The Crucible is based off of the Salem Witch trials, which happened between the years 1692-1693. As lies are uncovered during the Salem Witch trials Reverend Hale undergoes immense changes; his views change from being confident to doubtful. By Hale having such a drastic swing in his opinion, this truly shows how corrupt and chaotic the Salem Witch trials were. In “The Crucible” by Arthur Miller, the experiences Hale encounters alter his motives, his speech towards others, and his opinions towards the townspeople in Salem.
In the beginning of the story Hale is blinded about the truth of the Salem Witch trials and does not realize the evil occurring within. As Parris and Hale converse, Parris makes a remark about the weight of Hale’s books, Hale defends himself by saying they are “weighted with authority.”(I.36) Hale knows that the townspeople see him as an outsider so by acting experienced during the situation he can project himself as an expert. When Parris asks Hale why the devil pursues someone like himself when there are plenty immoral people for the devil to go after. Hale states that if the devil wants a solid foothold in a town such as Salem, then who “better than the minister.” (I.41) In an attempt to impress Paris and make him feel better about what has happened, Hale calls out to the
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Proctor seems suspicious of Hale but Hale soon tells proctor that he came on his own “without the courts authority.” (II.63) Proctor is as skeptic as Hale and wonders if the trials are a fraud so he abruptly asks Hale if he even believes the accusations being made. The idea of the court being wrong in the situation got Hale wondering if the court is actually trying to correct the community. Hale’s doubts become solidified when he finds out that Rebecca Nurse, a well-respected individual, has been convicted of being a
Arthur Miller’s The Crucible, is about mass hysteria of witches being in the town of Salem, Massachusetts. An educated man named Revered Hale arrived in the town with his exclusive knowledge of witches to help the town eliminate the presence of the Devil. He became a member of the court and aided in putting innocent people in jail or hung. As Hale started to see the consequences of his actions, he struggled with fixing his mistakes. The change in his perspective of the witch trials caused his overall personality and attitude to change as well. Hale’s dialogue, stage directions, and other people’s perceptions of him reveal a man motivated by good intentions; furthermore, his mission to help Salem destroyed evil in the beginning and his attempts
The book was written during 1953, where WWII had ended. However the United States and Soviet Union still have conflicts within each other. In Arthur Miller’s play, The Crucible, it reflects the problems during 1953 by showing the chaos and conflicts that happened in a Salem society. Many audiences focus on the importance of John Proctor(main character) rather than Reverend Hale. Hale was a young and righteous man who fought for justice. His attitude towards the Salem society has changed drastically throughout his stay. At the beginning he was a naive man who believed and put trust upon the court, but by the end he has lost all his faith in the justice system. In Arthur Miller's The Crucible, he portrays Hale as an ever changing character, an individual who believes in what the right thing is. Miller shows Hale's change in attitude throughout his stay in Salem, in order to convey the theme of the conflict between civic duty verse moral obligation which
Hale has a lot of wisdom to share with Salem. " Man, remember, until an hour before the devil fell, God thought him beautiful in heaven," (p. 71); ".private vengeance is working through testimony," (p. 114). John Proctor is a strong and courageous character who will not give in easily to his accusers. In the end of The Crucible he denies the charges of witchcraft.
The Crucible, a play by Arthur Miller, is set in Salem, Massachusetts. The hysteria begins with suspicion that a group of teenage girls found dancing in the forest are guilty of witchcraft. The reverend of Salem then calls on Reverend Hale, who hails from Beverly, to come ascertain the truth. Threatened with severe punishment girls tell lies that Satan had possessed them and falsely accuse others of working with the Devil. One of the girls has an infatuation with John Proctor, a married man, and her determination to get rid of his innocent wife, Elizabeth fuels the hysteria. Reverend Hale is a unique character because he is both a catalyst and a preventer of this hysteria. His main character flaw, like many a people, is failure to defend his beliefs. In order to characterize Hale as a naïve outsider, Miller shows Hale as misled because he defends the justness of the court and later as guilt-ridden because he realizes the court is false.
