...October 2015 The Crucible Analytical Paper “It takes many good deeds to build a good reputation, and only one bad one to lose it,” Benjamin Franklin once said. Reputation has a large impact on the citizens of Salem, Massachusetts in the play, The Crucible. John Proctor is most affected by the thought of maintaining an acceptable reputation for his name. Throughout The Crucible, by Arthur Miller, John Proctor made many mistakes, one such as committing adultery, which made his wife, Elizabeth Proctor, lose his trust. Although he made mistakes, the town still saw John as a respectable man who cared immensely for his family. In the end, John did admit his sin of adultery and was hanged. Through “Aristotle’s Poetics” it is proved that John Proctor is the tragic hero of The Crucible because his true character comes out and he becomes a good man in the end by admitting to his wrong-doings, committing adultery, in order to save his reputation and family. John Proctor ruins his reputation within the change of fortune, or catastrophe, appeal of “Aristotle’s Poetics”. A change of fortune is explained as “occurs when a character produces an effect opposite to that which he intended to produce…”(McManus). John Proctor did not want his reputation ruined or his relationship with his wife ruined, however the complete opposite happened to him creating a major problem. The change of fortune is when John is finally forced to admit to the court about his sin (Miller 119). John Proctor commits adultery...
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...protagonist of Arthur Miller’s The Crucible, John Proctor, passes his extreme test because he is willing to put his life and reputation at risk to free Elizabeth from all of her troubles. John’s past affair with the jealous Abigail Williams is no secret to Elizabeth. Determined to do anything she can to accuse Elizabeth of witchcraft, Abigail makes up many lies about her like accusing her of implanting a needle in a doll. John finally sees that there is only one way to stop the hysteria in Salem: to admit his sin of adultery. “I have known her, sir. I have known her”(1145). Proctor faces one of his crucible moments in the play, when he tells the court he committed the crime of adultery, and he passes. He confesses in front of the court and the judges that he himself was an adulterer. Proctor feels he owed this to Elizabeth. He wants to make up for...
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...The Crucible Essay In the play, ¨The Crucible¨ by Arthur Miller, John proctor drastically changes his personality from the beginning to the end of the play, from an angry farmer in the beginning to a person that wanted to make things right. I will tell you how John Proctor’s personality and mood transitions throughout the story. In act one, Abbigail used to live with the Proctors. John Proctor and Abigail was in the room together with sick Betty lying in the bed unconscious. This gave Abbigail an opportunity to talk to Proctor. Proctor questions Abbigail if Betty's illness. If Betty's illness involved the ¨ritual¨ Abigail and the other girls did in the woods. Abigail denies any involvement in witchcraft on Betty´s sickness. Abigail asked Proctor if he came to see her, but Proctor denies. This conversation between Proctor and Abigail obviously reveals that both had an affair before while Abigail was living with the Proctors. Abbigail now accuses him of still being in love with her. Abigail continues to force him to come back to her and of course this made John Proctor unhappy with Abbigail....
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...People can experience many moments and changes in their life that drastically change the way they think or act. Elizabeth Proctor experiences this sort of change throughout Arthur Miller’s play, The Crucible. She is very cold when we first see her in the play and changes to be much more open by the end. Moments when she changes happen all throughout the play, but a majority of it is not shown until act 4. However, she does have a few specific moments where you can really see the change in her character. In Arthur Miller’s The Crucible, Elizabeth Proctor changes from being very cold, accusing, and dismissive towards the beginning of the play, to being open and trusting by the end. One moment that shows this change is when Elizabeth does not want to change John’s mind about not confessing in Act 4. She is told to plead with John to confess to witchcraft so that his life can be saved. Elizabeth says “Do what you will. But let none be your judge.There be no higher judge under heaven than Proctor is! Forgive me, forgive me, John- I never knew such goodness in the world!” (Miller 1228). She shows...
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...Conformity in The Crucible We often hear about people of Middle Eastern descent being called terrorist at the airport and no one doing anything to stop that behavior, if you do anything people hate you. In our daily lives we face many decisions that are minor but affect our future. For example, do you go with the crowd and bully someone or do you attempt to do the morally correct thing and stand up to the bullying and face social harassment of your own? The Crucible, by Arthur Miller is a play about an affair between John Proctor and Abigail Williams and most importantly the Salem witch trials. Innocent people are being accused of witches for no reason and people blindly follow along, but John Proctor dies to go against the conformity. In...
