...The Crucible is an American Classic written by Arthur Miller in the midst of the historic Red Scare during the Cold War. Arthur Miller centers his book around these events through the context of the Salem Witch Trials. Characters are put to the test when corruption and deception seep into the little Massachusetts town through the execution of accused witches. Two characters in particular that are the center of the chaos are Reverend Parris and John Proctor. Both are credible figures in the society and are respected by many, but they have very different views in values and morality. They bring out each other's contrasting qualities and they play the central foils of the story. Arthur Miller uses Reverend Parris and John Proctor as the central...
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...The Crucible by Arthur Miller is a play that is based on the Salem witch trials and shows how people react in mass hysteria. The mass hysteria was caused by the religious belief that witches were in the town of Salem. A story that was made up by the girls in the village to save themselves the punishment of dancing in the woods. Religion was used in the crucible to manipulate in many ways such as misinterpreting religion, manipulation through lies, and to enforce the strict rules that held the community together. The play of the Crucible is based on the real witch trials in Salem. Arthur Miller changed the real events to fit with the play better. Like the ages of the girls, making them older to fit in his time. The author also did a great...
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...What are the characters like in The Crucible? There are two ways an author introduces a character: by using direct and or indirect characterization. When the author introduces characters directly, he or she is telling the audience. When the author introduces a character indirectly, he or she has the character tell the audience through their actions and dialogue. In the play ‘’ The Crucible’’ author Arthur Miller uses direct and indirect characterization to introduce Reverend Parris, Abigail Williams, Ann Putnam, and Mary Warren. Reverend Parris is the first character introduced in the play ‘’ The Crucible”. Directly, Arthur Miller tells us Reverend Parris is ‘’in his 40’s’’, he feels ‘’persecuted,’’ ‘’has no interest in children,’’ and was a merchant in Barbados. Reverend Parris dialogue includes ‘’I cannot blink what I saw… for my enemies will not blink it,’’ ‘’No No I, cannot have any. (enters Putnam) why, Goody Putnam come in,” ‘’Where is my wood… I am waiting since November…,’’ and ‘’ God help me”. These parts of Reverend Parris’s speech tells the audience he is more worried about himself. He’s influenced by money and power,...
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...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...
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...Social responsibility is the ethical framework which suggests that an entity, be it an organization or individual, has an obligation to act for the benefit of the society as a whole. A historical example of failure to be social responsible is Adolf Hitler’s Nazi regime, during the World War II era. During that time Hitler’s ideology and lack of social responsibility towards the citizens led to the death of millions of people. The citizens of Germany were incapable of taking responsibility and standing up for the millions of people that suffered and died. The society of WWII Germany is similar to that of Salem’s in The Crucible written by Arthur Miller because one of the larger issues in the community is the lack of social responsibility from the citizens and judicial system causing the hysteria and deaths in the Salem witch trials of 1692....
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...The Crucible In the tragedy play The Crucible written by Arthur Miller there were a lot of characters involved with the Salem witch trials, but there were only three characters who were responsible for it. The Crucible is about the Salem witch trials who several young girls were supposedly afflicted by witchcraft. And so the girls accused innocent people in their town for witchcraft also mostly accusing people who they or their families dislike so they would be hanged. In total 20 people were killed due to the witch trials. The three characters who were responsible for the Salem witch trials are Abigail Williams, Reverend Parris, and Betty Parris. Abigail Williams has most part why the witch trials started because she knew this was all a...
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...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...
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...The Crucible, reputation is an ongoing theme in the story. It is extremely important to many of the people in Salem. During the witch trials, many did not lie and confess to witchcraft, such as John Proctor and Rebecca Nurse. They would rather die with their honest integrity than to live with a tainted one. Due to this, many innocent people were hung. However, the strongest example that supports the theme of reputation would be one of the most corrupt men in Salem, Reverend Parris. First of all, in the beginning of the story Betty Parris is in a strange coma. The doctor had not the slightest idea of why Betty would not wake up, and due to this, the town spreads a rumor that witchcraft had caused Betty to fall into the coma. Parris finds out about this, and he immediately recalls when he found her and Abigail in the woods. If the townspeople were to find out that she was dancing in the woods, they would deem her a witch, and that would surely taint his status among the town. His attention shifts from his ill daughter to figuring out ways to keep his daughter and niece’s dancing a...
