...Nwobi 1 Odera Nwobi AP Language & composition September 21, 2014 CRR #1- The Crucible I. Author/Introduction Arthur Miller; an American playwright, born in the early 1900’s, 1915 to be precise. He was born into a very wealthy family. He was not very wealthy for a very long time, after the stock market crash in 1929. He had to do odd job to be able to pay for his college. After college, he career was a little rocky after his first play The Man Who Had All the Luck closed after four performances. After a while, his show All my Son earned him his first award. He wrote over 50 different works ranging from plays, novels, articles. His best play was Death of a Salesman which earned him a lot of fame. Another popular play he wrote was The Crucible. This play was a reflection of the Salem witch trial back in 1692. He was considered a communist because he advocated principles of equality among the classes, and social justice. He was married three times. He was once married to the popular actress Marilyn Monroe. Arthur Miller died in 2005 at the age of 89. II. Vocabulary Gibberish- meaningless or unintelligent talk. Trepidation- trembling or quivering movement. Subservient- serving or acting in a subordinate capacity. Shudder- to tremble with a sudden convulsive movement as from horror, fear, or cold. Calumny- a false and malicious statement designed to injure the reputation of someone or something. Titillated- to excite or arouse agreeably. Sniveling- to weep...
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...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 not care about the marriage that she is destroying. Moreover, Abigail is extremely self-centered and exposes her impure soul by having an affair with John Proctor. Not only does Abigail disclose her...
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...qualities and is fated by the Gods or by some supernatural force for doom or at least to great suffering. In The Crucible by Arthur Miller, Salem was in a period of time where witch hunts were frequent which created chaos throughout the town. These witch hunts often targeted innocent, hard working people who were accused of witchery with no actual evidence. As a result when this conflict introduced itself to John Proctor, he exhibited tragic hero traits such as pride, catharsis, and nobleness. Pride plays an interesting role in the life of John Proctor in The Crucible. During the trials, Proctor daily wages an internal, war between his conscience and pride. His prideful mindset is what primarily caused his downfall; a person who rises and falls because of their own ignorant flaw, which is the true meaning of a tragic hero. Therefore there are several traits that exemplify a tragic hero in John...
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...“A man may be aware that there is something...hollow in his own way of life, but still lack the power to express it in memorable language.” (Prudhoe). In the Crucible, several people notice the obvious corruption that lies in the Salem witch trials, but are unable to fight it due to lack of power. In Act three of The Crucible (1953), Arthur Miller expresses his frustration at the perpetual power grab under the façade of justice. Miller uses juxtaposition, dramatic irony, and selective dialogue in order to show how when struggling to clear one’s name, cold-hard facts are often overlooked in exchange for the promise of influence. The purpose of the act is to demonstrate that in every play for power, there must be pawns to manipulate and facts...
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...The Crucible Act Three Questions Short Response Answer the following questions based on your knowledge of the drama. Write a response on a separate sheet of paper. 1. Describe one piece of evidence that Giles, Francis, or Proctor bring before the court to show that the girls are lying. 2. What does Abigail do to distract Danforth from Hale’s accusations that she is lying? 3. How does Hale show that he believes that the court is not doing the right thing? Use three details from the text in your response. 4. Danforth explains that “. . . a person is either with this court or he must be counted against it, there be no road between.” What conclusion can you draw about Danforth’s character from this line? 5. How does Hale excuse Elizabeth’s lie about Abigail’s affair with Proctor? 6. Danforth explains that witchcraft is an invisible crime and that only the victims are reliable. How does his philosophy flame the hysteria? Use details from the drama to support your response. 7. How do Hale and Parris try to thwart each other, or act as foils, in regards to Danforth and the court? Use details from the drama to support your response. 8. Describe the point at which you think the plot reaches its highest intensity, or climax. 9. After the outbreak in court, Mr. Danforth makes the following short statement to Mr. Hale: I will have nothing from you, Mr. Hale! In your own words, describe what Mr. Hale has said or done to instigate Mr. Danforth’s...
