In The Crucible we have Reverend Samuel Parris who is the town minister and also the one everyone turns to for justice. Firstly being in a Patriarchal Society where the men have authority over the women and moreover being a respected religious leader, Reverend Parris is one of the sole authoritative figures we get introduced at the very beginning of the play. In Act I when they discover that something is plaguing the young girls in the town and they suspect witchcraft as the source if their illness, the townspeople approach Reverend Parris for answers. As the town’s figure head, they turn to his authority to expose the witches in their community and save the town from witchcraft. Without even any evidence to back his claim, Reverend Parris is just asked to declare that there is witchcraft and only then will action be taken. Given his authority, only he had the power to make such wild accusations and not be questioned about his claims. As Putnam simply explains to Parris that he need not worry about making wild accusations as no one would question his credibility given his innate authority in the town. Without much evidence to back his claims, Parris could simply throw speculated accusations and given his power, his claims were taken seriously.
Another figure head who had significant power and authority throughout the play is Reverend Hale. As a recognized premier on sorcery and witchcraft, Reverend Hale comes to Salem to assist Reverend expose the witches who are poisoning the well being of the town. With research he has done and the books he has read, he believes he has all the answers to save the town from their witch epidemic. There isn’t much accreditation to actually prove that Reverend Hale knew what he was doing, but hi...
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...ver she pleases, such as her master Parris, and it is pardoned as “being possessed by the devil” (Holdt, 1975). I wouldn’t necessarily say she misused her power like Abigail and Marry, but I feel she put up the act of being a witch to scare people in hopes of avoiding being hung and instead returning to Barbados.
The death of the innocent in The Crucible serves as an eye-opener to the issues connected to power and the way it is used. It will always be a detrimental factor in any society, because power will always be part of human existence. People either have power like Reverend Parris and Hale or lose it like John Proctor or one might even learn to take advantage of an opportunity and get empowered like Abigail, Mary and Tituba. However, the most important factor is to realize and weigh the devastating consequences that could take place if power is abused.
In The Crucible, there are many different and dynamic characters with varying personalities; one of these includes Reverend Parris. The author uses indirect characterization to describe Reverend Parris as a fearful, quick-tempered, emotionally unstable, and non-religious.
Mr. Hale as they refer to him in the play, started out as a student at Harvard College and graduated in 1657. Ten years later he was ordained as a minister of the Parish Church in Beverly, Mass on September 20th 1667. He was the first minister of this church from what I read. A few years past and Hale was called to the Village of Salem to rid its streets of witches and witchcraft. His degree and church background make Mr. Hale the best candidate to earn people’s trust, and use it to make the investigation advantage.
In the beginning of The Crucible, Reverend Parris of Salem, Massachusetts calls for Reverend John Hale. Reverend Parris believes Hale is an expert to everything related to witchcraft and is the best in the field. Reverend Hale has been summoned to determine if there is any evidence of witchcraft in Salem. When Hale arrives, carrying a number of heavy books, he is confident that he can use the books information to help discover if witchcraft is truly at work in Salem. Upon his arrival, the first thing he does is examine Betty Parris, the daughter of Reverend Parris, who supposedly has been stricken with witchcraft. This may be the only reason Hale visits Salem, but he stays to assist with the sudden accusations of witchcraft that arose up around the small village of Salem.
The Crucible by Arthur Miller shows how authority is a characteristic that can easily become a problem throughout a society. Many subjects were addressed in The Crucible such as guilt, hypocrisy, justice, hysteria, and courage. However, the most important subject throughout the play would be the nature of authority. There is a fine line between the concept of having authority and having power. In the book, the authority weakened and led to the antagonist Abigail Williams leading the law as opposed to the law leading Abigail Williams. At the instant that Abigail was granted authority over the townspeople she acted on it in order to have power. Not only is there power that comes with authority, but there is also responsibility which was demonstrated
The Crucible is an incredibly influential play no only in the fact that it displays many important themes, but it also portrays how a theocracy impacts societal actions. The Salem witch trials were the culmination of the problems with theocracy. The actions of society, not only are impacted by their personal thoughts, but also in religious undertones affect them. Act two in the play portrays not only all of these themes, but also some important events leading towards the witchcraft hysteria. Act two in the play portrays how theocracy ultimately leads to chaos.