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...is bad. Some people believe that those who don’t go to church are bad but in reality many people who don’t go to church have better morals than those who do go to church yet the fact they don’t makes them seem bad. Another way this quote is false is that if someone were truly “good” then they wouldn’t stand around and watch as evil prospered. One piece of literature that proves this quote true is The Crucible by Arthur Miller through his use of characterization and conflict. As stated above the quote “Evil Triumphs when good men do nothing” is false due to the elusive from in which “good men” is used. In The Crucible Arthur Millers’ use of characterization proves this quote false. The Crucible is a play about the domino affect which wild accusations about witchcraft caused in a small religious town known as Salem’s Village. In The Crucible Arthur Miller shows that people are ignorant and only care about their well being. Arthur Miller shows this through the characteristics of Parris, Abigail, Marry Warren, and the town’s people. The false accusations all started when Reverend Paris questions his niece, Abigail about dancing naked in the woods...
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...Many of the characters in the play, The Crucible, all have a lot of pride. Most of them are considered good citizens who would all like to keep and maintain their good name. Reverend Parris is known for living by the bible and its teachings. Judge Danforth is known as a persistent judge who always make the right decisions. When put between the option of life or death, all of these characters chose to keep their reputations by doing the right thing and saving their lives. The importance of having a good name is a very important theme in The Crucible as shown by these characters. John Proctor was a very courageous man. He was the town’s model citizen and the person that everyone looked up to as a leader. For many reasons it is hard for Proctor to give up his good name. One being because he has a lot of respect for it and everyone sees him as the good guy. When Proctor had an affair with Abigail Williams he tries to show that she is guilty although he is hesitant...
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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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...blame others, and readers of The Crucible feel this way about Abigail Williams from the beginning. Arthur Miller influences the readers to think that Abigail is manipulative by using stage directions, quotes from other characters in the play, and quotes from Abigail. In The Crucible, Arthur Miller uses a variety of stage directions to formulate the opinion that Abigail in manipulative in the reader’s minds. For example, when Abigail is having her statements questioned for legitimacy, she shifts the court proceedings’ attention to Mary Warren by staring at Mary. Arthur Miller makes Abigail flawlessly throw the attention onto Mary when Miller narrates. The stage directions...
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...In The Crucible, some people’s reputation seem to be more important to them. John Proctor, Abigail WIlliams, and Reverend Parris worry more about their reputation than about family and lives. Proctor is more worried about his good name and is scared to confess his affair with Abigail. Reverend Parris is worried about about his job and image than his daughter's sickness. Judge Danforth worries about his good name, like John, than about the people’s lives. Abby is one of the girls accusing people of witchcraft. She cares more about her importance and reputation in the community that she does not care that she is the reason the lives of people, who were accused, are being taken. In The Crucible, the characters make it clear that reputation and importance is more important than family and life....
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...Alexis Wauford Mrs. Hollewell The Crucible 11 May 2017 Importance of Reputations in The Crucible The desire to maintain an upstanding reputation greatly affects characters in The Crucible. During this time period, people were very concerned with their positions in society. They were in a very judgemental community where everyone knew each other, and because of this, people were very worried about how others perceived them. A poor reputation could cost someone their social life and many characters made decisions based upon this. The decisions that the characters made affect not only themselves, but the characters around them. A few examples of characters who worry about their reputation are John Proctor, Abigail Williams, and Reverend...
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...that the idea of intense, selfish desire is used as a powerful theme personified by many of the characters in his work, the Crucible. However, it’s regularly overlooked as a material issue rather than its deeper meaning. For Abigail Williams, Thomas Putnam, and Reverend Parris, greed is a testament of what ails them at heart. Abigail Williams, the play’s obsessively lovestruck antagonist, has the conscience a psychopath, doing whatever it takes to hold onto one thing -- her brief affair with John Proctor. Abigail’s motivations for greed are often left there but when her last resort is an attempt to have Elizabeth killed for witchcraft, it reveals what’s in her heart. “I will not, I cannot! You loved me, John Proctor, and whatever sin it is, you love me yet.” (Miller 24). She confesses that she can’t let go and it’s...
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