The statement,“The Crucible is essentially about courage, weakness, and truth,” is proven true numerous times, throughout the play. The Crucible was written by Arthur Miller, about the true events that happened in Salem, Massachusetts, between the years 1692 and 1693. The Salem witch trials consisted of many hangings, lies, and complete mass hysteria. The citizens of Salem followed the religion of Puritanism, and the ideas of predestination. The root of the mass hysteria comes from their belief in the sense that in something happens then it must have been planned by God. In Miller’s portrayal of the story, Abigail Williams was the ringleader of the witch trials, and she used the idea of predestination to cover up her own sins. Abigail was a very manipulative girl and ruined many lives. John Proctor, Mary Warren, and Elizabeth Proctor were just a few of the victims in Abby’s game. John, Mary, and Elizabeth exhibit the traits courage, weakness, and truth, whether it was in a positive or negative way.
Parris and Danforth prioritize their reputations over John Proctor’s actual life. Hale does not care about his good name, but about the lives of the people in Salem and his guilt for partaking in the trials. Like Proctor, Parris, Hale, and Danforth are extremely flawed men. They all make unrighteous decisions that can be selfish. Unlike Proctor, though, these men place their own needs above the needs of the community. John Proctor has lived in Salem all his life and cares for the town and its citizens, whereas Reverend Hale, Reverend Parris, and Danforth are all outsiders to the town. They place themselves above the well-beings of the townspeople for the reason that they do not care if Salem is to be destroyed. Reverend Parris, Reverend Hale, and Deputy Governor Danforth’s yearn of John Proctor’s confession represents they only care for their own self-interests and not about what his confession could do for the town of
Later, Hale stands up for his belief in the innocence of the victims even though they have been forced to admit their guilt. He starts to realize that the court although, apparently truthful and fair, can be misleading and forceful in finding the guilt or of a person depending on what the court desires. Hale has no belief that any of those in the town are bewitched. As Hale stands and awaits the death of Proctor, he knows that Proctor has done nothing wrong. There is no doubt in his mind that witchcraft is not in the town of
The Crucible by Arthur Miller is an allegory written about the Salem witch trials in 1692. It includes a number of characters who fully conform to the trials and their consequences, it also contains the opposite, those who do not conform and fight it. Of course, as in any story there are characters in the middle that are not sure which side to take. They go along with it, not willing to stand up, but in their minds they are not completely sure whether or not what they’re doing is right. Reverend Hale is the best example of outward conformity and inward questioning.
“No man may longer doubt the powers of the village. There is too much evidence now to deny it.” (Miller, 495; Act 2). He supports this accusation with explanations that in today’s world we would consider crazy. Things like spectral evidence, when Abigail Williams is attacked by Elizabeth Proctor with a needle and a poppet, he thinks this as evidence that is stone cold. He also sees suspicion when people go against the gospel which can be seen when Elizabeth denies the existence of witches. In which he tells her, “You surely do not fly against the Gospel, the Gospel-“(Miller, 498; Act 2). This shows us his trust in his faith, and also things like the Gospel and God. But, later on in the play one of the “bewitched” girls named Mary Warren comes to the court and admits to all the girls lying about the dark magic that has been going on. This eventually leads to his downfall of his faith and determination and makes his leave Salem because he begins to realize Mary is telling the truth and he is behind the hangings of innocent people. “There is blood on my head!” (Miller, 532; Act 2). This is explaining his guilt that he has and his recognition that he has caused hearts to stop for unjust reasons. Due to him leaving and saying there was blood on his head, it is evident by the end of the play, that Hale goes from a Reverend that is here to help Salem with the power of religion. To a Reverend that is going against his Godly duty and has lost all ounce of will that he once had because he has the mark of death now upon
Arthur Millers The Crucible possesses many examples of interesting character development. A character who one initially finds to be worthy of mercy or pity can easily become the last person deserving of sympathy. This relationship is not only formed between the reader and the characters, but between the characters and the scenario of the story itself. The victim may become the accuser, or the scholar may become the humanitarian. This manner of characterization is best shown in the relationship between Reverend John Hale and Deputy Governor Danforth. Each is objectified to the events in Salem as they come into the situation with no attachments to any of the other characters and are unfamiliar with any of their mannerisms or personalities. Hale is a well-read minister who relies upon his books. Danforth is a reputable judge who relies on consistent input and prodding. Both of these men enter the trials with very similar goals. The places they stand at the finish, however, could not be more different. This is due to the personal relationships and opinions Hale develops concerning Salem. Reverend Hale is a dynamic character who learns his role as a minister while Judge Danforth is a constant force who voices others opinions through his authority.