During the Salem Witch Trials, Samuel never was able to question the girls and their thoughts to see if anything was valid or truthful. Reverend Samuel Parris had no reason to accuse the people in Salem, except for believing the hearings of the afflicted girls, yet had no reason for believing them. Parris was blind by the event because of his daughter Betty Parris’s sick afflictions and the words of his niece Abigail Williams. Later after the Witch Trials had ended, Samuel gave a sermon to the congregation of the church and gave a confession of apology. Many people did not take the apology into good terms and felt that he did it only because he felt like he had to. However, he was soon kicked out of the church and a new Reverend “Joseph Green” took over trying to repair everything that was torn apart. Samuel and his family left Salem leaving Tituba which was believed to of been released out of jail and sold to pay off her
The Crucible is a play with many underlying messages and themes. One of which is the idea of power. Power is a very important term in this play in that whoever holds the power, holds the fates of others. The hysteria within Salem has directly effected society. Everything has turned upside down and has gotten distorted. Arthur Miller is telling us that all the power in Salem is given to those who are corrupt and their abuse of it is directly shown through: the actions of Abigail throughout the play, the corruption and desires of Parris, as well as the witch trials held by Judge Danforth.
This is a character essay on the “The Crucible”. The character I have chosen to be my
The Crucible mocks the way society deals with justice. Salem is torn apart, due to the extent of Abigail's imagination and power. It shows the bias of opinions, as it was shown in the court, and how people tend to choose outcomes that suit them. In the end, injustice thrived upon the souls of the community, leaving many innocent people dead. Justice did not prevail, as the heart behind the case, John Proctor preferred to keep his self-respect and integrity, than live a life of lies.
In every conflict there always seems to be at least one person to blame. In The Crucible by Arthur Miller, many problems arise that deal with live and death. Many innocent people in this play were hanged during the Salem Witch Trials. Of course, there are many people that may be blamed. In The Crucible, one may find Abigail Williams, The Putnams, and Mary Warren to blame. Abigail was manipulative, The Putnams were very jealous, and Mary Warren was weak-willed.
In The Crucible, Arthur Miller portrays the two main characters, John Proctor and Reverend John Hale as "good men". The term "good men" in this play is ambiguous. Reverend John Hale was a good man in the sense of being the perfect and good citizen of Massachusetts in the 1600's. He was pious, adherent to the laws and beliefs, and a good Puritan Christian. John Proctor, on the contrary would not be considered the greatest citizen. He was not so religious, nor the perfect Christian, and was not so adherent to the Puritan's laws and beliefs. However, he was still considered a "good man", as a person rather than being an ideal Puritan citizen. He was very honest, moral, loyal to his friends and family, and was generous. The two men can be contrasted as good Puritan vs. good person.
The desire for power and authority has always been a part of the human nature. Today’s society most often use power to dominate one another and fulfill one’s personal intentions, which can affect other people in many ways. Having power and authority is truly gratifying but it is terrifying if abused and used for selfish acts. The play, The Crucible, by Arthur Miller is an example to illustrate the consequences of abuse of power. The characters Abigail Williams, Deputy Governor Danforth and Reverend Parris use their power over society by manipulating people and using their authority to fulfill their personal intentions, like material gain, vengeance, maintaining social status and reputation, and attention, which eventually lead into a mass hysteria.
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.
Abigail’s struggles come from many of her personal desires that are forbidden in her society, causing her to lie. However, this also creates further social problems, such as the initiation of the witch trials. After Betty is stuck in a coma, Reverend Parris questions Abigail about the night in the woods, because he is suspicious and she denies that it had anything to do with witchcraft. Abigail replies to Parris saying, “ We never conjured spirits” (24). Abigail lies to Parris, denies the statement that witchcraft ever occurred, and says that all they did was danced. Witchcraft and dancing both are sins in the society, and she knows that her reputation is at stake and finds the need to lie to look innocent. Parris wants to be sure and calls Reverend Hale to look further into the issue. Once Reverend Hale comes into town, he questions Abigail about the night, and she once again denies everything he asks her. Abigail is being questioned by Hale, and once Tituba enters she screams, “ She made me do it! She made Betty do it! She makes me drink blood!” (45). Abigail denies every...
The corrupting influence of power is explored in The Crucible by the actions of individuals who possess it or seek to abuse it. These individuals act for their own benefit and in turn destroy their community. Power acts as a catalyst in a society which is vulnerable to mass hysteria and causes individuals to favor unjust trials for personal gain. Arthur Miller explores this message in The Crucible by showing how power destroys a society through its own members and causes the unjust death of many