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...Thematic Questions 1. What is a crucible and how is it used? Justify Miller’s choice of title for his play. A crucible is a ceramic container that can withstand very high temperature and is used for metal, glass and pigment production as well as a number of modern laboratory processes. Miller’s choice of the title “The Crucible” is due to the same reason as the courtroom being referred to as a crucible: using the heat of questioning and scrutiny, they burned away all the impurities, i.e. lies and half-truths, to get the purified product the “truth”. 2. How do Hale’s preconceptions influence his interpretation of events? How does his interpretation change? What are the implications of his conversion? Hale’s preconceptions has influenced his interpretation of events in that he initially thought that he had the authority over the town due to his extensive knowledge of witchcraft. He expected to find witches, however his interpretation changes throughout the play as he realises that innocent townspeople are being falsely accused, such as John Proctor. The implications of his conversion are when he encourages the accused to confess, i.e. the good people to lie, even though he believes that he is doing the “Devil’s work”. 3. Proctor calls Hale “Pontius Pilate.” Explain the allusion. Do you agree or disagree? The allusion is that Pontius Pilate was the ruler in Bethlehem who ordered the crucifixion of Jesus Christ at the order of the Jewish leadership, despite the...
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...John Proctor is faced with obstacles that he must overcome to develop his character in The Crucible. John Proctor’s change in his character is an important part of the theme of The Crucible. John Proctor is a farmer that inherited the family tradition. He is married to Elizabeth Proctor and has three young boys. John Proctor dislikes hypocrites and does not trust the authority in Salem. John Proctor committed an affair with a seventeen-year-old girl named Abigail Williams. Throughout the story he is challenged with the guilt of committing adultery. John Proctor’s personal integrity is challenged in multiple parts of The Crucible. Proctor is challenged by the affair with Abigail, Hale questioning him about his relationship with God, giving up...
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...an orphan. With no father or mother figure in her life she did not have much love as child therefore she found it somewhere with someone else being John Proctor...
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...Throughout Twelve Angry Men by Reginald Rose and The Crucible by Arthur Miller, fear is the most prominent motivation of the key characters in these two plays. There are many differences and similarities between both of the plays Twelve Angry Men and The Crucible, the main similarity between them both is fear but there is also similarities in the sense that prejudice, justice, and tension between the communities in both of the plays. Fear is something caused by threat, danger, harm or anxiety, in Twelve Angry Men it is shown though fear of youth (young people) and also fear of racial minority's where as in The Crucible the charters are fearful of witches and the devil as well as themselves and others. The attitudes of those we are surrounded by everyday are the ones who have an influence...
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...Character Analysis of Abigail Williams Author Miller’s drama The Crucible takes place in the seventeenth-century in Salem, Massachusetts. Salem suffers from witch-hunts, trials, and false accusations. In effect, the town is full of worry and suspicion; and when young girls falsely accuse self-righteous neighbors in Salem of witchcraft, the town goes against itself, which ultimately causes a conflict between power and aggression. The personality of Abigail Williams, the understood leader of all the young girls, ultimately causes the whole play to go into effect. Abigail displays that she is sinful, envious, and manipulative. Abigail Williams’ characteristic of sinfulness causes her to be the antagonist of the whole play. Abigail commits...
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...The Crucible Essay John Proctor was an important part of Arthur Miller’s “The Crucible”. Towards the end of the book/movie he was falsely accused of being a witch. He had many conflict on his mind and reasons to confess and not to confess. Personally, I think he made the right decision in that time. I most likely would of chose to live, but I understand why he made his decision. John Proctor had many internal conflicts. Before the accusations started, he cheated on his wife with Abigail. That led to the guilt that was on his mind, when his wife was accused and when he had to say his commandments to Reverend Hale. Because of the affair, all those people were arrested and died. I’m pretty sure he found that out towards the end. Having all those lives on your mind is a very big conflict in my opinion. His own wife was accused. He wasn’t even able to see his last child being born. Knowing your going to die is a conflict itself. Having these internal conflicts on his mind made the story what it is....
