...The Crucible, Cotton Mather’s Wonders of the Invisible World and John Hale’s A Modest Enquiry into the Nature of Witchcraft. The Crucible is a play about the Salem witch trials and the characters who are accused and judged based off of their reputation. Each character’s perception is different than what the actual reality is of the witchcraft because they have their own views about this trial. In Cotton Mather’s Wonders of the Invisible World, Cotton Mather is warning the townspeople about the devil taking control of their lives. He encourages them to take action and do something about it,...
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...play “The Crucible” to describe the life of a society that strictly follows the rules they have established themselves. Such a restriction has a religious origin as they described society can obviously be called a puritan society. Arthur Miller does an outstandingly great job in revealing to the reader the fact that the religion and the state back than were one whole entity and religion dictated its commandment as government laws. For the representatives of the Miller’s society being an honest and a decent man means not only respecting the religious doctrine but following its commandments literally. For instance, Abigail is the evil character in terms of the Miller’s society as she is into material and sexual desires. Though the society of “The Crucible” is a Puritan one on the surface in reality almost each member of this society is greedy, dishonest, and jealous of each other. They conceal their desires and actions that do not correspond to the religious doctrine. Even the girls dance in the woods because they are not allowed to do so wherever they can be seen. Sexuality also lives in the brains of each of the characters of “The Crucible” but they try to hide it even from their own selves. Nevertheless, when someone else reveals “inappropriate” behavior each of the members of the society becomes a strict judge who is ready even to let an innocent person die than to admit the fact that their whole ideology is null. So what seems so puritan on the surface in reality is a cover-up...
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...In Arthur Millers, The Crucible, the Salem witch trails occurred. In Salem, while the Salem witch trials were occurring, the citizens tell many lies. This is one thing that led to the mass hysteria that defined the Salem witch trials. It also led to many conflicts between the characters in this book. This is because in the eyes of the puritans anyone who was involved in “witchcraft” was against the church and thought to be communicating with Satan and deserved death. One of the conflicts that occurred in The Crucible was between John Proctor and himself. Because lying is a sin and in turn causes negative effects, John Proctor is forced to face the reality and the consequences of his deceitfulness. In the play The Crucible, John Proctor, the main character, endures multiple inner conflicts. He believes his affair with Abigail Williams, another citizen of Salem, has permanently damaged him and his worthiness in the eyes of God. After scolding Elizabeth Proctor, his wife, for continuing to be suspicious of his actions with Abigail and not giving him forgiveness, Elizabeth expresses that she does not judge him, but that it is, “The magistrate sitting in [his] heart that judges [him].” Lying is a recurring theme in The Crucible and Proctor’s actions with the affair is an example of this....
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...accused people of dealing in witchcraft. The accused were punished and killed for these false accusations. Eventually, the town shamefully realized what they had done. The playwright, Arthur Miller, wrote The Crucible as a display of a corrupt Puritan society as well as an allegory of modern American history. Miller demonstrates the government issues and religious conflicts of colonial and modern-day America in his play, The Crucible. Miller’s play reflects the corruption of humanity that is seen throughout American history. Puritan hypocrisy is a major focus of this work which is portrayed at the end of act one when Abigail Williams...
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...Life will through you so many challenges along the course of your life. In The Lord of the Flies, The Crucible, and Night all the characters had a rough time. Some were endangered on an island, some were causing death sentences, and others were marching into their death. But there is one thing they all had in common, most characters lost their humanity. These characters all found a way to face their crucibles and go back to being sane. First of all, in the book The Lord of the Flies, Jack was not the same young British boy he was before. After him and a group of young boys were suddenly shot down into an island, things started to get a little hazy. Jack lost his innocence which then became him losing his humanity. Jack was hesitant to kill the beast at first but completely lost it and showed no mercy. He then realized along with the other boys he killed a fellow mate. He enjoyed the rush of the killing and became a bloodthirst beast. The one person that remained semi sane was Piggy. At first, he was...
