Lawrence Kohlberg, a developmental psychologist, identified six developmental stages of human moral reasoning. The first stage that he recognized was the Punishment-Obedience Orientation, where the person’s concern is for avoiding punishment through obedience. The second stage was the Instrumental Relativist Orientation, where the person’s concern is to work in their self interest, and better their position. The third stage of moral development was the Good Boy-Nice Girl Orientation, where the person’s concern lies with their reputation. Next was the Law And Order Orientation, where the person was less concerned with their own immediate well being to the maintenance of a larger society. The fifth stage was the Social Contract Orientation, where the person’s concern was for social unity, and the last stage was the Universal Ethical Principle Orientation, where the person’s concern is only for moral principals. In The Crucible, Arthur Miller portrays all six stages through his characters.
In the first stage rests Mary Warren. She is not a character with strong conviction, and in the course of the play, she changes sides to whichever will keep her safe from harm at the time. During the first act of the play, we come to understand that she had been one of the girls dancing in the forest with Abigail and Tituba. She saw that the girls were being cornered, and felt that they should confess before it got out of hand, but was silenced after being threatened by Mercy Lewis and Abigail Williams. When Elizabeth Proctor was arrested, John Proctor employed his power as her boss and as a stronger human to coerce her to go with him to the court and expose the girls as frauds. Because he’s stronger than she, she agrees. When they g...
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...uld not alter his ways to please the public. By the end, however, not only did he not care about his reputation, but so intensely focused on higher ethics was he that he gave his life to maintain his sense of “goodness”. Elizabeth also starts out less moral than she ends, she is cold and unforgiving towards Proctor and though her circumstance may be deserving of pity, she does not elicit much sympathy from the audience because of her frost. However, by the end of the play, she sees her faults and repents, and also forgives Proctor, and she understands what others in the final act cannot, she understands why Proctor’s name means more to him than his life.
All of the stages of moral development are presented in The Crucible, related to a character by their actions and motives. This is a way to categorize the characters without there being any overlap or gray areas.
‘The Crucible’ is a great example of morally ambiguous characters. A plethora of characters with blurry ethics exist within the world of ‘The Crucible’, this makes it difficult to distinguish who is truly good and who is evil. Arthur Miller has a fantastic approach to how he displays his characters and their moral standpoints. Adultery, lying, and even the suspicion of witchcraft, within the community brings out the worst in the townspeople. John Proctor is an example of how thin the lines are drawn between a complete saint and a damned sinner.
During the trial the girls and Abigail pressure Mary into conforming to them by pretending that Mary was bewitching the girls. When she plays along with the girls; Proctor screams at Mary with much rage, “Mary god damns all liars!”(224).Which is ironic because John Proctor has been lying to everyone about his deadly secret. Which he knows will eventually come out and ruin everything for him. Proctor finally comes out and tells the court when there seems to be no way out for Elizabeth he points out, “I have known her sir, I have known her” (220). Proctor finally confesses about his affair in front of Judge
When the play sets in to 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 caused the start of chaotic witchery and accusation. After the affair, Abigail became 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 confess his sin of adultery. Although he knows he should, he continues to be determined not to confess. Also in the beginning Reverend Paris is new to town, and John insist continually that he is only speaking of hell, and hardly ever of God, as Proctor goes on to say to Parris, "Can you speak one minute without we land in Hell again? I am sick of Hell!" (Miller 30). In the drama, Mary Warren places a needle in a poppet she gave to Elizabeth; John firmly demands that Mary Warren tell the courts that she really put the needle in the poppet that day. Proctor says to her, "You're coming to the court with me, Mary. You will tell it in the court." (Miller 80). Furthermore, at the end of the play Proctor is persistent by saying that no matter what anyone says to convince him differently, he would rather die an honest man and save his name. John Proctor took pride in his thoughts, feelings, values, and his name. It took persistency to make his intent clear to others.
There are many themes prevalent in The Crucible by Arthur Miller, with all of them manifesting in the actions and decisions of characters at some point in the story. One of the most outstanding themes in the play has to do with the connection between past experiences and future actions. Individuals lashing out at others because they felt they have been wronged, a guilty conscience causing someone to make a drastic decision, or even a person choosing a path due to possible social repercussions are all examples from the play of someone 's past effecting their future.
