...The cauldron The Crucible a play written by Arthur Miller is a story about the the witch trials in Salem. The theme of Arthur Miller's The Crucible, is that dishonesty started and perpetuated the witch trials, while honesty brought about their end . The girls started the witch trials in Salem. Lies from the accused kept the trials going. The Honest brought about their end. The girls started the witch trials in Salem with their dishonesty and lies. It started when Abigail and Parris talking about, why they (the girls) were dancing in the woods. Then Proctor shows up and Abigail tells him the truth, Betty starts to scream and hale shows up Abigail tells him that Tituba’s a witch. “She sends her spirits on me in church; she makes me laugh at prayers”(Miller 46). In this quote...
Words: 665 - Pages: 3
...The Crucible Thesis: In The Crucible, Miller repeats ideas to emphasize their importance in contributing to Salem; these motifs like names and lies are repeated to show their impact on Salem. In the Salem Witch Trials of 1693, there are many injustices committed against innocent people. The play The Crucible, by Arthur Miller, talks about how people falsely accuse others of witchcraft. It starts when some of the younger girls in Salem, especially the antagonist Abigail, are caught dancing in the woods and lie about the incident. They confess to witchcraft and falsely accuse others so they can be absolved of guilt. In The Crucible, Miller repeats ideas to emphasize their importance in contributing to Salem; these motifs like names and lies are repeated to show their impact on Salem. The motif of names is important to understanding the escalation of the witch trials in Salem. Names help make the situation worse because people falsely name others who are witches, which fills jail cells and makes the number of accused witches go up. People also try to protect their reputation. In Act 1, right after Tituba confesses to witchcraft, Parris and Hale try to convince her to name others who are witches. Tituba then says, “And I look- and there was Goody Good… Aye sir, and Goody Osburn” (Miller 47). Tituba is merely naming people to get herself out of trouble. During this time, it is not enough to just confess, they want you to also name others who are...
Words: 252 - Pages: 2
...John Proctor, one of the main characters in The Crucible, has a crucible moment after having an affair with Abigail. Although John and Elizabeth are married, he cheats on her with Abigail. Proctor’s crucible moment within the play happens when he has to make a decision to either tell his wife about the affair, or keep it a secret, and feel guilty for the rest of his life. Because John can not forgive himself after the affair, he decides to tell Elizabeth about what happened. John Proctor passes the crucible test because he did the right thing even though his relationship with his wife will never be the same. Now that Elizabeth knows the truth, John now feels guilty about what he has done because his wife is upset with him. The wrong thing John...
Words: 574 - Pages: 3
...to the witch trials portrayed in his play The Crucible, written two years previously. Just over forty years later, with HUAC long out of power, The Crucible became a film with a budget of $25 million, produced by the well-known Twentieth-Century Fox Film Corporation (IMDb). The perseverance of this story is a testament to its intriguing portrayal of power struggle during the Salem witch trials that applies to many situations even today. The movie version of the play alters the text and storyline; in particular, the scene in which Tituba is accused and confesses was changed in several ways in order to focus on the details of the witch trials that made them so effective....
Words: 733 - Pages: 3
...People can better understand human nature from Studying The Crucible. In The Crucible by Arthur Miller there is a group of girls and one of them in Abigail who is the main antagonist in the story. The group of girls was seen in the woods doing “witchcraft”. Abigail and the girls are accused of witchcraft. The group of girls start to name other women in the town like John Proctor's wife. Abigail picks her mainly because she wants John Proctor for herself since John and Abigail had an affair previously. Now the girls accuse other people in the town to draw less attention to them and try to keep their names good. By studying The Crucible and other resources people can better understand that people are greedy and are quick to blame. In “The...
Words: 1084 - Pages: 5
...Gillian MacDonald 21 March 2013 ENG 4U Mr. Chalmers The Ringleaders of the Salem Witch Trials In the book The Crucible by Arthur Miller, the theme of hysteria is dominantly present throughout the entire play. It is not hard to narrow down the cause of the widespread hysteria to three people that inevitably had their hand in the trials. The devious character, Abigail, shows her wicked mind and skill of manipulation in the play so she can get what she wants, John Proctor. The slave, Tituba, gave into the accusations and started the hysteria of the witch trials. The last character that contributed to an entire town’s belief in witches would be Danforth. His stubborn and narrow minded attitude had people dangling from a rope. It is easy to say that Abigail Williams is the triumphant ringleader of the accusers in The Crucible. Constantly pointing fingers, she named name after name and everyone believed her whole heartedly. At the beginning of the play, Reverend Parris accused Abigail of witch craft but to avoid punishment she passed the blame to Tituba saying “I never called him! Tituba, Tituba…” (Miller 42). Abigail took no responsibility for her actions but blamed another person claiming, “She made me do it! She made Betty do it!” (Miller 43). Once Tituba confessed to witchcraft, Abigail joined in by accusing others of witchcraft so the negative attention would not be on the girls. Once Abigail started accusing people, Betty woke up from her “infinite” sleep...
Words: 885 - Pages: 4
...believe or think that we are one or the other- vice or virtue. But why is that? Do you come to think to question yourself that you’re either a good or bad person for possibly the littlest thing? Think about it. In The Crucible by Arthur Miller, Abigail Williams is the most despicable character because she obtains a power by starting to accuse innocent people of witchcraft, was involved in lechery with John Proctor, and ran away with her uncle’s money that she stole from a safe. To begin with, Abigail Williams may just be a young woman, but she is capable of many things. For instance, her and Mercy Lewis ran away with Reverend Parris’s money. They ran away, because they wanted to avoid getting accused for any sort of witchcraft, especially after what happened in the forest. In act four, Parris states to Danforth,”...my strongbox is broken into” (4.207*208), the only person who knew where his strongbox was Abigail, since she lived with him. This shows one of the many things that Abigail is capable of. In addition, Parris knew what Abigail was capable of and what she had on the...
