The Crucible Act ш In act three of The Crucible by Arthur Miller the scene starts out in the court with John Proctor, Francis Nurse, and Giles Corey with hopes to save their wives who have been arrested and accused of witch craft. Francis calls out at court saying he has proof that his wife is innocent. Danforth said what the men were doing was causing a disturbance in the court. Proctor then speaks out saying the girls have been faking and Mary Warren will testify his statement. Mary says she knows the truth and calls out Abigail. When the girls are all brought out Abigail denies everything. Hawthorne decides that if Mary and the rest of the girls have been faking being possessed this whole time then she can fake it now, but she cannot. Mary …show more content…
Ideology is a motif that is portrayed. The characters all go off the same moral belief of religion in the play. This idea is dangerous and is the main reason for the deaths due to sinning. Another Motif showed is lying. It seems that almost everyone in The Crucible lie and each lie effects another’s life. “How were you instructed in your life? Do you not know that God damns all liars? (She cannot speak.) Or is it now that you lie? (Miller). Danforth is calling out Mary Warren for changing up here story so much. This goes back to the motif of lies and ideology because lying is a sin that is punished with death most of the times. A theme of the play is that even being honest does not always help out. Proctor experiences with this because even though he came clean about the affair and tried to call out Abigail he was not believed and still send to be hung. “On the last night of my joy, some eight months past. She used to serve me in my house, sir. (He has to clamp his jaw to keep from weeping.) 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” (Miller). Proctor is admitting to the affair and begging the court to see that Abigail is a whore are nothing she says can be
She even claims that John should know her better than to expect such a thing from her. Elizabeth often believes that she has not been a good enough wife to John and that she does not deserve his love, or any love. She confesses, “I counted myself so plain, so poorly made, no honest love could come to me!” (137). Her confession displays humbleness, an admirable trait in any Puritan. All of the young girls in The Crucible exemplify conformity by submitting to Abigail Williams. As the leader of these young girls, Abigail persuaded them to do whatever she said, including accusing people of witchcraft. These accusations led to the deaths of many men and women. Mary Warren is a victim of Abigail’s peer pressure. She eventually admits that everything she claimed was a lie that Abigail made her tell. She explains these lies by saying, “It were only sport in the beginning, sir, but then the whole world cried spirits, spirits” (107). This confession is her way of saying that they never meant for one small lie to turn into something so huge. Later, Mary agrees to testify against Abigail in court, but, in yet another
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.
In Act II, Proctor's conflict with authority increases as the court comes to arrests his wife. He already does not like the court and for them to come to his own home and take his wife to jail is just out of the question! To help the reader understand the condition of Salem at the beginning of Act II, Kinsella explains that "Salem is in the grip of mounting hysteria" (1267). Kinsella is correct the town first starts out with Betty not waking up, then Abigail Williams acusing practically everyone in Salem about being witches and it moves up from there eventually leading to Proctors fait.
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.
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...
BEGIN The root of the problem in both The Crucible and McCarthyism was an extreme desire for power. In the novel, Danforth and Hathorne instantly gained power as they sentenced the accused to jail and death. They were so caught up in the power that they were gaining, that they listened to outlandish accusations, not stopping to think if they could be false. Danforth and Hathorne were seen as heroes to the people that were caught up in the chaos and paranoia of witchcraft. This was their motivation in their prosecution. Also, Abigail and the other girls were driven by selfishness. Ruth and Betty accused innocent people of the crime because they did not want to get in trouble, as did Tituba. Abigail accused Elizabeth Proctor because she wanted to be with John. Mary went along with the girls for fear that they would turn on her. No one with power had the courage to speak up and admit what they were doing was wrong (The Crucible). Because of their abuse of power, the town was destroyed. Power in the hands of a selfish person is disastrous.
fist): a fart on Thomas Putnam is what I say to that. Then the plot
...tain character and ignorance. Danforth is stern and practical at the same time and is a cause for the Salem catastrophe .Abigail is a liar and deceitful, therefore she is culpable for the Salem adversity. At last, the society’s ignorance is liable for the calamity. The reasons prove how people are clever, thoughtless, shrewd, and gullible-due to the rank of people. The crucible is related to McCarthyism, a campaign against alleged communists in the US government. The Crucible is like McCarthyism because both used lack of evidence to convict people without regard to any what was truly happening. The Crucible was about witchcraft and the hunt that went on for witches during the Salem witch trials and accusing others. McCarthyism was about finding scapegoats and blaming innocent people for things they did not do. In Crucible and in McCarthyism lives were ruined.