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...------------------------------------------------- Character Progression and Development of Reverend John Hale in The Crucible The character of Reverend Hale, in Arthur Miller’s The Crucible, experiences a profound, dramatic and transformative personal evolution from when he comes to Salem in Act One through the climax in the third act. In the final act, in this progression, his identity by profession is challenged when he is confronted with the realization of an unjust, immoral community, and he responds with integrity and moral truth by abandoning his assigned mission of “witch hunter” in order to truly save others. When Reverend Hale first comes onto the scene, he is a pious and revered minister who was summoned by Reverend Parris because of his expertise on uncovering witchcraft. Reverend Hale presents as a strict and dedicated professional; he is confident, even arrogant as to his education, knowledge and, his authoritative role as expert, and falls back upon the fact that Salem needs him to resolve the unrest and chaos in the community. The hysteria in Salem is clearly exacerbated by Hale’s investigation; but initially, Hale is fueled by his charge to rid Salem of witchcraft and his self-assurance in that role, Hale finds himself, in the end, questioning his own integrity and his moral beliefs when he realizes that the witchcraft accusations were false. He has to battle his own internal guilt and regret for the needless suffering of other accused and persecuted which...
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...The Crucible This essay will discuss, explain and evaluate the main ideas, themes and interpretations of Arthur Miller’s, The Crucible. It will also explain and evaluate the language Arthur Miller uses and how it contributed to the overall success of the play. The Crucible is set in 1692 in the puritan town of Salem, Massachusetts, a theocratic society, where the laws of the land are laid down by the church. The main idea running throughout the play can be viewed as a direct comparison to McCarthyism which was happening in 1950’s America, in which members of the general public including public figures such as Arthur Miller were brought in and questioned over connections to communism. This can be seen as a direct comparison to people being brought into the Salem courts regarding connections with witchcraft. It was not until Miller saw this comparison that he then felt compelled to write The Crucible as he now felt he could get into the minds of those going through similar circumstances back in the Salem witch trials. Hysteria was the main cause of nineteen deaths in the Salem Witch Trials of 1692, and countless ruined reputations on account of Joe McCarthy. Hysteria does not just appear out of nowhere though. There are driving forces such as revenge and abuse of power that bring about the irrational fear that can take over society. These are the issues expressed in Arthur Miller’s The Crucible. The Crucible is paralleled directly to the Salem Witch Trials and indirectly...
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...Deputy Governor Danforth: The “Savior” of Salem Village? In The Crucible, Deputy Governor Danforth plays a major role, seeing that he is the highest official that has been called in to officiate the Salem Village court. Danforth does his best to make everyone believe that he is like the “hero” of Salem Village. He acted like he could almost do no wrong, even though that is very incorrect. Danforth even keeps this attitude after the evidence is shown that the whole Salem Village Witch Trials were a sham. Danforth is not the “hero” of Salem Village, he is the destructor of Salem Village. There is much proof that shows that Danforth was not following his job of giving a fair trial to the accused people of Salem Village. Danforth has multiple...
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...Is Abigail Williams a person of good character or does she have cruel intentions? In The Crucible, a play by Arthur Miller, Abigail Williams is one of the main characters. Abigail Williams plays a big role and not a very good one at that, she’s a liar, sinner of adultery, and feels no emotion for those who were hung because of her. From the beginning, Abigail Williams lied which lead her to tell a whole string of lies. The very first lie that Abigail told was about the dancing she said,”It were sport, uncle!”(Miller 1131), which was not the case. Her dancing was for a spell to get John Proctor to like her. Her and many other girls went along with the spell and the lie. Many people were hung for this ongoing lie that was never confessed to be...
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...What does it take to believe someone, to trust someone, to transform someone’s life into reality? The influence and power of the mind can ultimately, exceed all human limitations. In Salem, Massachusetts around 1692, the suspicion of witchcraft arises throughout the town, creating problems and chaos. In Arthur Miller’s play, The Crucible, the effect of hysteria led to disorder and complete mayhem in Salem from the sudden spread of witchcraft, exemplified by Abigail Williams, Tituba and Danforth. Once the accusations and stories arose in the plot, it was almost impossible to restore order and peace in Salem. The beginning of the hysteria influence in Salem began with Abigail Williams and her attempt of witchcraft. Abigail worked as...