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...and the Witches Buddha once said, “There has to be evil so that good can prove its purity above it.” His words describe how there is both evil and good in the world. There is also both good and evil in Arthur Miller's play, The Crucible. In 1692, the witch trials played a huge role in the lives of people in Salem, Massachusetts. The townspeople feared witchcraft so much that it created confusion regarding who was actually a witch and who was not. Many accusations were made leaving innocent people responsible for the mysterious acts of witchcraft. Abigail Williams reveals her impurity by doing just this. Abigail constantly lies to the court and does everything in her power to save herself, even if it means falsely accusing others. In Miller's play The Crucible, Abigail Williams proves her impurity of soul by having an affair with John Proctor, lying to the townspeople, and attempting to kill Elizabeth Proctor. Abigail first reveals her impure heart through her love affair with John Proctor. Although Abigail is aware that John is married to Elizabeth Proctor, she does not let their relationship get in the way of her own selfish desires. Johns fends off Abigail when he says “Abigail, I may think of you softly from time to time. But I will cut off my hand before I’ll ever reach for you again. We never touched Abby” (15). Abigail argues, “Aye, but we did” (15). Here Abigail shows no guilt for her sinful actions. Clearly, she only cares about herself and especially does...
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...Discuss how an idea developed in a text you have studied. In the play ‘The Crucible’ written my Arthur Miller an important idea the developed throughout the text is reputation and injustice. It shows us that in an environment where people are shelter, oblivious, and ignorant, peple may behave in ways that are unjust in order to protect their reputation. Arthur Miller was able to develope these ideas through the setting and characters. He was able to incorporate his own experience into his play as he was a victim himself of McCarthyism. The Crucible is set in a small town, Salem in Massachusetts, America in 1692 where people were oblivious of anything other than God, believing that they were self righteous. In such time, reputation determined how people looked at you and was considered something of great importance. “A man will not cast away his good name“ shows us the importance of people’s reputation at that time. When something is regarded as such a high level of importance to someone, people will do anything in order to protect it even if the means are considered unjust and ‘unrighteous‘. Abigail accuses Elizabeth Proctor of ‘blackening my name in the village‘ after commiting adultery with John Proctor, Elizabeth’s husband. This cause her to fear for her reputation, and how people will view her. Afraid of her reputation, Abigail Williams acts in fear to and pointed the finger at Tituba claiming that she was practising witchcraft ‘she sends her spirit on me in Church; she...
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...The Crucible, a play by Arthur Miller, hosts a variety of different characters that add to the story and make the drama come to life. A main character in the play John Proctor is also one of the most complex characters with a secret that could ruin him. He believes that his reputation is everything and goes to great length to make sure everyone in town believes that he can do no wrong. Early on in the play it is revealed that Proctor has had an affair with Abigail a former servant in his home. But it is only revealed to the audience becaus\ they are alone at the time, the only other person who knows is Proctor’s wife who suspected it and threw out Abigail. Throughout the play we see Proctor try to protect his reputation as a honest farmer by...
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...were accused of being witches, if they confessed to being a witch they would survive. If they did not confess they would be hanged in front of the whole town. The play The Crucible, by Arthur Miller is all about the idea of the Salem witch trials. The Crucible is a play about people that can be related to a jack in the box that is capable of exploding with drama. The handle of the jack in the box is the stirring of the drama started by Tituba by confessing to being a witch. “No, no, don’t hang Tituba! I tell him I don’t desire to work for him, sir”- Tituba (847). By Tituba confessing to being a witch it is stirring the handle to a whole mess they won’t expect later. The only reason she confesses to being a witch is because Putnam wants to hang her for not confessing. When she confessed it triggered something in Abigail to start a whole parade of blaming people. Tituba is the conductor to spinning the handle of the jack in the box. When the handle is done being spun and toy jack pops out of the small wooden box spreading fear through young kids. As like the jack head popping out Abigail and the girls spread fear through Salem. Abigail is a very dauntless young women who is not afraid to lie to get her way. Abigail and her minions (girls) goal was to get Elizabeth Proctor arrested for being a witch and hanged to death because Abigail was in love with Elizabeth’s husband John. “Abigail were stabbed tonight; a needle were stuck into her belly-” - Hale (860). By Abigail...
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