, gets …show more content…
Proctor voices to his slave, Mary Warren, “ My wife will never die for me! I will bring your guts into your mouth but that goodness will not die for” (76). After Elizabeth is sentenced, Proctor tries to use Mary’s word to free her. During the court session, Abigail and the other teens begin to clap and accuse Mary of sending her spirit on them. Proctor leaps at Abigail’s and begins to yell at her, “How do you call Heaven! Whore! Whore!” (101). Miller uses the fallacy of ad hominem to direct against Abigail rather than the position. Miller gets caught up in the destructive hysteria and weakens his case in court. Towards the end of the court session, Abigail makes the accusation that a bird (Mary) is attacking her. Immediately after the rest of the teens follow and Mary becomes overwhelmed. Mary tells Proctor, “I have no power… You’re the devil's man” (110). Marry is so frightened by the hysteria of the teenager girls she starts to believe them and sides with them. Miller uses the fallacy of bandwagon to express the danger of hysteria and how hysteria can cause the society to believe something because the majority of the people believe
Proctor knows it is his fault that the accusation was made and he now know he must do anything to save his wife. As the play goes on Proctor begins to realize that his wife is the one who really loves him, as Abigail will so quickly throw anyone, including him, under the bus. John
I am no Sarah Good or Tituba, I am John Proctor” (143). He will not do as Abigail has done and trick the town with lies to gain respect. He defies the court once more, telling Elizabeth to “show a stony heart and sink them with it” (144). These last comforting words to his wife can some up the main moral conflict of the play; lies may save ones life but the truth will save ones soul and lives of many others. The hypocrisy of the town can most clearly be seen in Hales final attempts to save Proctor.
This strong revelation perfectly labels Abigail as a vindictive and immoral woman, immediately highlighting Elizabeth’s fondness. Thus, Proctor’s regret is what assures the reader that Elizabeth is his true love. While Abigail’s entire life revolves around sin and treachery, Proctor praises the fact that his wife’s way of being is completely transparent. He says, “In her life, sir, she have never lied. There are them that cannot sing, and them that cannot weep- my wife cannot lie”(103).
The affair with Abigail causes hurt between John and Elizabeth’s relationship, but they remain together. Confessing to the affair leads to Proctor’s downfall because his reputation has been ruined and the people of Salem do
Proctor’s guilt is present when he, attempts to pay for his sins by giving his wife materialistic objects, hesitates to obey his wife's suggestion to accuse Abigail of false bewitchment, and breaks out in anger for not wanting to be judged any longer. The romantic relationship between the Proctor’s is undoubtedly extinguished, but even casual engagement cannot exist without tension since everything John Proctor says to Elizabeth is a symbol of repentance. He offers Elizabeth the possession of a cow and expresses “with a grin” that all he
Proctor’s crime of adultery is a form of baggage that he must carry for the rest of his life. Therefore Proctor does everything to keep his secret safe however his partner in adultery, Abigail Williams, thinks otherwise. In the first interaction where the reader is introduced to their vulgar crime Proctor is speaking to Abigail outside Reverend Parris's’ home. During this interaction Proctor states “ Abby,I may think
He defends his wife and tells the court that his wife fired Abigail because of their affair. When the court brought Elizabeth Proctor into the court and asked her about the affair she denied it. Even though she knew the affair was true she denied it because she didn’t know Proctor had confessed and wanted to take her husband’s name
The contention between the characters have intensified as the argument escalates, and Proctor's failure at pinning the blame on Abigail has frustrated him. When Abigail begins another self righteous fit of possession and calls upon Heaven, Proctor can no longer stand her hypocrisy. He cries out in a “roaring voice” “breathless and in agony: It is a whore!” (Miller 109, 110).
(Miller 77). Proctor shows that just because Abigail is the accuser, doesn’t mean she is innocent and that she is lying so she can gain revenge. Once again, the court ignores all of the reasonable answers that Proctor provides and agrees with Abigail’s theory of witchcraft. After further disagreement with the court, Proctor finally decides to confess his affair with Abigail to prove that she isn’t as innocent as she seems. This action sacrifices Proctor’s good name; which is sacred in the Puritan society.
Cruelty is a recurrent theme in literature that often acts as a critical factor in a novel’s development. In Arthur Miller’s play, The Crucible, the occurrence of cruelty is seen to be gradually increasing as the story goes on from accusations of witchcraft that lead into chaos and death. Through Miller’s depiction of the merciless accusations and murders of innocent people, cruelty reveals a high extent of people’s animosity and vengeance that is greatly influenced by the attitude of the surrounding atmosphere. The accusations first began when the girls who were caught “dancing” in the forest were under pressure to confess what they were truly doing.
Society as a whole seeks to satisfy themselves. This may be at the expense of their peers or individuals they are associated with. Arthur Miller brilliantly displays this dark side of humanity’s side in his play The Crucible. This play is based on the Salem witch trials in the early 1690s. During the Salem witch trials over two hundred people were accused of witchcraft and twenty were executed.
Fear that spread among a group of people in Salem during the Salem Witch Trials, that event in history is a prime example of Mass Hysteria. In Salem the reason why so many women were killed was because of Mass Hysteria. It caused many people, in Salem during this event to think fast, rash and jump to conclusions. “The Crucible”, a short play dedicated to these events in Salem shows us how hysteria was such a leading cause of why the Witch Trials had even occurred. Reverend Hale, Abigail Williams and Judge Danforth.
(I.465-472). Seeing Abigail cry, it suggests that Abigail’s affair with John Proctor has influenced her behavior in jealousy and lust as she strives for nothing more than her love for John Proctor. By only being heartbroken, Abigail is not to be fully blamed for the hysteria within the town as her actions are only based on desperate attempts to win John Proctor over, and no intentional harm whatsoever. However, on the other hand, Abigail cannot be excused with outside forces making her the way she is due to the fact that she has clearly had a choice in most of her decisions and actions throughout the witchcraft crisis. When Mary Warren, another girl involved in the forest incident, enters the court, she explains to Danforth, the judge, that the girls are lying and are only pretending to see spirits.
An action in John Proctor’s life that holds back his inner goodness and personality is the crime he committed, when Proctor commits adultery with Abigail, it affects his truthfulness, marriage, and conscience. John Proctor wants nothing to do with Abigail after what happened between them; she still tries to involve herself with John Proctor.
Despite how tense their relationship has been after Elizabeth found out about the affair, Proctor and Elizabeth still hold strong mutual feelings for each other. When Hale came to arrest Elizabeth under the charge that she had assaulted Abigail through the poppet that Mary had brought home with her, Proctor defended her vigorously by declaring the statement: “I will not give my wife to vengeance!” (Miller, 77). The vengeance that Proctor refers to in this statement is Abigail and her determination to replace Elizabeth as Proctor’s lover. This statement is evidence that Proctor is trying to protect Elizabeth from Abigail’s clutches and prove that he is loyal to his wife.