Reputation defines you
The Salem Witch trials empower characters who are marginalized in society. In General, women have the lowest ranking when it comes to men and have very little to no option in life. They work as servants until they get married off and start having children. Adding on to being thus restricted, Abigail is a slave to John Proctors “needs”. He then takes away her innocents when he performs adultery with her. When he terminates their affair he arouses her spiteful jealousy. The puritan’s greatest fear is the defiance of god, so Abigail suspected witch craft and devil worship quickly brought the attention to the court in Salem. With Gods will, she and the girls quickly gain power over society. Tituba has a lower status than
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Reputation is defined as a presumption on any-thing or person; usually made by the community or public. Many people in the crucible are very self-involved and way to worried about maintaining a good reputation within their small village or community. Reverend Parris, Elizabeth and John proctor, and Abigail Williams are just a few of the characters who care the most about maintaining a good name in the village than they do about any of their well beings. Most of them would put their own name on the line just for the sake of keeping a good name in society. In an economy where reputation plays a very important role, their fear of guilt becomes pernicious. Focusing on trying to maintain a public reputation, townsfolk of Salem fear the sins of their associates will taint their names in the village. Based on their actions in the play, most characters have a desire to protect their reputations. Parris, once the play starts, fears that Abigail has questionable actions, and a hint of witchcraft surrounding Betty’s coma, will affect his …show more content…
Proctor was so upset by this attack on his home that he took away the warrant and told them that he wanted to leave his house right now. After, his pleas fell on deaf ears when he tried to bribe a Court official to not chain her. Proctor then abandoned his concern for his reputation which made him admit to his sin to safe his wife from dying. “A man may think God sleeps, but God sees everything. I know it now. I beg you sir, I beg you-see her what she is… 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, I set myself entirely in your hands. (Miller 110)” His confession was too late.
When Elizabeth is then questioned about her husband’s relations with Abigail, Danforth asks, “is your husband a lecher” (Miller 113), all she has to say is no but everyone there knows that Elizabeth cannot lie. Elizabeth knows what his reputation means to him. She knows and respects that if his reputation is ruined, that’s how he will feel for the rest of his
In order to avoid charges, Abigail deflects the blame onto Tituba, the family servant, by saying that she forced her to drink blood. After realizing that the town might hang her for her crimes, Tituba confesses to witchcraft and accuses the low-class women of Salem, hoping that it might lighten her punishment. The town quickly breaks into hysteria as Mary is pulled into the center of the drama and the authorities ask her to testify against the accused. Realizing that her life is still under threat of Abigail if she doesn't do what Abigail asks of her, Mary lies on stand, ensuring her safety, as well as the death of two innocent women. Overwhelmed with culpability, Mary attempts to justify her
During the salem witch trials a lot of people accused each others of being a witch or dealing with the devil most of them lied because they wanted something that person had people accused each other left from right and those who were accused felt to ashamed to lie and admit that they talked to the devil because no one would believe them.
Her accusations were the reason why the entire witch hunt in Salem came to be. “She comes to me while I sleep; she 's always making me dream corruptions!” This quote from Abigail falsely accusing Tituba of witchcraft is the main reason for the messed up justice in the town of Salem. The good and the innocent start to be accused and convicted by those without integrity. The audience starts to realize the deep problems in Salem. Eventually later on in the book, Abigail comes to realize the power she possesses over the people. She realized that she had the power and control to run the entire town and get what she wanted. This same situation is seen with Corporate America after 9/11. After the attack of 9/11 they saw that people were very paranoid when it came to wanting safety which is why the Bush administration took advantage of Americans by getting them to believe certain laws they wanted were necessary for their safety. Also, the Bush administration tried to get more control of the people by passing a bunch of unneeded laws to Congress. They lied to get what they wanted. The same scenario is shown by Abigail’s followers as they helped lie for her
In Arthur Miller’s The Crucible reputation was a critical factor for characters like John Proctor and Reverend Parris. As a hard working farmer, John Proctor cared very much about having a good name. Reverend Parris had a good reason to care about his reputation since he was a very respected religious leader. I don’t think reputation is everything but for these characters it was very important.
Abigail Williams is manipulative and wants everything to go her way. She is the main character and causes trouble everywhere she goes. The Salem Witch Trials is about hearings and prosecutions of people who were accused of witchcraft. In The Crucible Abigail is a no good villain. Abigail first commits adultery with Elizabeth’s husband. Later on Abigail begins to accuse innocent people of doing witchcraft which causes them to die. Abigail Williams uses the Salem Witch Trials to put out all the resentment she has toward everyone.
...ecause it would be a lie to claim that he has never lied. Elizabeth says that she has her own sins, and only a bad wife would want lechery. Finally Proctor decides that he will confess himself, and then he asks if what he does is even evil. When Proctor agrees to save himself by admitting to witchcraft, Danforth demands a written confession and says that he must prove the purity of his soul to others, so he demands that Proctor accuse others. Hale says that it is good enough for Proctor to confess to God, but Danforth still wants a written statement. Proctor refuses, because he wants to keep his name good for the respect of his children. Danforth refuses to accept his confession, and orders that he be lynched. Hale begs Elizabeth to plead with Proctor to sign a confess, but Elizabeth claims that Proctor now has his goodness, and nobody should take it away from him.