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...The Salem witch trials are notoriously known for the killings of innocent inhabitants of Salem. Some say the cause of their deaths could be traced back to Salem’s strict social order. The structure of 1600’s Salem was very religion-based as it was woven into everyday life. The government was a theocracy, the priests were highly respected, and anyone who went against the government was considered evil. Arthur Miller’s The Crucible unveils the realistic effect of social order on one’s personal freedom. Because religion was so vital in 1600’s Salem’s social order, the inhabitants suffered from a lack of personal freedom. The structure of the Puritan society in colonial Massachusetts served an important role in the setting of The Crucible. The...
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...The play The Crucible By Arthur Miller is an example of false accusation by everyone being accused of something during their time of life. Arthur Miller connects himself with John Proctor through accusation and how all fingers are pointed to people from one In the little town Salem Massachusetts, 1692, the theme Witchcraft was brought upon a lot of people, from accusation. Everyone being framed of Witchcraft had either the choice to admit to it, or to be hanged, because Witchcraft was not allowed in Salem at the time. Witchcraft had turned many people against other and showed the true colors of them. Through John Proctor’s response to Witchcraft of Abigail, Arthur Miller conveys his beliefs about false accusation of his wife. Arthur Miller’s...
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...Motivation is what encourages a person to behave in a certain way. Cruelty is a common motivator that is mostly used in a selfish way to one’s advantage. Whether it’s throwing others under the bus, or just wanting the attention. In The Crucible, a girl by the name Abigail William’s selfishly wants a married man by the name John Proctor and shows no remorse for any of her actions in her attempt to acquire get him. Her barbarous decisions lead her to a pool of lies, and deceit. The main message in this play is to show how far a person is willing to go to get what they want, despite the lies and betrayal. Cruelty allies with this message by egotistical wants being the cause, and cruel behavior being the effect. Abigail William’s cruel behavior derived from her jealousy, and desperate desire to be with a married man, provoking her to lie about her practice of witchcraft. She drinks blood, and chants to put a charm to kill his wife. She encourages the others to lie by...
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...In the play The Crucible many residents of Salem and neighboring areas were striked with terror as news of witchcraft circulated through one fateful night. Reverend Parris strolled upon his neice and her friends dancing in the forest. As the news got around town , many names were thrown around by Abigail and Parris to pretect her and the Parris name. Though many people were blamed and hung for "being a witch", one person I believe should not have been accused was Elizabeth Proctor. She was accused of witchcraft by Abigail. Abigail disliked Elizabeth strongly because she was married to John and Abigail loved him. Abigail wanted Elizabeth dead so she wouldn't be in the way of her and John. She never comitted a crime, she knew abigail was after her. "It is her dearest hope, John, I know it. There be a thousand names; why does she call mine? There be a certain danger in calling such a name- I am no Goody Good that sleeps in ditches, nor Osburn, drunk and half-witted. She'd dare not call out such a farmer's wife but there be a monstrous profit in it. She thinks to take my place." Arthur Miller. One person certainly was the reason for the trails, Abigail Williams. She was a liar and very manipulative. She lied to everyone about what happened in the forest and she named off people who had no connection with witchcraft just to save her own name. She had no remorse for anyone. She wanted Elizabeth to be hung so she could be with John. She threatened her friends and would not let them...
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...Precarious Parris Most people would agree with Katherine Paterson that ”To fear is one thing. To let fear grab you by the tail and swing you around is another.” However, there are many that are consumed by fear everyday. In The Crucible by Arthur Miller a certain character stands out as a self centered, cowardly, yet loyal man. Not only do we find out who he his, but he realizes what fear has prompted him to be. Reverend Parris plays a substantial role in the church, but isn't the most faithful man on the planet. Being a reverend in a church doesn't normally associate itself with being self-centered, yet Parris isn't your ordinary reverend. When Parris catches his daughter Abigail red handed defying the church he is only thinking about one thing, himself. He suspects Abigail of lying and demands that “If you trafficked with spirits in the forest I must know it now, for surely my enemies will, and they will ruin it with me” (I, 76-8). Abigail could be tried in the court for her unlawful...
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