Araceli Nuñez
Mrs. Terry
U.S. History, B3
10 May 2017
The Crucible. Dir. Nicholas Hytner. Perf. Winona Ryder, Daniel Day-Lewis, Paul Scofield . Twentieth Century Fox films , 1996. DVD.
In the year 1692, in Salem, Massachusetts a group of white teenage girls (Winona Ryder, as the main girl) and a slave named Tituba (Charlayne Woodard) were caught in the forest doing “witch” rituals. They then have to go on trial and are pushed to “admit” that they are witches and have been taken over by the devil. One of the girls is wishing for a married man (Daniel Day-Lewis) to love her back, she meddles in his marriage as she tries to have an affair with him. After the trials are over 20 suspects are hung as punishment. This film is a good film as it is
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At this period of American history, the colonies were all very very religious as it was one of the main reasons they left Britain. The film greatly represents just how religious and different the beginnings of America were.
In the heavily Puritan colony of Massachusetts Bay, the religious views and spirituality of the settlers very much dictated the way lived, influencing their customs and laws as seen in the movie. The movie begins with Tituba, Abigail Williams and a group of teenage girls in the woods. They dance naked and Abigail drinks a chicken’s blood as she wishes for John Proctor to love her back and for his wife’s death. The uncle that Abigail is staying with and father of Betty, a girl amongst the group, discovers them in the woods. Betty faints in the woods, causing an increased level of suspicion by Reverend Parris (the uncle) and another couple, Thomas and Ann Putnam as neither of their daughters will awake. As a result, the concerned
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He correctly claims Abigail framed Elizabeth in order for them (Abigail and John) to be able to get married. Again, to save herself from punishment Abigail lies and denies the affair so then Mrs. Proctor is called in to affirm if the affair really happened. Cheater is a very negative label nowadays and an even bigger deal in the Puritan’s “pure” ways of life, so Elizabeth lies to protect John’s reputation (and of course, she was unaware of him having confessed). One of the many reverends, Reverend Hale tries to help John and persuade the judges that he did have an affair with Abigail, but the girls are mischievous and create a commotion around Mary supposedly attacking them as a bird which turns the court against John even more as he asked her to testify previously. Rev. Hale doubted Abigail’s claims. To protect herself from death by a hanging, Mary lies and accuses John of being a witch! John is arrested as he says God is dead, when asked if he will “return” to God. Thrice Abigail lies and attempts to accuse Rev. Hale’s as a witch but because he is a minister and she is his wife, she is pure and can not possibly be a witch. Sometime later, as the drama is about to settle down, Abigail the troublemaker steals money from her uncle to flee the colony. She ventures a move on John once more, asking him to leave with her
In this play, innocent people were hung because some of the girls in town cried witch. To start from the beginning, Abby, Tituba, and the girls were out in the forest one night, dancing, and were caught by Reverend Paris. Abby blamed Tituba for calling the Devil. Tituba then said it was not her, for there are many witches in the community. Tituba named some of the town’s women as witches.
When faced with all the false accusations, she also exhibited grace, good judgment, and dignified behavior. Her case involves a love triangle between her, Abigail Williams and John Proctor. I couldn't imagine being in her shoes where you are forced to face both your internal dilemma of whether to forgive your husband and an external one. The jealousy and wickedness of a young girl who used to be Elizabeth’s husband’s mistress is the main reason why she is accused and charged. Abigail Williams childishly refuses to accept the truth when she was rejected by John Proctor. She plotted against his wife, Elizabeth, in a desperate attempt to take her husband and also, her place in the society as a mistress of a prospering home. Elizabeth Proctor bravely replies, “I cannot think the Devil may own a woman's soul, Mr. Hale, when she keeps an upright way as I have. I am a good woman, I know it; and if you believe I may do only good work in the world, and yet be secretly bound to Satan, then I must tell you I do not believe it.” when questioned by Reverend Hale. Furthermore, she exhibits a much greater strength and courage than her husband, despite her gentle and meek appearance. Elizabeth is the one who is not afraid to speak her mind openly and plainly and is not afraid to stand up to the judges. At one point she inspired her husband to act in a similar way when she openly challenged the doctrine. Elizabeth was the
When the play sets in action, John has had a past affair with his servant, Abigail Williams. His wife, Elizabeth Proctor, is very forgiving of his sin, but John has his mind set that he will not confess to anyone else, in fear of ruining his good name and reputation. The affair between John and Abigail causes the start of chaotic witchery and accusation. After the affair, Abigail becomes horribly jealous of Elizabeth Proctor. Proctor realizes there is only one way to stop all the witch hysteria in Salem, and that would be to admit to adultery which is considered a sin. . Also in the beginning R...
In the Town of Salem Massachusetts, 1692, a group of adolescents are caught dancing in the forest. Among the adolescents in The Crucible, Abigail Williams and Mary Warren. The girls are horrified that they have been caught dancing, a sinful act, therefore they devise a story to evade punishment: they claim to have been bewitched. The first person who they accuse of witchcraft is a the black maid, Tituba. This results in her jail sentence as well as fearful suspicion throughout the town.