In The Crucible, the members of the Salem community accept the lies that their neighbors are taking apart of witchcraft as the truth. The lies and deceit in the community help attribute to the play’s overall theme of hysteria. The theme of hysteria is prevalent throughout the play, as the belief that witchcraft is occurring in the town enables members of the community to believe that their neighbors have committed devilish acts. As the town descends into a hysterical climate, members of the community take advantage of the situation to act upon any long-held grudges or repressed sentiment. Characters, such as Abigail, use both lies and hysteria to seek revenge and gain power. This reveals that the lies and deceit told throughout the play drive
In “The Crucible” by Arthur Miller, I found myself struggling to grasp the full intensity he portrayed. One intense subject he really pinpointed was reputation. Reputation seemed to be a major focus of almost all they characters in this literary work. Whether it be reputation as a good member of the Salem Massachusetts community, or reputation as most successful preacher, the townspeople seemed to revolve around reputation. Many townspeople including John Proctor, Reverend Parris, as well as Giles Corey. This was not always necessary a bad thing, as it kept them in check, but in this case, the longing for a good reputation overpowered many lives, literally. Too much want for a triumphant
The theme of reputation and quest for people is also portrayed clearly in The Crucible. In the old days, children were considered unimportant. They weren't allowed to speak until given permission to, and they didn't make important decisions at all. However, during the witch court trials, Abigail and other girls had the power to say who was innocent and who was guilty. Probably, for the first time in their lives, they had power over Salem and they wanted to maintain it. Moreover, the authorities of Salem were afraid of losing authorities and power. For example, the judges, Governor Danforth and Ezekiel Cheever didn't want to admit that they were being fooled by a bunch of girls so they insisted that witchcraft existed in the town of Salem.
In the crucible, I believe reputation and respect was interwoven in the term of the play the ‘‘crucible’’. Reputation and Respect can also be a theme or a thematic idea in the play, reputation is very essential in a town where social status is synonymously to ones competence to follow religious rules. Your standing is what enables you to live as one in a community where everyone is bound to rules and inevitable sequential instructions. Many characters for example, john proctor and reverend parris, base their action on the motive to protect their reputation which is only exclusive to them. People like reverend parris saw respect as what made them important or valuable in a town like Salem, this additionally imprinting to his character as a very conventional man.
She used to serve me in my house, sir. A man may think God sleeps, but God sees everything, I know it now. I beg you, sir, I beg you—see her what she is. My wife, my dear good wife, took this girl soon after, sir, and put her out on the highroad. And being what she is, a lump of vanity, sir— Excellency, forgive me, forgive me. She thinks to dance with me on my wife's grave! … 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” (3. ). The fact that Proctor came clean when it really came down to it speaks volumes about his character; he chose to try to save his wife instead of saving himself. He sacrificed his good name to save his wife’s name instead. He then goes on to try and show the court the wickedness of what they are doing, “A fire, a fire is burning! I hear the boot of Lucifer, I see his filthy face! And it is my face, and yours, Danforth! For them that quail to bring men out of ignorance, as I have quailed, and as you quail now when you know in all your black hearts that this be fraud—God damns our kind especially, and we will burn, we will burn together!” (Miller 596-601). This quote shows that Proctor is no longer afraid to see things how they are and take responsibility for the things he is
Abigail Williams started the witch trials in Salem all because she and a group of her friends wanted some attention from their town. Abigail thinks she is superior to some people, specifically Tituba and has no problem accusing people she feels superior to. "They want slaves, not such as I. Let them send to Barbados for any of them!"(24). Abigail's first victim in her accusation spree was Tituba. Tituba was easy first target because she is a slave and practices voodoo, both things combined make her the easiest target in Salem. "Sometimes I wake and find myself standing in the open doorway and not a stitch on my body! I always hear her laughing in my sleep. I hear her singing her Barbados songs and tempting me with-"(27). Abigail targets Tituba first so she can gain so...
Bad reputations during this time period had greater influence on people’s lives. One way to prove this is by reading The Crucible, written by Arthur Miller. This play displays the effects of acquiring a bad reputation. Many characters from this play deal with a conflict based on a reputation they have gained. The characters with the most significant conflicts resulting from reputations are John Proctor, Reverend Parris, and Abigail Williams.
Parris: "Aye, a dress. And I thought I saw – someone naked running through the trees.” The play, The Crucible, by Arthur Miller had very many themes in it. Some of these themes stood out more then others. These themes would be hysteria, reputation, and hypocrisy. These themes were present throughout the entire play, from the beginning till the end. When you think of a Puritan religion you may think of a very good, morally perfect society. This wasn’t the case in Salem, Massachusetts. It was actually the opposite in the play, there was lying, cheating, stealing and just about everything else you wouldn’t want in your society.
Reputation is the beliefs or opinions that are generally held about someone or something. A famous American poet once said: “Oh reputation dearer far than life”. James Russell Lowell highlights the importance of reputation by declaring it more important than even human life itself. This idea is also found in ‘The Crucible’ as many characters will be challenged between telling the truth and dying, or saving their reputation. In ‘The Crucible’, this theme beholds a key position in the unrolling of the story as an impression of control over the outcome of people’s lives is created by its importance.