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...In The Crucible by Arthur Miller, the tone of irony boats from every corner you look, this story casts a mirror onto McCarthyism and reflects the outcomes of this ironic process. The Crucible depicts the reality of the Salem Witch Trials in a time of hysteria and fear. Miller uses a past event to emphasize the effects of unnecessary fear imposed by McCarthyism, indirectly relating to the Salem Witch Trials. Miller’s, The Crucible, is one of irony in which it obliquely equates to the consequences of fear and blaming others by relating the Salem Witch Trials to McCarthyism. Abigail’s intentions regarding John Proctor are nothing if not ironic, you can see this perfectly in which Abigail acted out in a complete façade so that she could be...
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...Research Analysis over Abigail Williams Arthur Miller said in an interview once, “ I took creative license with her character to make the connection between sexuality and politics more dramatic,” (Shmoop). This is one of the reasons Arthur Miller made Abigail Williams in The Crucible so different compared to the real Abigail. Abigail Williams was an 11-year -old girl who lived in Salem and worked for the Proctor family, John and Elizabeth, before the time of the Salem Witch Trials of 1692. Before the trails even started, Abigail and her cousin, Betty Parris, got into fortune telling their future like who they would marry and what their social status would be. After a while they got the other girls in town to start playing their fortune telling...
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...A first modification put into place by Miller is the inaccurate representation of Tituba, the enslaved woman who served the Puritan minister in Salem, Reverend Parris. In The Crucible, Tituba is described as African American. In reality, though little is known of Tituba, it was determined thanks to court records that she was in born in North-Eastern South America and brought to the island of Barbados to be sold as a slave (Lecture 28/02/17). It is most probable that she was from the peaceful Arawak tribe who believed in humans who could shape shift into animals, worshipped effigies and gave meaning to dreams (Lecture 28/02/17). Tituba was most likely exposed to African folklore whilst in Barbados since black slaves working on sugar plantations...
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...themes when it comes to the struggle for power. Animal farm by George Orwell, a book which all of these take place is remarkably similar to the Crucible by Arthur Miller and Macbeth by William Shakespeare. Animal farm, The Crucible, and Macbeth are all written similarly and revolve around the same themes, such that many characters in Animal Farm and Macbeth portray similar characteristics. Animal Farm and The Crucible share common themes and conflicts. In all three books the structure of peoples values change drastically for a turn for the worst. These novels and play all follow popular foundations of literature which revolve around inner evil, the addiction to power, and the loss and regaining of self-identity. Animal farm and Macbeth’s antagonists, Napoleon and Macbeth portray similar characteristics. Napoleon and Macbeth both share important roles in their respective books in that they directly influence and change the fate of many. The two power hungry tyrants go to an extreme to achieve their goals but in two very different ways. Napoleon a more cunning character abuses his superior intellect to deceive the other ignorant farm animals in order to gain power. Through Machiavellian methods he slowly begins to take over the farm by convincing the animals to be more reliant on him, ultimately making his self-proclamation of leader a reality “No one believes more firmly than Comrade Napoleon that all animals are equal. He would be only too happy to let you make your decisions for...
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...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...
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...Fear can influence decisions and corrupt ones morality. The fear of death, judgment and isolation all have the capability to make good people do bad things. Arthur Miller portrays this phenomenon in his book The Crucible. In The Crucible there are distinct examples of fear debilitating ones ability to make the right decision. Mary Warrens fear of death resulted in many deaths. John Proctor’s fear of judgment kept him from revealing the truth. Lastly, the fear of the unknown, in the mind of the townspeople, set off a series of devastating events that transpired throughout the book. Furthermore, fear darkened their conscience, and as a result, self preservation became prioritized above all else. Mary Warren, naturally a honest women, wanted to confess to the dancing and conjuring spirits in the woods. However, Abigail disagreed and threatened to kill her and, consequently, fear overtook Mary until she was Abigail’s slave, or rather, a slave to fear (Miller, pg.19). Mary knew the truth, the truth that could have saved lives, but withheld it. She lied and became dishonest, for the reason that she was afraid of being hung as a witch herself. Therefore, she accused John Proctor, an upstanding man, and in doing so, she put him to death (Miller, pg.118). She was terrified of death, and Abigail made that horror something real that she couldn't overcome. So in turn, she took the pressure off herself and took a mans life to preserve her own. Abigail was a dishonest and deceitful...
