The Crucible written by Arthur Miller is a historical play about the Salem Witch Trials. The play contains a historical allegory to the Salem Witch Trials and a political allegory to Mccarthyism. John Proctor is one of the main characters in and is considered the tragic hero of the play. Throughout Miller’s play, John Proctor is seen as the protagonist of the play because he is not afraid to stand up for what he believes in, even if no one else agrees with him. John Proctor’s intention to hang instead of admitting that he was consorting with the devil was an act of honor because he didn’t want to lie for the sake of saving his own life, but also wanting to prove that Puritan society has changed because of the Salem Witch Trials. In act 4 of …show more content…
how they are now especially in the time of crisis in the Salem Witch Trials. He believes that Puritan society should be focused on religion more than power, but Proctor perceives that the Witch Trials is changing that idea and making power more important than religion. This shows that Proctor is honorable and speaks his mind regardless if anyone sides with him. “The people of Salem developed a theocracy, a combination of state and religious power whose function was to keep the community together, and to prevent any kind of disunity that might open it to destruction by material or ideological enemies.” (Miller 13). Puritan society is expected to be a well functioning community that the main focus is on God and power isn’t a big deal. The people of the community are supposed to be united and stick together to fight common problems that interrupt how the community functions. In this case the problem would be the Salem Witch Trials. Proctor doesn’t want to lie and confess himself because once he does that then what will stop the authoritative figures to accuse other people and how will these accusations stop. Proctor would rather hang and try to save his friends instead of confessing that he is a witch and just let people continue being hanged when he knew he could have done something to prevent it. “he knows this is critical, and is striving against his disgust with Hale and with himself for even answering: I know not what I have said, I may have said it. I have wondered if there be witches in the world—although I cannot believe they come among us now.” (Miller 75). While everyone in the town is going along with the idea of witchcraft, Proctor isn’t considering it. He strongly believes that the rumor of witchcraft is just another way of demonstrating power. Proctor won’t accept the fact of witchcraft not because he knows the truth, but because he
Corruption has always existed in our society since the beginning to present time due to conspiracies such as the witch trials and the communism era. The Crucible by Arthur Miller was written during the era of communism to mere the hysteria. The Crucible is about the Salem witch trials in Salem Massachusetts in 1692. It’s a corrupt witch trial in Salem that’s due to false accusations of witchcraft for personal gains. John Proctor is the protagonist in the story The Crucible who goes through the ultimate test by choosing his reputation over integrity. He also had an affair with a young girl named Abigail who is the antagonist and is the main reason the bloodshed is occurring in Salem. Initially, Proctor hesitates to deal with his sin, but as the play progresses, he begins to understand its effects; this ultimately leads him to find goodness in himself as he stands for the truth.
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.
Salem citizens in general were afraid of all ungodly things with their Puritan views. They had no trouble believing that, because Parris had called Reverend Hale, (known for his studies in demonic arts), there must truly be witchcraft within the town. The play progresses and certain characters begin to develop: here is a community full of underlying personal grudges. Religion pervades every aspect of life, 'A man may think that God sleeps, but God sees everything, I know it now.'; but it is a religion that lacks the ritual of confession. Here and throughout the play we see how this affects John Proctor, a man so proud of his name that guilt eats at his very heart, as he will not let out his secret pain in a vain attempt to keep his integrity.
The Salem witch trials were a time period when any individual could be accused of witchcraft for numerous reasons. In The Crucible, Arthur Miller focuses on the deviation of the trials and how the town’s most religious and honest members of the community are tried with witchcraft. John Proctor, the town’s most honest man, is accused of being a witch and must decide if he should confess or not. Proctor’s confession will stop the town from rebelling and uphold the reputations of Deputy Governor Danforth and Reverend Parris. Hale also wishes for Proctor’s confession so he does not have to feel responsible if Proctor were to be hanged for his witchcraft accusations. The confession of Proctor would convince others in the town to confess to their
The Crucible is a book that takes place around the 1692 Salem witch trials. John Proctor, a major character in the book, chooses to die without lying rather than sell out the people around him. Proctor did not do the right thing because he did not have to incriminate anyone in immediate danger, it was possible to survive as a social outcast, and he has a duty to his family.
The play The Crucible is set in a puritan society; a society which is a theocracy, where priests and church figures have all the power. Abagail; a servant girl becomes the antagonist of the story. Abigail’s character is the victim of the Puritan society in which she rebels.
Puritans are Christians that strongly believe in religion and persecution of anyone who’s not a Christian. Ku Klux Klan has the same beliefs Christian based group who persecute immigrants and anyone who’s not white.
In Arthur Miller’s play, The Crucible, Miller demonstrated that it was John Proctor’s flaws- lust, Mendacity, and Idealism- that led him to be responsible the most for the tragedy of the witch- hunt in Salem. Salem was a Puritan village that frowned upon anything that was evil and they also believed in the witches. Anyone who was caught practicing any type of witchcraft was severely punished. The Crucible started when Abigail and a few other girls were caught dancing naked in the woods with animal blood. When they were caught, they were accused of practicing witchcraft. The girls began to blame other people of their crime so they would not be punished.
The Crucible is a famous play written by Arthur Miller. This play centers around the witch trials that took place in Salem, Massachusetts. In Act II, Abigail and her friends accuse several innocent people of witchcraft. Once they leave the court, Reverend Hale goes to John Proctor’s house to inform Elizabeth Proctor that people in the court have mentioned her name. Then officials of the court, Herrick and Cheever, arrive at the Proctor’s house. They claim to have a warrant for Elizabeth’s arrest because the court declares she practices witchcraft. After, Herrick and Cheever take Elizabeth to jail. Injustice in Act II prevails because of the inability to see the truth. Reverend Hale and John Proctor illuminate the theme that closed-mindedness
Another important work Miller wrote, The Crucible, takes place in Salem, Massachusetts, during the 17th century. It is a time when jealousy and suspicion poisoned the thinking of an entire town. Neighbor turned against neighbor when events happened that could not be explained. Accusations turned into a mad hunt for witches who did not exist. One of the main characters of the play is John Proctor, a well-respected man with a good name in the town. As the play develops, John Proctor’s moral dilemma becomes evident: he must decide whether to lie and confess to witchcraft in order to save his life, or to die an honest man, true to his beliefs.
The play The Crucible, written by Arthur Miller, is the story of the witch trial where took place in Salem, Massachusetts. In this town there were many people who faced accusations of the witchcraft. If someone was convicted of witchcraft, they had to confess or blame to other to get rid of being hanged by the court. It started with a main character named John Proctor. John Proctor had to decide whether to confess to witchcraft or refuse to confess and be hung. In the end Proctor was sentenced to die. He believed he could not lie forever and his decision will be good for his children and his own name.
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 Crucible, written by Arthur Miller, is a play that takes place in the sixteen nineties during the famous but tragic witch trials. The entire community is in pandemonium yet certain characters are also fighting internal conflicts. Miller uses three characters that manifest this internal battle ever so clearly: Mary Warren whose whole world turns upside down, John Proctor who must weigh the importance of his family against his reputation and Reverend Hale who must decide whether to do his job, or do what he knows to be right.
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.
Arthur Miller is the author to The Crucible; a play set in Massachusetts during the witch-hunts of the 1690s. The townspeople accused others of being witches they would later be tried and hanged. If they agreed to being a witch they were to be set free. One main character is John Proctor. Due to his high pride, when he was accused, he would not give up his own name and say that he was a witch. He is a true tragic hero because of one error in his life which he made led to his downfall.