Freedom
This semester we read three stories. The Crucible by Arthur Miller , Plymouth Plantation by William Bradstreet, and The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano by Olaudah Equiano. Each story has atlas one character who has fought for freedom. In The Crucible John Proctor fought for his wife freedom, Plymouth Plantation the pilgrims fought for their religious freedom and Olaudah Equiano fought for his rights against slavery.
In The Crucible John Proctor fought for his wife freedom. In the beginning of the play John Proctor had an affair with Abigail Williams. He had cheated on his wife Elizabeth which made him a sinner. Abigail held the secret over his head and when he denied the affair she told him “I saw your face when she put me out, and you loved me then and you do now (Abigail) !” John Proctor fought for his freedom from Abigail and also his wife. Abigail got her revenge on John for denying his love for her by charging his wife Elizabeth with witchcraft sending her to jail, Apparently, Abigail says Elizabeth sent out her spirit and made it stab her. John fought by getting their maid to confess that Abigail was a liar and that her and the other girls never saw any evil spirits. Although, Abby held the secret over his head he would do what he had to do to free his wife “I will fall like an ocean on that court! Fear nothing Elizabeth .” John Proctor said. Even if it in him being hung .
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Separatists are people with different religious beliefs. The pilgrims rode to America on the Mayflower but it wasn't the easiest ride. Its always said that the pilgrims didn't really come to America for only their religious beliefs but for much
...fess to them Elizabeth” (238). He’s thinking about giving in to the corrupt church to save his own life like everyone else. But when the Judge Danforth asks him to sign his name on a document confessing of witch craft he won’t do it because he explains, “It is my name I cannot have another in my life because I lie and sign myself to lies. Proctor finally stands up for what’s right and he shows that he won’t taint his name in order to save his own life. So they send him to be hung but he dies with his honor and his integrity.
Reverend Hale was correct, John Proctor possessed an excessive sense of pride. Proctor chose to be hanged because he didn’t want to put his name in vain by claiming to be associated with the devil. Proctor refused to confess he was acting honorably. Thus, earning himself respect in Salem by dying. His actions were foolish; he committed adultery with Abigail Williams.
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.
John Proctor is a man with many secrets and fatal flaws. His lust for Abigail Williams led to him having affair, and created Abby’s bitter envy toward his wife Elizabeth Proctor. “Abby I may think of you softly from time to time but I will cut off my hand before I ever reach for you again. Wipe it out of mind. We never touched Abby” (Miller 177) John Proctor denied that he had an affair with Abby. Then Abigail utter these words “I look for John Proctor that took me from my sleep and put knowledge
John Proctor is an honest, though harsh, man who is clearly the protagonist of The Crucible. Before the beginning of the play, John had an affair with Abigail Williams, a girl who worked in his household, which was abruptly ended when Elizabeth Proctor, John's wife, fired her. This event causes Abigail to desire revenge against Elizabeth while she still pines for John. Once the trials are well underway, Abigail accuses Elizabeth of being a witch, which leads to her arrest. John goes to the court in defense of his wife, where he reveals that he did indeed committed adultery with Abigail in an attempt to expose her as a fraud and a liar. Unfortunately, John's appeal falls on deaf ears and he is arrested as well. While his wife manages to get a temporary stay of execution, due to the fact that she is pregnant at the time of the trials, which in the end saves her by insuring her life until the chaos, hysteria, and persecution comes to an end, John is sentenced to death. The play ends with his hanging, but his death puts an end to the trials.
People make life or death choices every day. In The Crucible, John Proctor and others decided dying honestly was better than living a lie. At this time, countless were accused of witchcraft and working with the devil in the town of Salem, MA. In this play, Reverend Hale told Elizabeth proctor “no principle, however glorious, is worth dying for.” He argued that living a life of dishonesty is better than dying for the truth, trying to persuade John to live, but as a devil's advocate. But John believed no life was worth living if it was full of falsifies information.
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.