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...To Have Pride is To Have Vanity Jane Austen quoted,” Vanity and pride are different things, though the words are often used synonymously. A person may be proud without being vain. Pride relates more to our opinion of ourselves, vanity to what we would have others think of us.” The Crucible demonstrates this quote greatly. I have always felt that as humans, vanity is one of our most faulty talents and that it is very hard to do one without the other. Vanity is an over abundance of pride on oneself. Pride is a feeling of satisfaction in something a person has achieved or is well at. The two terms can flow very easily together to form an unnecessary end. John Proctor shows an excellent example in act four. As he goes to sign the confession, given by Danforth, he rips it in half after signing it. Danforth goes to ask him why he had just done the unthinkable and Proctor answers with unwavering vanity that it is his name, to sign the confession would be to sign his name off as a hoard of lies. John shows much vanity in this scene by the emotions and pride in his tone. He has too much pride in his name and himself that it costs his...
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...“In her life, sir, she have never lied.” This is a quote said by John Proctor, a character from The Crucible, while he was speaking to Governor Danforth about Elizabeth never telling a lie in her life. Elizabeth Proctor is a strong, christian, religious women in the play The Crucible who had 3 children with her husband John Proctor. She had strong morals like following the law and never telling a lie or sinning. Elizabeth Proctor and I had a few personality traits in common in that we are honest, non judgmental and also we both blame ourselves a good bit. Both Elizabeth Proctor and I share the same trait in which we are both honest. One way Elizabeth was honest in the story The Crucible was her never telling a lie. She was known for never telling a lie because she was a strong christian women and lying was a sin. Being honest is also one of my major morals. For example, a way I’m honest is I can’t ever lie and get away with it. I did lie a few times in my life but I end up feeling super guilty about it and confess to it. Also another way I’m very honest is because I’m always telling people the truth and letting them know how I feel about them. When I have something on my mind about someone, I always just come up and say my honest opinion on how I feel about...
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...The Connection by Kathleen Orozco P. Sepesi English 3.1 December 5, 2011 Outline I. Introduction II. America in the 1600’s A. Puritanism B. Salem Witch Trials III. America in the 1950’s A. Communism B. Joseph McCarthy IV. McCarthyism A. McCarthy Trials (HUAC) B. Blacklisting C. Elia Kazan D. Arthur Miller V. The Crucible A. The Summary B. The theme VI. The Allegory A. Danforth and the HUAC B. Danforth and Joseph McCarthy C. Elia Kazan and Abigail Williams VII. The conclusion The Connection The Crucible written by Arthur Miller has a symbolic meaning. It is an allegory, “a story in which people, things, and events have a symbolic meaning, often instructive.” (Agnes 17). The setting, the Salem witch trials of the 1600’s is similar to the McCarthy trials of the 1950’s. The people, the events, the details relate to one another. Miller purposely wrote his story to instruct the fact that the mentality of the people in the 1950’s was no different than the mentality of people in the 1600’s. In the 1600’s people followed a strict religion known as puritanism. The Puritans believed they were sent by God to purify the world of sin and evil. Because of this they believed they were superior to others. Consequently, when they did sin, they tended to feel guilty and blame others for their faults. This blame and guilt led to one of the most fearful times in America. The Salem witch trials happened during the 1600’s and at a time where everyone...
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...Anthony 11/3/13 The Crucible as an Allegory English 101 In 1953, American playwright Arthur Miller produced a play titled, The Crucible. It takes place in 17th century Salem, a small town in colonial Massachusetts. The play focuses on the actual events known as the Salem Witch Trials, in which dozens of people in and around the town of Salem were wrongfully and chaotically accused of witchcraft, Satanism, and devil worship by a group of teenage girls. It is firmly established that the play is an allegory of the hysteria and chaos that took place throughout the events of the Red Scare in the United States during the Cold War; a period in which politicians and ring leaders also wrongfully accused numerous amounts of people for supporting communism. It makes perfect sense as to why Miller wrote The Crucible allegorically to these events, 1953 was a time in which American fear and madness concerning communism was frankly getting out of control, just as the experiences in Salem were in the 1690s. The Crucible is a historically fictitious adaption of the Salem Witch Trials which as previously stated, was an episode of unjust accusations of witchcraft/devil worship carried out by a group of female teens. In the play, the group of accusing teens is led by girl named...
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