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The crucible abigail williams as a villian
Summary of abigail williams in the crucible
The justice in the crucible
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In John Proctor’s last plea to save his dignity he said;“Because it is my name! Because I cannot have another in my life! Because I lie and sign myself to lies! Because I am not worth the dust on the feet of them you have hanged! How may I live without my name? I have given you my soul; leave me my name.” The overall theme of the movie is the importance of keeping one’s dignity. John Proctor and Rev Hale showed this theme the best. The first character that successfully showed the theme of the movie is John Proctor. John Proctor's reputation is being threatened by Abigail Williams because she is in love with him and is willing to do anything to try to get rid of his wife Elizabeth. I also think that Abigail is finding ways to threaten his …show more content…
Rev Hale’s dignity was threatened by Judge Danforth and Rev Parris. I think they threatened Rev Hale’s dignity by not really letting him have a say so during the trials for example when he was trying to speak up at Rev’s Parris’s house and they quickly turned him down. I think he knows in his heart that the people that got accused for witchcraft aren’t guilty of it. Another way that they threaten his dignity is by not giving him more power in the trials since they called him into Salem to tell whether or not people committed witchcraft and if they wanted to be forgiven for their sins. Even though Rev Hale’s dignity is threatened he does a good job of maintaining it by trying his best. In summary, The overall theme of the movie is the importance of keeping one’s dignity. The theme is best shown by John Proctor and Rev Hale. John Proctor ultimately keeps his reputation by deciding to die instead of a giving a false confession that would lead to a life of misery. Rev Hale also manages to keep his dignity by trying his best and still speaking up for his beliefs whenever he had the chance to do so. The theme of the movie was successful because of these characters and what they went
Throughout the whole play, John Proctor placed himself as a “servant” of God only and maintained that position regardless of what happened. He represented the image of a person that corresponded for God in Earth, and at the same time he acted consciously and knew what was happening in Salem. In an attempt to disengage from God, his principles, conscience, and morality acted upon him and brought him back to God. Elizabeth and his friends also affected his conscience, as the only reason why he went to the court was to try to release them. John Proctor can be considered the savior of Salem, he can be considered Jesus in that story. His name was important as it was the main reason why he decided to die with dignity instead of live for a lie; but what is the symbolism behind his name? What is conscience and why does John Proctor struggle with his?
Proctor’s prideful personality does not let him baptize his third son because he dislikes Reverend Parris (168, l. 516-520). Proctor withholds his affair with Abigail because of his pride, he was unable to confess it until his wife was accused. Before he confessed he stated that “a man will not cast away his good name,” this statement suggest that a man has a lot of pride in his name and therefore his confession must be true (189, l. 845-847). In addition, after confessing to witchcraft Proctor takes pride in his name and refuses to have his name nailed in the door of the church showing everyone that he confessed to witchcraft (207, l. 894-897). “You will not use me! I am no Sarah Good or Tituba, I am John Proctor! You will not use me!,” Proctor beliefs he is better than Sarah good and Tituba hence he would not sign his name (207, l. 899-701). Towards the end, Proctor thinks better of his action and rips the signed paper after declaring, “Because I am not worth the dust on the feet of them that hang! How may I live without my name? I have given you my soul; leave me my name!” (207, l. 725-730). Proctor compares himself with the brave people that are about to hang and takes pride in his name by refusing to keep on lying and ripping the paper with his signature; he bravely accepted death with the thought that his name is not tainted by
In the play, The Crucible,by Arthur Miller.Many characters have desires that drive them to pursue certain things.This affects the plot in many ways.In this puritan society,people strongly cared what other people think of them and how their reputation stands in the village.They always strive to make sure their actions reflect wisely on their names.A major motivation John Proctor,Abagail,and Parris share is pride in their names,which eventually leads to their ultimate downfall.
There are many sides to John Proctor and they occur at different stages of the play, John is a complex character and is very well respected even though he has done wrong things. Arthur Miller was in the same situation as John Proctor in 1956-57 because he refused to give names of people he saw at communist meetings. There was the same trial system. If you confessed you would stay alive assuming you had turned from the communist meetings, however if you denied that you were seen at communist meeting you would have been hanged because there would be no evidence to show you weren’t there. You get the impression that the character of John Proctor was based on the real life character of Miller.
Also important to the play is how Arthur Miller depicts how one selfish, evil person like Abigail Williams can bring others down and make others follow her to commit evil acts. These evil acts affect even the most honest people in the town like John and Elizabeth Proctor, and Rebecca Nurse who cannot fight the accusations made against them by those following Abigail. Those following Abigail are considered to be holy men that are full of honesty and justice, but the play shows that even those who are thought to be respectable and right, like people of government or community leaders can bring death to innocent people if they are driven by something wrong. II. Plot: The plot begins with the inciting incident where Rev. Parris finds his niece Abigail Williams and his daughter Betty along with his slave Tituba doing some dance in the forest.