A crucible is a severe test of patients or belief, a trial. The play The Crucible is a journey through the trials of many townspeople caused by the superstitious belief in witchcraft. In The Crucible, Arthur Miller progresses and evolves the outlooks and views of the townspeople of Salem and shows how events, people, and catastrophes cause the characters to change their views on whether the people prosecuted were guilty or innocent of witchcraft. Reverend John Hale changes his view, more and more drastically as the play advances, as a result of the events that he underwent and the experiences he had. Soon he had a total belief in the innocence of all those convicted and hung in Salem.
Reverend Hale is a recognized religious figure during this time, and journeys to Salem to assist in this witchcraft epidemic. At first, he believes everything and is extremely petrified at the active forces of the supernatural that are said to be there; however, near the end of the play he starts to become exceedingly skeptic like John Proctor and a couple others. As shown in Act Three when he states to Judge Danforth that he has “signed seventy-two death warrants; I am a minister of the Lord, and I dare not take a life without there be a proof so immaculate no slightest qualm of conscience may doubt it” (The Crucible Act III). He starts to realize that there is not substainial evidence to actually prove that these women and men are involved in activities of witchcraft. Conclusively, at the end, he makes the decision to leave Salem and to stop collaborating with the court. This situation could be interpreted as Hale bettering the community by him stopping his involvement, but it could also be seen as him serving himself because the toll of him endangering so many lives broke him down. Hale has been seen through the novel constantly serving the community of Salem, but at the end he makes the decision to leave which can be interpreted in two contradicting ways, that he left to hopefully make a statement that this court
The Crucible is a 1953 play by Arthur Miller. Initially, it was known as The Chronicles of Sarah Good. The Crucible was set in the Puritan town of Salem, Massachusetts. It talks of McCarthyism that happened in the late 1600’s whereby the general public and people like Arthur Miller were tried and persecuted. The Crucible exemplifies persecutions during the Salem Witch Trials. The people were convicted and hung without any tangible proof of committing any crime. Persecutions were the order of the day. When a finger was pointed at any individual as a witch, the Deputy Governor Danforth never looked for evidence against them or evidence that incriminated them; he ordered them to be hanged. This can be seen through his words “Hang them high over the town! Who weeps for those, weeps for corruption!” (1273), the people were persecuted aimlessly. The four main characters in the play, John Proctor, Abigail Adams, Reverend Hale and Reverend Parris, are caught in the middle of the witchcraft panic in the religious Salem, Massachusetts in late 1690’s. Persecution is the most important theme in the Crucible, the leaders and citizens of Salem attacks and persecutes one of their own without any tangible evidence against them.
The changes and conflicts experienced by Hale and Proctor were caused by a high-pressure environment full of suppressed violence and emotions. Arthur Miller uses the title “The Crucible” as a metaphor for the pressurized situation of the Salem witch trials. According to the Merriam Webster Dictionary, a crucible is “a container in which metals are heated, involving a change; a severe test or trial”. In the play, the crucible symbolizes the people of Salem, whose emotions and conflicts are being clashed together by the heat of the Salem witch trials. Miller also puts the other definition of “crucible” into use, by comparing the witch trials and its consequences to “a severe test or trial”. These events that take place during the trials are what
The witch scare of 1692, caused by a group of young girls, created insanity in the town of Salem leaving two hundred people arrested and twenty dead on the charge of witchcraft. In The Crucible by Arthur Miller, many peoples beliefs on witchcraft change and develop over the course of this time due to the persecution of hundreds of people in Salem. Reverend Hale is among these people, originally coming to help the people of Salem as a master in the study of witchcraft but overtime changes his thoughts on the matter. Reverend Hale's views on witchcraft are altered over the course of the play.