This situation is short lived after Danforth announces that he plans to reveal the entire town Proctors documented confession, in order to validate the trials. Proctor, being the man that he is, tears up the document and when given the choice between life and death he ultimately chooses death. He does so to protect his reputation and that of his
Analysis of The Crucible by Arthur Miller ‘You have made your magic now, for now I do think I see some shred of goodness in John Proctor.’ Assess the developments in John Proctor’s character that validate this statement. How does Miller create a sense of tension and suspense in the build up to this climatic moment in Act 4? In Arthur Miller’s play The Crucible he has used many dramatic devices in order to create tension and build up to the climaxes of the story.
While most are opposed of John Proctor's idea of being a man of integrity, some may view John Proctor as a man who has motives for protecting his name. At the end of The Crucible Proctor is in the court to free his wife for a false accusation of witchcraft, which seems like he loves his wife, and he does. But when faced by Judge Danforth on bringing up evidence of the false accusation, John Proctor claims that Abigail, a seventeen year old girl is a liar and a whore. Abigail is the one that accused John Proctor’s wife Elizabeth of witchcraft to have her hanged and have a chance to be able to marry John Proctor after an affair between John and Abigail which sets the
John Proctor, like every creature, is imperfect and struggles internally with the guilt of an affair, the love of his wife, and his reputation in Arthur Miller’s The Crucible. Even though Proctor was a Christian and loved his wife, he committed an adulterous act, but felt genuinely guilty thus illustrating Miller’s resistance to creating a wholly good or wholly evil character. He was a man who made a mistake, a mistake that influenced Salem’s witch trials and resulted in numerous murders and imprisonments. One may ask, does Proctor’s rejection of a false confession atone for his sin?
Through the right and wrong choices John Proctor made when it came to some very difficult decisions in his life, we learn that best decisions in life are sometimes the ones that bring us hardship. Human nature causes one to lie to save them from going through the difficult part of a situation but in the process usually adds to the circumstance that made them lie in the first place. The decisions a person makes in life reveals what type of person they truly are when all is said and done.
In the play The Crucible by Arthur Miller goes into detail about the historical event, the Salem witchcraft trials which took place in Massachusetts in 1692. The drama centers on John and Elizabeth Proctor and a young girl Abigail Williams, whom John Proctor has committed adultery with. In order to get rid of Elizabeth so that Abigail can have John to herself Abigail accuses John’s wife of witchcraft, a crime that was highly frowned upon. John proctor goes through a series of changes from being a horrible person who cheated on his wife to a tragic hero who will give up his life to say his wife. John proctor is viewed as many things in this play but at the end he come out an honest and noble man.
Although both John Proctor, from Arthur Miller’s play, The Crucible, and Walter Lee Younger, from Lorraine Hansberry’s play, A Raisin in the Sun, demonstrate qualities of the anti-hero, such as being ordinary men who are “disillusioned with the society around [them],” Proctor is less of an anti-hero because his downfall benefits a greater cause than Walter’s.
John Proctor's decision to betray his wife causes internal struggles and ultimately leads to his catastrophe at the end of the drama. Hamartia is the primary error of the tragic hero which provokes part of his misfortune. Proctor's serious mistake of adultery delivers problems with Abigail Williams and indirectly causes his jailing. Abigail is a grown young woman, and yet she is an orphan who mistakes John Proctor?s sex for true love. When Proctor tells Abigail that the relationship can no longer continue, the girl becomes angry and sorrowful (1098). In order to prove Abigail?s sinfulness and to discredit her in front of the court, Proctor proclaims that he had an affair with this evil child. The outraged court officials summon Elizabeth Proctor to find the truth. When asked about her husband, Elizabeth?s soul is twisted, for reporting the truth could destroy her husband?s reputation, but lying means breaking her solemn oath to God. Because she is selfless, Elizabeth chooses to lie and save her husband, but perhaps condemn herself to hell for such a sin. This scene indicates dramatic irony, for Proctor knows that which Elizabeth is not ...