Theme Of Religion In The Crucible

As time progresses, there are noticeable changes in the way that religion intervenes with the ideals and thoughts of any given general society. Numerous past problematic situations have now dwindled down to particularly that, no longer issues of the present. Regardless, the questionable issue of Adultery remains, standing true as consistently being the, “it,” scandal, being means for both religious and societal predicaments. Present to this day, the reputational damage done to an individual is massive, regarding Adultery, and people are left to decide what they can do about it, often left with very minimal choice but to accept or deny what they have done. Thus, by manipulating the clear-cut cross between reputation and religion, both the author

With any plot, it is crucial how the author manipulates the way that each character deals with said issues. In, The Crucible, John Proctor, a major character, is forced into consenting to the reputational damage being thrown upon him. His wife, Elizabeth, is cried out as being a witch by Abigail, whom John has an adulterous affair with. It is clear that John takes his reputation into account very seriously; in a fight with Elizabeth, he exclaims, “Woman, am I so base? Do you truly think me base?” (Miller 62). Due to the affair, he loses much of the acquired trust he had with her, and does not take this very well, however, he is also aware of the fact that he will be unable to build it back, thus, leaving no choice but to heed consent to the overall issue. Furthermore, Proctor’s general reputation with the residents of Salem is at stake as well. In a scene where Reverend Hale questions Proctor of his true Christian faith and devotion, he panics and claims that, “She [referring to Elizabeth] do not mean to doubt the Gospel, sir, you can not think. This be a Christian house, sir, a Christian house” (Miller 70). Overall, the majority of the damage done is consented to a religious extent, specifically in the way that Proctor panics because he is afraid of loosing his grip of a

Proctor consistently argues with numerous characters, showing absolutely no regard for what would be considered right or proper. In a chaotic scene that seals his fate, Proctor yells to the courtroom, referring to Abigail, “You are pulling Heaven down and raising up a whore!” (Miller 120). Proctor also prior to this willingly admits to having an affair with Abigail, knowing of the religious and moral tensions that will unfold, thus opening himself up to a multitude of possible punishments. Regardless of this, Proctor continuously rebels against the idea of a perfect Christian man, and supposedly does not attend Church as he is not fond of Reverend Hale, which proves that he has no care for the standards of his current society, and is his own person. Hester Prynne is relatively similar in this concept of rebellion as well, consistently showing to the reader that the A which should bring her shame, instead brings her the power of being “able”. Hester often dresses her child, Pearl, who was conceived out of wedlock, in red. Red represents here that Hester simply does not care if the scarlet letter is for adultery or not, and that Pearl is part of that gained identity. This is a major issue among townspeople, “Hath she not expressed this thought in the garb of the poor child, so forcibly reminding us of that red symbol which sears her bosom?” (Hawthorne 95). Hester is