The play, The Crucible, is a fireball of guilt, evil, and good compiled into one magnification. It is a play with tremendous feelings, with many inside twists hidden in the archives of the true story. It is a play with emotional feelings; feelings of anger, hate, and evil, yet also feelings of goodness, and pureness. Undeniably, The Crucible is a play illustrating good versus evil. The principal characters, Abigail Williams, John Proctor, Ann Putnam and Marry Warren all contain within them elements of good and evil.
Her fear took the best of her. Elizabeth until this point has said the truth but her knowledge of her death coming soon, she realizes on her husband to take care of her children.” I think I must go with them, Mary there is bread enough for the morning; you will bake, in the afternoon. Help Mr. Proctor as you were his daughter -you owe me that and much more. When the children wake, speak nothing of witchcraft -it will frighten them.” (Crucible Act 3) This worsen when John goes to the court to free her. He confesses of having an affair with Abigail. Elizabeth is brought in and her fear of her husband betting committed od adultery makes her lie. Elizabeth:” I came to think he fancied her. And so, one night, I lost my wits, I think and put her out on the highroad, Danforth:” your husband -did he indeed turn from you? Elizabeth:” my husband-is a goody man, sir.” (Crucible Act 3). During this moment Elizabeth ‘s life when telling the truth would mean salvation, she lies to save her husband’s
The primary dramatic focus in the play The Crucible is the moral struggle of its protagonist, John Proctor. Certain characteristics of John Proctor's character and also the environment of the Puritanical Salem alleviated this problem for him. The main issues running through out the play are a series of dilemmas that John Proctor faces. The first and foremost of these is his guilt over his adulterous affair with Abigail Williams, the second his hesitation to testify against Abigail to bring out the truth and the third, his final decision to make the ultimate sacrifice.
The Crucible was a rather strong book, it had battles both internal and external, there were also betrayals and vendettas… but a few stuck strong to their morals of what was wrong, and what was right. After the girl’s acts were, undoubtedly, in the eyes of the law, seen as entirely real, people who would not otherwise have been accused of witchcraft were now eligible to be under Satan’s spell. One John Proctor, saw himself above the nonsense, that witches could not exist in Salem, his wife, his children nor him; But, when Mary Warren said to the court that he used his spirit to drag her into court to testify against the girls, the judges deemed her word more truthful than his. After actively and repeatedly denying the claims, he was sentenced to death, for only a witch could lie in the face of god.
In the play The Crucible, Arthur Miller explores the topic of fear and how it can be used to silence people or force them into false testimony. In this play we can see the fear of witchcraft and becoming condemned, or having a family member condemned, can take over a person and get them to act unusually. Mary Warren makes the decision to switch between siding with the girls and with Proctor out of fear for her life, yet only some of her decisions are justified as only sometimes she was trying to make the right decision and others were to save herself.
The Crucible agrees with the lens because in Puritan society of 1692 in Salem, Massachusetts, hunts are being held to find those who have sinned and practice witchcraft but unfortunately innocent people are accused. The Crucible is set in Salem, Massachusetts and John Proctor, the protagonist, is a farmer who is found by his wife having an affair with a teenager. Throughout the play, John is trying to make the truth known to a court that has no interest in listening. The conflict in this story occurs when people are being falsely accused of practicing witchcraft for reasons such as revenge or the desire for another’s land. An example of this is Abigail’s desire to be with John Proctor. She wants to be with him so badly that she accuses his wife, Elizabeth Proctor, or “witchery” in order to marry John Proctor. “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 promise in such sweat. But it is a whore’s vengeance…” This is a quote from Proctor when he is confessing to the court about his affair with Abigail in order to save his wife and the other innocent people who have been accused. Other examples include the part of the play where Giles tells the court that Putnam is killing his neighbors for their land. “…If Jacobs hangs for a witch he forfeit up his property-that’s law! And there is none but Putnam with the coin to buy so great a piece. This man is killing his neighbors for their land!” This is a quote from Giles Corey from when he claimed that Thomas Putnam was killing others for their land. The entire play was made to be a symbol of the anti-Communist “witch-hunts” of the 1950s, the time of the author, Arthur Miller. The themes in this play are hysteria, reputation, and intolerance.
Reputation in this play is what drives people to act in certain ways. Miller uses this theme in such a way that is seems to control certain characters like Danforth, Parris and Abigail thus portraying them in a negative and insincere light. They go to lengths to never have no contradict themselves or appear to be mendacious and deceitful whereas other characters such as John Proctor, Sarah Good and Giles, are driven by the will to protect their integrity. The protection of either integrity or reputation is what differ...