His arrogance is what caused him to consider the evidence given to him at face value. Hale was so set on discovering the witchcraft occurring in the community, and he did not have time to carefully go over the evidence of “witchcraft” that the townspeople gave him. Hale’s arrogance comes into play because he truly believed that he knew everything there was to know about witchcraft. Therefore, he never second guessed himself or tried to dig deeper into the case. This is the reason why innocent people were condemned to death. Hale’s arrogance and “intellectual” attitude caused him to believe that he did not need to look deeper into any of the accusations made. If he had simply put more time into his investigation rather than his reputation, he would have been able to see that the evidence did not line
Because I lie and sign myself to lies! Because I am not worth the dust on the feet of them that hang! How may I live without my name? I have given you my soul; leave me my name!” (143). Proctor’s cry for the defense of his name, demonstrates his obsession with his good name. Early in the play, Proctor’s desire to protect his good name prevents him from testifying against Abigail. Now, he has come to a complete understanding that the meaning of a good reputation signifies the truth. As he realizes that the truth is more important, he “tears the paper and crumples it, as he is weeping in fury” (144). Proctor tearing the paper is significant as it is possibly the highest climactic point of this play. In order to save his integrity and the innocent, Proctor surrenders his physical body, the more materialistic element of himself. This reflects his desire not to dishonor his fellow prisoners, as he wouldn’t be able to live with himself knowing that others died while he quaked at death. The paper is also a symbol for higher, more powerful societies such as the Church and the courts; thereby ripping it signifies their
The main protagonist John Proctor exemplifies the quality of personal integrity. He portrays this in his sense of conviction, honesty and resolute in his belief. “She thinks to dance with me on my wife's grave! And well she might, for I thought of her softly. God help me, I lusted, and there is a promise in such sweat. But it is a whore's vengeance, and you must see it now.” (John Proctor, III.374-384) As he berates Danforth that Abigail is just out for revenge, he
The preeminent protagonist of the novel is John Proctor’s stand against social injustice, although not particularly prominent in the first two acts, developed immensely as the story progressed. As the third act begins, Proctor strides into court ready to defend his wife’s case. Bringing along with him Mary Warren to testify that the girls and her tricks were all fabricated, as well as Abigail’s own admission that there is no witchcraft. In additional attempts to unearth the wrongdoings brought upon them, Proctor confesses to adultery and lechery he committed with Abigail. He chooses to confess his sin, even if it taints his good name and reputation, believing that the court will rightfully resolve the matter. “But it is a whore’s vengeance,
The primary dramatic focus in the play The Crucible is the moral struggle of its protagonist, John Proctor. Certain characteristics of John Proctor's character and also the environment of the Puritanical Salem alleviated this problem for him. The main issues running through out the play are a series of dilemmas that John Proctor faces. The first and foremost of these is his guilt over his adulterous affair with Abigail Williams, the second his hesitation to testify against Abigail to bring out the truth and the third, his final decision to make the ultimate sacrifice.
Though many argue that John Proctor's ‘flaw’ is his adultery, his true fault exists as his inability to sacrifice something as seemingly small and insignificant as his name and honor in return for his life. The audience is therefore torn: our sympathies for Proctor would have him live, but our desire that he remain a virtuous man require that he not undermine his honor. The tragedy lies in the fact that Proctor’s good action, the only action he had the ability to undertake while remaining a good man, leads inevitably to his death. What defines Proctor's nobility and character isn't necessarily his purity of actions, but instead, his purity of mind and spirit. Outmaneuvered by a series of consequences beyond his control, Proctor advances towards the gallows a gallant man unwilling to compromise his ideals and, thus, he dies a hero’s death.
At the end of the play, John proctor is faced with the biggest calamity of his life. He was given the the choose to lie and say he is a witch or stand by his honesty and die as a marauder. john proctor name was everything to him. It made him who he is so he based his actions on it.. John wanted to live and keep his good name
John Proctor was just one example of how the characters in the play underwent changes in regards to selfishness and he exhibited the most change. He showed it is important to think of others before you think of yourself and that past sins, motivated by your own wants, can come back to haunt you, and in his case cause a great number of problems.
As Reverend John Hale is not a resident of Salem, he approaches the accusations and rumors without any prior opinion. Hale is introduced as extremely arrogant and proud with his goal being “light, goodness and its preservation”(Miller 34). This phrasing strengthens his role as a man of God, but this is not actually displayed in his personality until later. He is very book smart and this leads to some signs of immaturity. This is shown in Act I when Parris questions why the devil would come to Salem. “Why would he [the devil] choose this house to strike?”(39) In response Hale says, “It is the best the Devil wants, and who is better than the minister?”(39) This shows he enjoys the position better than he does its purpose. He is also very eager.
...g! How may I live without my name? I have given you my soul; leave me my name!” The notion that reputation is the most important thing, that having a clean name is what matters most, that it is more important than even life itself, is given to the reader. The idea that John Proctor has given up his soul, his moral principles, his honesty, just to keep his good name is one that is hard to understand in our time but, by this speech, the reader realises the importance accorded to reputation and status.