Words: 698 - Pages: 3
...The Crucible Essay “Courage is not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it. The brave man is not he who does no feel afraid, but he who conquers that fear” (Nelson Mandela). In simpler terms, courage is when something that a person believes in, is more important than the fear that comes with the consequences of that belief. The Crucible has many key themes, but the theme that has the broadest effect on the reader is courage. John Proctor is a great example of the courage shown. While, Abigail Williams shows immense cowardice. Throughout the Crucible many characters have to face the horrendous decision of whether to confess to have ‘been with the devil’ and lose their ‘good name’ or bee executed for that of which they did not do. John Proctor is a great example of a character with extraordinary courage. John although pressured to confess and knowing that he’ll hang, refuses to ruin his ‘good name’ and he does not fully confess to the crime. When Judge Danforth would not give up the argument with John to sign the confession, he asked, “Then explain to me, Mr. Proctor, why will you not let me have it?” (pg.1231). Proctor answered, “Because it is my name! Because I cannot have another in my life! Because I lie and sign myself to lies! I have given you my soul; leave me my name!” (pg.1232). These quotes show how strong willed John is in not having a bad reputation and how John has great courage and doesn’t lie just to live. However that John may express great courage...
Words: 508 - Pages: 3
...against women. For instance, "Female Hysteria" used to be a medical term for women who showed any type of abnormal behavior. In fact, the word "Hysteria" is greek, meaning "Uterus". This is due to the fact that women are viewed as the weaker gender. The play, "The Crucible" by Arthur Miller is about a mistress name Abigail Williams what wants John Proctor to be her lover for life, but Mr. Proctor would not leave his wife, Elizabeth Proctor, for her. So, Abigail seeks vengeance...
Words: 953 - Pages: 4
...Abigail Williams is the opposite of one’s thought of a Puritan. She is selfish, manipulative, ungodly, and especially fond of her adulterous relationship with John Proctor. In Arthur Miller's play, The Crucible, Abigail attempts to save herself from embarrassment by initiating a cruel witch hunt, accusing those who are innocent but are in the way of her own devious plan. She lies about her and her friends attempting to murder Elizabeth Proctor with witchcraft in the woods by turning the blame on others. Abigail continuously displays her intentions as the play goes on changing from lust to power hungry. Abigail is tried on her honesty and self pride, contributing to the theme of power given without judgement tends to corrupt. Miller uses Abigail's...
Words: 533 - Pages: 3
...In “The Crucible,” Arthur Miller talks about history about the Salem witchcraft. “The Crucible” is a story in which they talk about Salem Witchcraft in the 1600s. In the story some girls got caught dancing in the woods and people stated that they were connected with witchcraft. The girls began to point fingers at others and blamed the innocent people of also being connected with witchcraft. Those innocent people that were accused of practicing witchcraft did not get along with the girls’ families. McCarthyism is a practice that unfair accusations are made. Mccarthyism was practiced in the 1950s. Senator Joseph McCarthy was the one who carried out Mccarthyism. During the period of McCarthyism, people were being indicted and they were either blacklisted or lost their jobs because of that. Throughout history, Salem and McCarthyism kept happening. A big similarity between the two is the Salem witchcraft trials. The Salem witch trials are when innocent people were accused of practicing...
Words: 819 - Pages: 4
...There are many characters in The Crucible that are bad characters in the crucible . These characters will do anything to further themselves or their family. They will condemn innocent people with out a blink of an eye. These characters will care more about there social standing than god. Also they will sin and swear on the holy bible that they saw something when it was not there. These characters will kill and lie to get what they want in end. While many of these characters are bad the worst of them all is Abigail. Abigail sends many different innocent people to their death. Abigail says that she say Tituba and others with the black men sentencing them to death. She also fakes being attacked by people’s specters. She is the ring leader of...
Words: 360 - Pages: 2
...The Jack in the Box Death roamed about the court during the Salem witch trials. During the Salem witch trials people 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...
Words: 657 - Pages: 3
...In Arthur Miller's The Crucible, Self-Preservation is very common in the town of Salem. Self-Preservation is when a person protects themselves or someone else, whether it be by telling the truth or a lie. In the town of Salem many people use Self-Preservation to protect themselves from the consequences of performing witchcraft. However, others may use Self-Preservation to protect their reputation or image in society, such as Reverend Parris. He himself started, what is called a chain of self-preservation when he reported Abigail Williams and the girls performing witchcraft. This led to Abigail having to use self-preservation to protect herself from the consequences of witchcraft which later on led Elizabeth Proctor to protect herself and her...
Words: 1167 - Pages: 5
...The Crucible: Movie Review The Crucible, originally a play written by Arthur Miller in 1953, was converted to a movie in 1996 directed by Nicholas Hytner. Hytner's film was released in theaters on December 13th in the year 1996. The Crucible’s genre is Historical period drama. Starring in this film is Daniel Day-Lewis as John Proctor, the protagonist in this story, and Winona Ryder as Abigail Williams, the antagonist in this story. Other important characters in this story are Reverend Parris played by Bruce Davison, Reverend Hale played by Rob Campbell, Giles Corey played by Peter Vaughan, Mary Warren played by Karron Graves, Tituba played by Charlayne Woodard and various other members of the cast. The setting of The Crucible is the same as...
Words: 367 - Pages: 2