A basic sense of honesty is another of Mary Warren’s traits. In Act I she goes to Salem to convince Abigail to tell the truth about what really happened in the woods. When the witchcraft scare gets out of hand, Mary joins Abigail and the other girls in falsely accusing women of being witches. These false accusations are motivated by hysteria. There is evidence that Mary really believes that the women in court are bewitching her. She tells the judge that she thought she saw spirits. The other girls were screaming, and before she knew it, Mary was screaming with them. When she realizes that there are no spirits, Mary is willing to be truthful. After Elizabeth Proctor’s name is brought up in court, Mary Warren defends her against the accusation. At the end of Act II, the reader hopes that the basic sense of honesty will remain strong enough to allow Mary to testify on behalf of the accused women in Act III.
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...
Arthur Miller’s The Crucible is a play that discusses many issues and spurs contemplation within the reader. While reading this play, because of the controversy of many issues detailed within, it is difficult for one not to take a look at one’s own morals and determine what one would do if placed in a similar situation. The key issues discussed within this play, the effects of hysteria, marital betrayal, and the murderous powers of lies, are portrayed intriguingly and effectively. The lessons that can be learned from The Crucible are still quite applicable today.
Good vs Evil, Reputation and Injustice, as well as fear and hysteria are all key themes in Arthur Miller’s play, The Crucible. Significant events throughout the course of the play were used to highlight and illustrate the importance of these themes within the duration of the play.
In The Crucible, John Proctor, the main character of the story, struggled with guilt. His wife, Elizabeth Proctor, caught him committing adultery with Abigail Williams, their eighteen-year-old maid. Abigail performed witchcraft with other girls in the woods near Salem, even though it was illegal in the town. The girls chanted and danced naked. Samuel Paris, Abigail’s uncle and Reverend of Salem, saw their actions, but did not do anything to them. When the girls went back to town, one of the girls acted as if she was possessed, making all the townspeople afraid, thinking that Satan was upon them. Because of the girls' acts, many innocent people were accused of witchcraft by them and were hanged. In the end, John Procter was brought to court
Miller portrays her character as very cold and vindictive. Elizabeth is a devoted wife and the source of John Proctor’s guilt. Upon finding out of her husband’s infidelity with their past serving maid, Abigail Williams, Elizabeth has difficulty fully trusting John again. She remains suspicious, guarded, and cold toned toward her husband, “PROCTOR: Woman, I’ll not have you suspicion any more. ELIZABETH: Then let you not earn it.” (57). John Proctor is begging his wife to forgive him yet Elizabeth, though she want to forgive him, is right about the nature of the affair. Which has led for Abigail and John to be linked in way John cannot understand, “ELIZABETH: John, you are not open with me. You saw her with a crowd, you said. Now you- PROCTOR: I’ll plead my honesty no more, Elizabeth. ELIZABETH: John, I am only- PROCTOR: No more! …..Let you look sometimes for the goodness in me, and judge me not.” (58). Her morals are a representation of Level 2: Stage 2 because, she instead of the telling the truth of John’s affair lies to protect her husband and her family’s reputation. Elizabeth’s actions and feelings of unforgiveness lead to the shaken state of their marriage, and ultimately cause the lies of the affair that lead John’s to his
In Arthur Miller's, The Crucible, fear, hysteria and revenge, are all ways that drive the plot in many different directions. The plot, the theme and the characters are always unpredictable. Fear, hysteria and revenge all play into those three things. It is an interesting play with twist and turns everywhere. It is a very hateful based play.
A crucible refers to a harsh test, and in The Crucible, by Arthur Miller, each person is challenged in a severe test of his or her character or morals. Many more people fail than pass, but three notable characters stand out. Reverend John Hale, Elizabeth Proctor, and John Proctor all significantly change over the course of the play.
Elizabeth Proctor is used in The Crucible to illustrate the powerful strength of what manipulation has over any living mortal. Typically an honest person under their religious faith would believe in telling the truth, but not while having an evil thoughts being whispered in your ear disguised as manipulation. Already knowledgeable of her husband’s previous affair with Abigail Williams, Elizabeth fears of ruining the Proctor name in the town of Salem, Massachusetts due to John’s affair and since John is a high authority figure in the church, it would ruining his name and people would not respect him as a preacher anymore. So in the process of saving the Proctor name, regardless of John admitting the truth by making the court aware of the recent affair he had with Abigail, Elizabeth denies those allegations because she fears that John will be upset to the utmost point, so she sacrifices herself to protect the Proctor name, even though she fears that she hopes that she made the right decision, as shown when she tried to clarify all statements be...
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.
In The Crucible, Arthur Miller explores the theme of guilt through several characters as well as the community’s reaction to the witch hunt. Guilt pushes not only the witch hunts themselves, but also the behavior of the people of Salem. John Proctor is the main source of guilt in the story, followed by Reverend Hale, and Abigail.