As the town uncovers the antics of the girls and are outraged, the girls start to cry out names of others they have supposedly seen with the Devil in order to save themselves. Therefore, the audience perceives that the affair between John and Abigail is the instigator of all the hysteria surrounding the witch trials, signifying the consequences of a small human error. The affair also caused Elizabeth to distrust John, who for seven months was trying to get into her good graces and is tired of her suspicion. He bluntly tells her "... I have not moved from there to there without I think to please you.
The play is based on the real life witch hunts that occurred in the late
History remembers Tituba only as the West Indian slave blamed for bewitching the young girls of Salem, Massachusetts, ultimately inciting the famous “Salem Witch Trials”. However, her lack of historical background has allowed authors to give her historical figure new life. Maryse Conde’s novel “I Tituba, Black Witch Of Salem.” provides us with insight into Tituba’s history. For the first time Tituba, a marginalized member of society, gains a voice. She explores the different dimensions of the slave experience and explains how a young woman's sexuality and her skills as a healer made her an object of wonder and terror. Conde delves into the power of sexuality and its absolute control over Tituba.
To further complicate matters, John decides not to reveal to the court that Abigail has admitted to him in private that they were just sporting in the woods. Abigail spreads additional accusations and false rumors about her neighbors. These accusations have no basis in truth and their only purpose is for Abigail’s own benefit. Furthermore, Abigail is jealous of John’s wife, Elizabeth, and she schemes to get rid of her in order to take her place. Abigail’s plot is to accuse Elizabeth of witchcraft.
John Proctor committed lechery with Abigail Williams. Abigail Williams wants John Proctor to love her, but he is married to Elizabeth, and he doesn’t want to leave her for Abigail. Abigail knows that John doesn’t want to leave his wife, so she tries to get rid of her, first by drinking a charm to kill her, and she then accuses her of witchcraft. John knows that Abigail is trying to get rid of his wife so he knows that he has to tell the courts about what happened between the two of them so that they will realize why she is making the accusations on his wife. When he admits his fault to the court the girls turns around and accuse him of witchcraft in order to save themselves. John is put in jail for three months because of this accusation. After all of this time he nearly decides to admit to it, but he then realizes what it would do to himself and his name.
Throughout the entire play, Abigail is angry at John for not loving her back after the affair which preceded the play. Abigail is speaking to John, and she claims that he is still in love with her. As John rejects this idea, Abigail stills desires love from John. In Act I, Abigail says,“It’s she that put me out, you cannot pretend it were you. I saw your face when she put me out, and you loved me then and you do now (Miller I).” She is using her words to manipulate John into loving her. Later in the play, she accuses John’s wife of witchcraft to get back at John. This backfires on her when John dies at the end of the play. Abigail quickly becomes an adversary of John after she harasses his family and his life. Abigail shows her anger towards John Proctor by accusing his wife and eventually hanging
Religious beliefs in todays society and in the Salem Witch Trials are strikingly similar. In current events, religious groups come together to protest, and rival against people and even other religions. Religion is favoured over morality and misused as an excuse to cover up wrongful acts leading to false perceptions of what religion is really for. The Crucible by Arthur Miller shows just that. How the stubbornness of religious beliefs in 1692 lead to compulsive lying, false accusations, witch trials and executions in Salem. Were these events in Salem to rid of sin or to simply have an excuse to sin? Are we just as stubborn as the people in Salem believing that we are doing right by doing wrongful acts in the name of God?
author of the play, was put in prison in the early 1950s owing to his
The Crucible. Dir. Nicholas Hytner. Perf. Daniel Day-Lewis, Winona Ryder and Paul Scofield. 20th Century Fox, 1996. DVD.
How many religions are mentioned in The Crucible? To start, The Crucible is a play by, playwright, Arthur Miller (Burns). The Crucible is about the salem witch trials, which was a event in early America where people were falsely hung for practicing “witchcraft”. Many people believe that Miller chose that time as a metaphor about the red scare, as it was a current event during the release and writing of the play and cost him his career as a playwright. There are only two religions directly mentioned in The Crucible (“Themes”). One religion is Christianity, which is defined as: “Of, relating to, or derived from Jesus Christ or His teachings” ("Christian"). The other religion mentioned is Wicca: “A nature-oriented religion having rituals and practices
Abigail accuses innocent people of witchcraft, including John’s wife, Elizabeth. She does this so her and John would be together and Elizabeth wouldn’t be in his life, even after John told Abigail he does not love her. He faces this crucible throughout the play and changes his demeanor towards Abigail. John becomes infuriated and he wants to expose Abigail for making false accusations of witchcraft, although it might include his confession of adultery. John eventually confesses his sin of adultery but refuses for it to be made public and posted on the church door, resulting in his