In The Crucible by Arthur Miller, many conflicts and themes arise throughout the play such as, compassion and forgiveness, respect and reputation, religion, and many other conflicts between the characters. But the theme and conflict that is most exemplified in this play would have to be jealousy.
There are many examples throughout the play that shows how Salem itself is overtaken by the people’s jealousy over one another.
A prime example of Jealousy on The Crucible is when Abagail is talking to John Proctor about how she has always longed to be with him, and how she believes that they are supposed to be together.
While Abagail and John are talking she tells him that she has been, “waiting for [him] every night”
(Miller 149). This shows how although Abigail, who was kicked out of the
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John is not completely innocent, which comes to show how corrupted families were though the jealousy and envy that some of the people had for each other. This ultimately ends up tearing John and Elizabeth’s relationship apart. There are many relationships in today’s society that are torn apart not just jealousy but lust for someone like John had for Abagail and vice versa.
Another example in the play of jealousy has to do with Giles Corey and Mr. Putnam. Although their conflict was not about love and lust like Abagail’s and Johns, it has to do with their disputes on land. Giles said that Putnam was accusing him of witchery so that he could take his lane after he was proven guilty. Putnam was always obsessed with having more land so he would do anything in his power to get more of it even if it took lying to get it. There are many people today who are very jealous of other people’s possessions. Many times they will do anything to get a hold of what it is they want from that person. Even if it means stealing which isn’t a rare occurrence in today’s
Life as a human is dictated by an inborn hunger or purpose, and people, in general, will act on this hunger for their own personal gain in their individual ways. This hunger, be it for wealth, land, love, power, revenge, or pride, can, and will be the undoing or failing of all mankind as Miller so clearly points out in his play 'The Crucible';. This essay will explore the motives of characters within the play and even the motives of Arthur Miller himself and therefore show how conflict stems from certain recognisable human failings including those mentioned above, fear, and hysteria.
Proctor also conflicts with Thomas Putnam, whom he mistrusts because of his greed and willingness to hurt others in order gain land for himself, throughout the play.
Arthur Miller develops the feuds and relationships between the main characters in Salem in “The Crucible” Act 1, which sets the platform for the rest of the story. 2. Miller reveals the deep connections the main characters share that go back a few generations and their opinions of each other, which could range from, “Oh, she’s only gone silly somehow” to, “I never thought you had so much iron in you.” 3. Miller creates a tense background where many of the characters from Proctor to Giles are beginning to turn or suspect one another of different crimes or mischiefs. 4. Miller portrays each character in a different light in order to differentiate those with secrets and those without with an objective
The Crucible is about senator Joseph McCarthy and his "communist witch- hunts" that were attempting to root out subversives in government and the entertainment industry. The play itself is about the 1692 Salem witch trials in which a group of girls accused others of being witches. Arthur Miller draws parallels between this event and his own trial for supposedly being a communist agent. This essay will speak of two themes I noticed throughout the book: deceitfulness and reputation. These themes will be presented through text references and characters within the play.
Time and again, history has created a star-crossed couple that overcomes all obstacles through the strength of love. Whether it is from Pyramus and Thisbe, Romeo and Juliet, or Jack and Rose, the only possibility to separate the couple is the death of one or both individuals. Love is defined in these relationships as fighting against all odds, class, society, and even family, in order to be with their loved one. While these stories may be fictional, history has presented a real case of star-crossed “lovers”, Peter Abelard and Heloise. This couple went to little length to fight society in trying to establish a relationship with one another. Although considered a love story to some, a relationship founded on lust, inability to fight for marriage, and union to the church, shatters the illusion of romance and shows the relationship for what it truly is, a lackluster liaison.
William Shakespeare’s “Romeo & Juliet,” is arguably the most widely known tragic love story of all time. Although it has been the subject of debate and controversy, it has inspired many love stories in recent times. One of the most controversial details of the play, are the relationships that Friar Lawrence and Nurse, have with Romeo and Juliet. Many argue that they were not being responsible with their actions regarding Romeo and Juliet’s marriage. Others say that their actions were justified, because the two teens trusted them. Nurse and Friar Lawrence did not do the “right thing” in this situation, and contributed to the events which eventually led to the death of Romeo and Juliet.
Throughout the chosen literature, an overarching theme of love and relationship emerge. The components of good and bad love emerge as every story unfolds. George Orwell’s 1984 features a particularly toxic relationship between the main character, Winston, and his “wife”, Katharine, who are all suppressed by the government, that may or not even exist. In the arranged marriage, the only objective of the couple is to reproduce because it was “[their] duty to the Party”(132 Orwell). Contrasting this in Shakespeare’s Hamlet, Hamlet and his father have a great relationship. In Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, the main character Frankenstein and the other characters have rocky relationships, which creates the tone of sadness and madness. Then in Shakespeare’s
There are many different themes in The Crucible; however, I feel that jealousy is portrayed the most. The most jealous person in The Crucible is Abigail. She is jealous of Elizabeth because she wants to be married to John Proctor. Abby creates lies about Elizabeth saying that she is a witch and that Elizabeth “is blackening my name in the village! She is telling lies about me!” (Pg. 1140). Abigail gets Elizabeth accused as a witch. Just like people are jealous of each other, sometimes people are jealous of other people's’ land. The people would accuse others as witches if they wanted their land. Giles Corey accuses Thomas Putnam of doing just that. Giles claims that Thomas is “is killing neighbors for their land” but since Giles won’t give
Thomas Putnam is characterized as being vindictive, and deeply embittered. Thomas Putnam wanted more land around him, and people accused and condemned as witches land could not be claimed by their children, but could be claimed by others in the village. Thomas Putnam claimed much of the land around him that was now free, which effectively made him one of the wealthiest men in the town of Salem. Giles Corey brought a deposition against Putnam, stating that “you (Thomas Putnam) coldly prompted your daughter to cry witchery upon George Jacobs that is now in jail”, and that “The day his daughter (Ruth Putnam) cried out on Jacobs, he said she’d given him a fair gift of land” (96). Putnam was looking to get any land he could, and especially the land of those who’d wronged him in his
The issues of power, that Arthur Miller’s The Crucible, portrays are concerned with, who has the power, the shifts of power that take place and how power can consume people and try to abuse it, for either vengeance, jealously, material gain or sexual desire.
The Crucible by Arthur Miller raises many thought provoking issues throughout the play, including the importance of personal integrity, injustice in society and the rights of the community versus the rights of the individual.
“Calamities are of two kinds: misfortune to ourselves, and good fortune to others. In the Crucible, Arthur Miller uses various conflicts to illustrate the concept of Jealousy. Conflict; along with other key emotions it presents itself numerous times through out this storyline. From Abigail to Putnam, conflict arises in all the characters and helps to tie in with the theme of the trials.
In Arthur Miller’s The Crucible, the plot is filled with copious amounts of grudges between characters. It is these enmities that cause...
...lo was written many years ago, and we can still relate to its tone and setting within the play, especially when a person can feel when jealousy is present. This is one play people relate to, because we all want to be loyal in some way and we all know how messy it can be when someone decides to take advantage and advance himself on someone else’s jealousy. It’s terrible but jealousy can change a person in some terrible ways. “No two wrongs make it right and no two rights make it wrong”.
Jealousy, whatever it may be driven by, can produce many different actions in a person depending on their desires. Othello craftly examines a few examples of these with highly contrasting characters driven by vastly different things. The different manifestations of jealousy in said characters can be analysed through the characters of Roderigo, Othello, and Iago, while also proving how jealousy can sometimes be a front for more cynister feelings.